The Blood on Satan's Claw (Devil's Advocates)

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Whilst this book is released under an imprint of Liverpool University Press, Evans-Powell’s delivery gives it greater appeal. Not just for students and scholars, it is accessible, and of interest to wider fans (and even detractors) of The Blood on Satan’s Claw– a film which, although not entirely devoid of flaws (in my opinion it would be better had the fiend itself not be seen outright, but just vaguely depicted in shadows – and for the ending to have been drawn out longer, as it seems a tad rushed), is an important piece of both folk horror and British film history and, indeed, a disturbingly mesmeric artistic creation. An important addition to the Devil’s Advocates catalogue, and one concisely and extremely well provided by its author. The story is a simple one of the devil coming to the town of Hexbridge in the 1700s. The discovery of a grotesque relic begins corrupting the youth, and before long strange mutilations and hysteria break out among the townsfolk. Blood on Satan’s Claw reigns as one of the Unholy Trinity films of the folk-horror genre, and for good reason. It engraved the genre’s key components in stone for all who wanted to wander its forbidden and supernatural powers that continue to terrorize audiences 50 years after its release. Unlike the fictional creatures and growling monsters, the movie reveals the evil existent in humanity. Now that is terrifying. Anthony Ainley, who plays a curate who Linda Hayden's character attempted to seduce, once said in an interview, "When it came to doing the nude scene where Angel comes into the rectory at night and disrobes this was done at least three times and Linda was spot on with every take...she was a total professional with a refined sense of the erotic unusual for her age...I believe she was only 17 at the time." [22] Musical score [ edit ]

The Dragon: Angel Blake to Behemoth. She appears to have one herself in Margaret, who's loyal to her (or at least their cause) beyond all reason, although she's never shown to do much beyond read an invocation from a book. Too bad for her Angel is a very cruel taskmaster.The children begin to act strangely, their childish games and squabbles developing a more sinister nature, a cult forming around the girl who holds a vicious claw.

a b c Stafford, Jeff. "Blood on Satan's Claw". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. In The Blood on Satan’s Claw’s most notorious scene, Mark’s sister Cathy (played by Wendy Padbury, who was known to TV viewers of the time as an earlier companion character, Zoe Heriot, in the BBC’s long-running sci-fi show Doctor Who) is lured away by some teenage boys to play a game. She is then held down by several teenagers and raped, before being killed with shears by Angel Blake. Body Horror: Let's just say that the Red Right Hand borne by those infected with Satan's skin isn't pretty. Put on a Bus: Rosalind is placed in a bedlam after nearly killing Isobel; Isobel is wounded and treated, but never shown again. Similarly, Peter doesn’t make any more appearances after he warns the judge about the coven. Blood on Satan’s Claw director Piers Haggard told Mark Gatiss in the 2010 BBC documentary A History of Horror that he was not aware of the new cinematic terrain he was breaking into in 1971—a genre of English landscapes and witchcraft that reflected the era’s interest in satanism and cults. He showed the vicious things that occurred in beautiful places and how nature was a weapon used to enhance horror. Supernatural and violent endings were the last drops of blood on the dagger that took a stab at the horror genre. “I wasn’t really interested in Dracula,” Haggard recalled. “But I was interested in the dark things that people feel and the dark things that happen, and that’s what I wanted to explore.”Ungrateful Bastard: Margaret is chased by a mob of hysterical villagers, believing her to be a witch, and is nearly drowned. Ralph saves her, but she shows absolutely no gratitude, revealing that she actually is a witch. I’m under contract to write a book for The Devil’s Advocates series. This set of brief books is focused on horror films. This particular volume is on the lesser known British film, The Blood on Satan’s Claw. I’ve reacted to both the film and the book on my blog ( Sects and Violence in the Ancient World). This book is a great introduction to the movie and it brings out several aspects of it that I had missed watching it on my own. Cassandra Truth: Ralph's concerns about witchcraft in the village are repeatedly laughed at and ignored, despite him not being far off at all.