Satan's Slave

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.

This is actually quite a bright spot in the late 70's Brit Horror Film Industry breathing its last few gasps. It comes in a few different versions, some bloodier and sexier than others. It actually works in either the softer or hotter versions. The grue-- including a nude woman threatened with scissors, a head crushed in a door, a gory fall of a ledge, a woman slashed with a jagged piece of glass, and a nail driven into an eye-- is lively, but the central story about the traumatized heroine being cared for by her malevolent uncle and his murderous son is strong enough to stand on its own. There are also the expected scenes of black mass and nude female worshipers. The film plays nicely on our expectations and manages to surprise. With all the garish colors and hazy turn of events, we're never quite certain if everyone is off their rocker, the heroine especially possibly going off on some flight of fantasy triggered by the accident and exacerbated by the legend of the ancestress witch. Plus, characters you expect to play a pivotal role die suddenly, it's hard to tell who is trustworthy and who isn't, and Martin Potter as the cousin vacillates so perfectly between being a morose companion to the girl and a frenzied monster to everyone else that I found myself just as lulled in by him. The violent scenes are shocking and unpredictable, while the talkier sequences have a weirdly cold atmosphere to them. For me, this one gets unfairly written off far too often.

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.

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.

The strange atmosphere of this film seems to lead many to find it boring, but I disagree and in fact find it unsettling and, well, really absorbing. Some of the over the top T and A (I wonder if the rest of the cast was there at the same time as the nudie cuties, these scenes feel like awkward inserts) but at any rate the acting is very good overall. I like the sicko relationship between Francis and the brother. The fact that the mystery has been given away before the final double reverse is actually quite interesting, and puts you in the place of Candice. I wish they had done a final reversal at the end and had Gough get it, but still, I like this sick little film quite a bit.