The Brotherhood of Satan

For some reason in the 1970's it seemed to be a requirement for every former cast member of "The Wild Bunch" to appear in a low-budget satanic-themed horror movie. You had Ernest Borgnine in the ridiculous "Devil's Rain", Warren Oates in the underrated "Race with the Devil", and of course William Holden in the the overblown sequel "Damien: Omen II". The weirdest one though was probably this one which features both Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones (Jones, who would later write and direct the cult classic "A Boy and his Dog", also contributed to the screen play).

It starts out promisingly enough with an entire family somehow being compacted in their car, all except for the young son who wanders off and runs into a strange group of other children. For awhile it is unclear whether this movie is ripping off "Village of the Damned" or "Rosemary's Baby", as you have this group of orphaned and kidnapped children wandering around after their parents have been done by a bizarre murder spree, AND you have a coven of decrepit oldsters led by Strother "What we have here is failure to commun'cate" Martin. The main protagonists are a good-looking but bland couple and their young daughter who are only passing through town, but become involved in the weird goings after they discover the remains of the compacted family. Jones plays the good guy sheriff, and Martin has a second role as the seemingly kindly town doctor.

The satanic scenes are very weird with a lot of freaky shots of children's dolls, and people violently convulsing and dropping dead. The pretty blonde wife also has a "Rosemary's Baby" style hallucinatory dream that is like "Coffin Joe" on particularly bad acid. The end finally ties everything together sort of, but this remains one of those 70's movies that is a lot longer on style than on logic. Still I guess I'd recommend it if you go for these sort of films at all.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Bernard McEveety; Produced by L. Q. Jones and Alvy Moore, distributed by Columbia Pictures. Screenplay by William Welch, based on a story by Sean McGregor; Photography by John Arthur Morrill; Edited by Marvin Walowitz; Music by Jaime Mendoza-Nava. Starring Strother Martin, L. Q. Jones, Charles Bateman, Alvy Moore, Charles Robinson, Ahna Capri and Geri Reischl.

Modern supernatural horror film stressing amateurish acting and realistic settings to contrast with ageless devil-worship. Story is suspenseful, with a slow, deliberate pace and the novel idea of starting in the middle -without flashbacks. The initial expository material is simply omitted! Three unwary travelers stop in a California town are beset by the villagers. The town is sealed off supernaturally and nightly massacres have been occurring for three days! Fine contrast of daytime versus night milieu, plus scary effects makes for a good, well-climaxed thriller.

When I first saw this movie, I hated it as it made little sense. Watching it a second time was good because I discovered that it did have some intelligence to it. However, it's probably too intelligent for the audience it intended to attract. The plot conecrens the inhabitants of a small town who are into witchcraft, attempting to kidnap children for evil purposes and the efforts of a family passing through the town to unravel the mystery. Though not particularly scary, it does have some moments which really stand out and are not easily forgotten. It's also nice to see Strother Martin (an underrated actor) getting to play a lead role.

I had no idea what I was going to see when I decided to view this film and to my surprise its just an extremely well made horror film that is easily one of the best of the 1970's. Film is of course low budget and this is an excellent example of how the story and style of a film creates chills, not special effects! Strother Martin is one of the great character actors of all time and he has a rare starring role here and the film also stars Martins good friend L.Q. Jones and "Green Acres" Alvy Moore. Jones and Moore helped produce this film as well. TV veteran Charles Bateman is the star and "Enter the Dragon" beauty Ahna Capri is his girlfriend. Capri is in a bikini at the beginning of the film and she's just gorgeous to look at! Film does a terrific job of staying with the story and not adding a phony feel good ending and I really liked the way the film ends. Great atmosphere, interesting story and well directed by Bernard McEveety. Martins performance is top notch also as he doesn't hold back at all and really throws himself into the role of Doc. Good and underrated film!

'Brotherhood Of Satan' is a very interesting and overlooked Seventies Satanic thriller. Initially you might lump it in with silly-but-fun schlock like 'The Devil's Rain' and 'Race With The Devil' but it's actually a much more complex and ambitious movie with a much more serious and less sensationalistic approach. T.V. veteran Charles Bateman and Ahna Capri ('Enter The Dragon') play a couple on a road trip with their young daughter (Geri Reischl - 'I Dismember Mama') who find themselves in a mysterious and hostile small town gripped with hysteria. Townsfolk have been brutally murdered and children kidnapped and nobody is quite sure why. Glance at the title of the movie and take three guesses! 'The Wild Bunch's L.Q. Jones (who also co-wrote and co-produced) and Strother Martin (the latter probably best known for his role in 'Cool Hand Luke' - "What we have here is a failure to communicate!") star as the town sheriff and doctor respectively. This is one of a half a dozen movies they made together and it is always a joy to see them sharing screen time. They made a great team which was unfortunately cut short with Martin's death in 1980. The supporting cast also includes Hank Kimball from 'Green Acres' (!) Alvy Moore, a real kick for buffs. 'Brotherhood Of Satan' is a surprisingly creepy and effective horror movie with a sometimes fascinating approach to narrative. A movie that is ripe for rediscovery!