The Blood on Satan's Claw

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Zahara B Did not really draw me in, nothing interesting about the characters, not a lot of detail on the few plot points that happened. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/09/25 Full Review Allan C Surprisingly good British folk horror The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) **** Quite good British bit of Folk Horror about a Satanic cult spreading amongst the children of a remote English village. I was expecting the film to be a cheesy but enjoyable film along the lines of TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER, but it ended up being a surprisingly shocking and genuinely frightening film closer to Michael Reeves’ brilliant WITCHFINDER GENERAL. The real standout of the film is the ringleader of the cult, Linda Blake, who’d appeared in a ton of British horror films, but never made much of an impression on me until this film. It could be her crazy, over-exaggerated eyebrows that grabbed my attention, but the scene where she tries to seduce the local reverend is a high point of the film. I’m going to have to investigate more of her movies. There’s one where she plays a teenage hitchhiker who gets pregnant and then drives Peter Finch to madness that I’ll definitely want to check out. But this film is filled with all sorts of strange little moments, such as the kids convincing a weakling peer into skipping scripture class to play a game in the woods that goes horribly wrong. Or when the children begin to sprout patches of demonic fur that need to be flayed off their bodies. There are some moments that genuinely send a shiver up your spine! As with most folk horror, it’s a horror sub-genre that’s not for all tastes, but if you enjoyed THE WICKERMAN, WITCHFINDER GENERAL, or the more recent MIDSOMMAR, you’ll probably dig this film. FUN FACT! Director Piers Haggard is the great-great-nephew of the pulp writer H. Rider Haggard, author of KING SOLOMON’S MINES and SHE. AI CAPSULE REVIEW: The Blood on Satan’s Claw is a surprisingly chilling slice of British folk horror, closer in tone to Witchfinder General than the campier occult fare of the era. With eerie imagery, unsettling twists, and a standout performance by Linda Blake, it’s a must for fans of The Wicker Man or Midsommar. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/16/25 Full Review Jason W I'm generally not much into period style films or British films, but this one was very unnerving and had some pretty decent parts, albeit it also had some disturbing scenes (the r*pe scene for sure was uncomfortable), and kept my attention for the most part. Quite an interesting film. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/06/25 Full Review Jeferson d Quite an interesting take on this kind of story! Some really heavy moments but it does not feel out of place because the plot is, quite honestly, terrorizing. The build up to the climax lost some quality, but the ending was quite good even more so if you enjoy medieval weaponry! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/28/25 Full Review Barry E Excellent costumes, scenery & performances, mostly. The oppressive setting and effective dialogue helps the movie overcome the dated special effects. Enjoyable. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/15/24 Full Review Bert V Blood on Satan's Claw has always been indelibly etched in my memory from the frequent viewings on local horror movie host TV shows of my childhood. I found a VHS copy in the 80s which, unfortunately, was visually washed out but kept with the eerie, foreboding nature of the film. An all-region Blu-ray special edition that I found on Amazon was an amazing transfer of the film, making the beautiful and effective scenery jump off of my television screen as if the movie had just been filmed. For being over 50 years old, the movie still seems fresh and still seems as scary to me as it did back in my childhood. If you enjoy Hammer-esque horror and are looking for something that still has its edge after so many years, check this one out. And, if you can see the special edition Blu-ray, even better. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/16/24 Full Review Read all reviews

The Blood on Satan's Claw

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