Blood On Satan's Claw - Digitally Remastered Widescreen Edition [DVD] [1970]

**** few slight spoilers ****

BOSC, emerged from the legendary Tigon stable shortly after the brilliant Witchfinder General which, in many aspects, it resembles and to which it can be justifiably regarded as a companion piece. Similarly set in 17th century England, BOSC also explores rural pagan beliefs and practices. Here though, the roles are most definitely reversed. Whilst Matthew Hopkins was a monster and the alleged witches he persecuted largely innocent, in BOSC, the judge/witchfinder, superbly played by Patrick Wymark (Cromwell in Witchfinder General) in his final performance, is very much the hero. At first sceptical that the black arts retain any power, Wymark comes to accept the reality of evil made incarnate and meets it head on in the stunning climax (watch out for the inspired freeze-frame effect that has been often imitated but never bettered). The ambiguity, up until to the final sequence, as to whether the fiend really exists or is merely mass hysteria, is cleverly developed and reinforced by scenes such as only Peter alone witnessing the horrific transformation of his fiancée and, of course, the famous 'hand' sequence.

Admittedly, in places, the story feels slightly fragmentary (the commentary option explains how the screenplay developed from three separate stories), the overall effect, though, is utterly compelling and, perhaps strangely given the grim subject matter, utterly beautiful. The camerawork, courtesy of the splendidly named Dick Bush, is the stuff of genius. Look out for unusual and inventive camera angles and several extended scenes, obviously completed in one masterful shot.

I have already mentioned the magnificent presence of Wymark, but the remaining cast also deserves huge praise for powerful and convincing depictions of the dark ages mindset. This is no hammy Hammer horror, folks, this is the real thing! Anthony Ainley (perhaps better known as the successor to Roger Delgado to play the Master in Doctor Who) is marvellous as the reverend/teacher, Peter Edmonson (Simon Williams) whose fiancée is the first to succumb to the evil, is impressively stoic, Ralph the ploughboy (Barry Andrews) is a great salt-of-the-earth character, and the British movie fan will spot a host of other well-known faces (disappointingly not listed in the credits) who all act their hearts out. The star though, without a doubt, is the beautiful Linda Hayden, who plays the deliciously evil villainness Angel Blake, with an astonishing presence belying her tender age. Some of the scenes featuring 17 year-old Hayden (the attempted seduction of the reverend and Hayden's overseeing of a truly disturbing rape sequence) are unsettling even by today's standards.

The marvellous score has a quintessentially evocative English feel to it - almost like a dark brooding twist on Greensleeves and adds enormously to the atmosphere.

The DVD has exceptionally clear picture quality and colour and the remastered 5.1/DTS sound is everything that you would expect. Loads of genuinely interesting extras - the full length commentary and the 'Angel for Satan' featurette being particularly fascinating.

An essential purchase.

Made during the Heyday of the Hammer/Amicus era of British horror films, this Tigon feature is very probably one of the best of its kind. Despite the sensationalist title and (by today's standards) somewhat unconvincing special effects, it deserves a much wider audience and this DVD release is extremely welcome. Set in the late seventeenth century, the plot revolves around an apparently isolated rural community terrorised by withcraft and demons after the discovery of some sinister remains in a nearby ploughed field. The local youngsters, lead by Linda Hayden's "Angel", embark upon a campaign of murder against a backdrop of devil worship and fear. It could so easily have been a turkey with a plot like that but director Piers Haggard's inspired direction ensures that BoSC rises above the mundane and silly to become a genuinely interesting and creepy film. The camera-work and locations are exceptional, the musical score is as good as any I've heard in the genre and the acting performances, especially from Patrick Wymark and Linda Hayden complement the storyline perfectly. In my opinion no other period set horror film has managed to capture the fears and superstitons of a bygone age so successfully, although in this case those fears are well founded despite the local squire's initial certainty that witchcraft is little more than a discredited old wives tale. Truly inventive, often unsettling but always beautiful to look at and listen to...put your feet up on a dark winter's night and enjoy this one. If it comes across as a touch exploitative in places, remember that it's 34 years old !
The special features are fairly good too...the commentary is fun, plus there's the bonus of the original stories in pdf form.

It is a difficult task to review 'Blood On...' without mentioning The Wicker Man and Witchfinder General - two undisputed (and idiosyncratically English) masterpieces of British horror cinema, so I'll take it for granted that all readers of this have either seen, or know of, these films, and will thus be acquainted with: 'Folk Horror', period settings, puritanical and religious hypocrisy, moral ambiguity and subtly nihilistic undertones etc.

In my opinion, it is as good as either picture, and possibly better in some ways. What should be cliched and comical (dialogue, the haircuts, the ever-so-familiar construction of hypocritical and contemptuous figures in moral authority, such as the parson and judge) seems grounded and familiar, even authentic. Regardless of the historical accuracy of the film, it feels right, and looks right. 'Satan' could also have been laughable, but isn't at all - prefixed by occasional glimpses of his arm and an appearance in a text on witchcraft that Patrick Wymark studies doubtfully earlier in the film, you know what to expect. So, when the wonderfully twisted, palsied and grotesque face finally appears, it's unlikely that you'll be terrified, but again, it seems credible, believable and needed, a part of the 'terror in daylight' aspect of the picture that works so well, especially in ye olde idyllic, rustic context that frames the film.

The cast, made up almost entirely of actors whose CVs barely extend beyond extra roles in BBC dramas and the occasional Hammer film (Darius Shimon's exemplary booklet notes describe them as 'seasoned professionals...and up-and-coming performers' but I'm not too sure about that) is remarkably good and their collective effort extends way beyond what anyone could expect of this genre or period: Wendy Padbury's credibly childlike sweetness and innocence is compelling, which makes her subsequent rape and murder seem like a deliberately graphic attempt to unsettle viewers (and in that, unlike parallel scenes in Last House on the Left, and I Spit on Your Grave, it works very well, and makes the rape seem not just contextually harrowing but almost a personal affront against the viewer); Patrick Wymark - who has surprisingly little screen time - is superb: an arrogant, self-obsessed, patronising, hypocritical, feudal patriarch, but it's still rather hard to not cheer him on, as he re-appears, Ivanhoe-like, at the film's climax. Barry Andrews' Ralph Gower and Anthony Ainley's Reverend are both believable, credible and noble characters (as well as useful devices for grounding, and moving the exposition forward) and it's very hard to find anyone in the cast who fails to will the old 'suspension of disbelief'. And Linda Hayden: watch her in this, and then puzzle why she did not progress to super-stardom. She is indecently attractive and conveys an attention grabbing, erotically charged, self-assured, duplicitous victim/perpetrator role, in circumstances which would expose the weaknesses of all other female actors brave enough to perform that role.

Buy this film: it is not just a genre picture, but a work of challenging and engaging art.