Satan's Slave

But thats fine since the ladies are all very pretty. The eyes of the main actress are worth watching the movie. The slow pace of the movie makes it very relaxing.

On the eve of her 20th birthday, "Catherine Yorke" (Candace Glendenning) is going with her parents to visit her uncle, "Alexander Yorke" (Michael Gough). Unfortunately, just as they arrive within sight of Alexander's house, the car hits a large tree and explodes killing her mother and her father. Her uncle takes her inside the house so that she can recuperate. While she is there she begins to have premonitions that include flashbacks to Satanic rituals which happened hundreds of years before on the very grounds where her uncle lives. Throw in a mentally unstable cousin, "Steven Yorke" (Martin Potter) and a jealous secretary, "Frances" (Barbara Kellerman) and the result is a devilish tale with a couple of surprises along the way. I thought Candace Glendenning put on a superb performance as did Michael Gough as well. Likewise, both Candace Glendenning and Barbara Kellerman were also quite attractive. On the minus side though, there were some parts which were rather dry and other parts didn't seem to transition very smoothly, causing me to suspect that there was some cutting and splicing which tended to give the film a choppy feel. But I liked the Gothic atmosphere which added to the dark ambiance necessary for a film of this type. One warning though, it does have some nudity which some people may find offensive. Be that as it may, this wasn't a bad film but because of the criticisms I mentioned earlier I have to rate it as average.

I got this movie in a pack of twelve movies called gore house classics or something. I figured they would all be total crap, but as I like watching horror movies and reviewing them I had to buy it, especially seeing as how I had never seen any of the movies on it. This is the first one I have watched on it and while not a good movie by any means it had its moments and did entertain me for its run. The movie does have gore in it, nothing that looks all that great at times, but it is the 70's, a time for the red paint to come splashing out. It also had a good deal of nudity too, I always enjoy seeing 70's ladies nude from time to time as they have a natural look that is just hard to find these days. The story has its moments as I really enjoyed the beginning of the movie and the end quite a bit. It is the middle that at times muddles the movie down as there is a strange love story going on between the female of this tale and her cousin that really seems to be added to pad the film. Basically, she is visiting this uncle that until recently she did not even know she had and there is tragedy shortly after she arrives with her parents. The rest of the film is watching her try to figure out and realize what you the audience already knows, she is in deep trouble. So while not great it was entertaining, rework the script a bit and this one could have been a classic. Though Michael Gough's performance in this one does help the more talkative scenes seem more tolerable.

Perhaps because of the success of ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) and THE EXORCIST (1973) and, to a lesser extent, THE OMEN (1976), the 1970's were a time in which the genre of horror in film was saturated with movies about evil Satanic cults, demonic possession, and incarnations of the big cheese Satan himself. Dozens, if not hundreds, of very low-budget movies revolving around this theme were made in the western world during this era, some with more success than others. It is within this period that SATAN'S SLAVE (1976) was made as a pleasant little contribution from England. While the budget is not as microscopic as that of some of its peers, this flick did not have the sort of funding possessed by the more successful examples of the genre.

This movie is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the worst of its type. It has a reasonably interesting story, attractive characters, at least one sleazy psycho guy, and plenty of nakedness and blood. Since its about an evil Satanic cult, there's also a few cool ritual scenes with daggers and baphomets and robes, along with an attractive young blonde being offered up to the dark lord. What more can a viewer ask for, right?

One of the coolest parts of this movie is the opening sequence, if only because of the eerie off-key piano music and bizarre artwork--there was a certain look attributed to Satanism in the 1970's, and this movie definitely gives the audience that feel. It then transitions to an outdoor scene with a bunch of goat-headed cultists performing the sacrifice of a naked blonde woman upon the altar for the generic reasons that Satanic cults typically do such things in movies of this nature.

From there, we are introduced to Patrick Bateman's wealthy British counterpart, Stephen Yorke (Martin Potter), who romances a young woman. Things are going well for our anti-heroic psycho and it looks like he's about to score a bit of crumpet (if you know what I mean) when suddenly his companion changes her mind for some inexplicable reason. He isn't about to give it up, however, and suddenly clothes are torn and rape seems almost imminent. She does flee the immediate scene, only to have Stephen smash her skull in the doorway before she can exit the manor.

Finally, we meet our heroine, pretty Catherine Yorke (Candice Glendenning), who has spent the night with her long-term lover John (Michael Craze). The two discuss the trip she is about to make out into the country for a week with her parents, to visit a long unknown uncle. Oh yes, and we also find out that Catherine is psychic. No specific psychic powers, mind you--just the generic extra-sensory perception that operates as the plot deems necessary.

Catherine leaves London with her mother and father and they travel by car into the countryside. As they approach her uncle's estate, her father has a flash headache and steers the car directly into a tree. When Catherine is sent for help, the car explodes into a fireball, incinerating her parents and leaving her in the care of her uncle Alexander (Michael Gough).

From there, things go from bad to just plain weird. While Uncle Alexander remains the cool center around which everyone else revolves, his "secretary," a young woman named Francis, does everything she can to maintain Stephen's affection and attention despite the fact that he only has eyes for his cousin. Catherine, meanwhile, has repeated psychic flashes of witchcraft and other assorted Satanic activity around the area, only to end up falling in love with the cold-hearted Stephen and having incestuous relations with him.

Eventually the secrets of the evil cult are revealed, much to the surprise of Catherine but not so much to the surprise of the audience. There are a few twists, but given the age of this movie, expect numerous clichés.

This is a super-cheap movie and there's absolutely no reason you should be paying full price for it. I personally got mine with one of those Mill Creek boxed sets in the dump bin at a local department store. It's not too bad for what it is, all things considered.

"Satan's Slave" sure was a pleasant surprise, since I went into it with not a lot of expectations (back in 2007, on a first time DVD viewing). Before this one, I had previously seen one other Norman J. Warren effort, namely "Inseminoid" (what I would describe as a dubious "Alien" rip-off with a bit of an early Cronenberg-vibe to it). But never mind that one.

"Satan's Slave" moves at a rather slow pace, but I didn't hold that against it (movies from different eras usually have a different pace to them anyway). A gorgeous leading lady witnesses her parents dying in a car crash. She is kept at her uncle's mansion to recuperate. Uncle and nephew have rather sinister plans with her.

"Satan's Slave" is not exactly a 'satanic worshiping cult' movie, but more a macabre tale of reincarnation. Lots of 70's female nudity, some torture, some sacrifices, some nice atmospheric looking scenery surrounding the mansion and a few nasty & gory make-up effects. The make-up was handled rather well also, given the budget available. And we have a nice twist at the end, wrapping things up.

By now I have seen all of Norman J. Warren's horror films - even became a bit of a fan of the man - and I think his "Satan's Slave" still ranks up there as my favorite. Followed by the aforementioned "Inseminoid" (something most people can't really grasp, since it's usually to be found at the bottom of their list with Norman J. Warren favorites).