O Estigma de Satanás

See this for Linda Hayden's sexually charged performance as Satan-loving teener Angel Blake, one of British Cinema's more memorable portrayals of pure evil in a petticoat.

Possessing a WITCHFINDER GENERAL-type atmosphere, helped immeasurably by Mark Wilkinson's truly beautiful score, this tale of superstition and a Satanic contagion that exhibits itself as an ugly, hairy patch on the skin (motivating alternate title SATAN'S SKIN) is evidence of solid horror-making afoot.

Patrick Wymark as the pseudo-Witchfinder anchors a mostly youthful cast who become victim to the spreading "disease".

The climax is a ballsy one for director Piers Haggard (who also helmed the taut VENOM) as he dares to portray Satan himself. It's always a risk serving up a visual absolute of a universal concept, but it works surprisingly well here because Haggard knows just how much to show.

As noted earlier, Linda Hayden is dynamite as the sexually provocative Angel and makes it easy to understand how many a fool would follow her to the depths of hell just for a taste of her own brand of heaven.

BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, an evocative title if ever there was one, accomplishes everything it sets out to do.

It comes close to being delightfully lurid at times, and that's what gives it an edge.

Also worthy of applause is Dick Bush's striking, atmospheric cinematography.

In the XVIII Century, in the countryside of England, the landsman Ralph Gower (Barry Andrews) finds a skull with one eye and fur on the field. He summons the local judge (Patrick Wymark) to see his finding but it has disappeared. Meanwhile the local Peter Edmonton (Simon Williams) brings his fiancée Rosalind Barton (Tamara Ustinov) to his aunt's house to marry her on the next day. However during the night Rosalind becomes insane and in the morning she is sent to an asylum and Peter sees a claw that has replaced her hand. Then Peter wakes up with a claw attacking him and he cuts it out, but he finds that he has hacked down his own hand. The local children have a strange behavior under the command of Angel Blake (Linda Hayden) and they rape and kill others. In common, they have a strange fur on their skin. The judge returns from London and concludes that evil has possessed the children. What will he and his search party do?

"The Blood on Satan's Claw" is a weird and cult British horror film. The plot is very strange and original but some scenes are sort of disconnected. The beauty of Linda Hayden tempting the reverend is worthwhile watching. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Estigma de Satanás" ("The Stigma of Satan")

Note: On 28 Sep 2019 I saw this film again.

This 1970 British horror pic is just oozing with atmosphere. It takes place in England in the 1600s where life was harsh and the appearance of weird bones in a farmer's field sets off a chain of demonic activities when a group of farm children discover them. They then begin to worship a mysterious evil entity and start sacrificing other children to it. The music score is appropriate for the movie and there were some scenes that made my skin crawl (no pun intended). I would recommend this movie for connoisseurs of classic horror pictures where the characters don't act like total fools when confronted with evil. If you're squeamish, don't watch this in the dark.

This eerie film is set circa 1640 , when is earthed by a farmer (Barry Andrews) a weird human remains located in an British small village . Later on , a farming community is haunted by the demon himself . Children and adolescents being possessed by hairy demon and becoming them into a coven of witches practicing exorcisms and witchery . The teens led by a nasty young girl (Linda Hayden) are worshipping the devil , raping , and sacrificing other young people . Meantime , a judge (Patrick Wymark) investigates the rare events .

The film packs gruesome images , grisly killings , thriller and intense horror sequences . Magnificent detail period is perfectly set in 17th century . Somewhat nudism at times in charge of Lynda Hayden and pagans ceremonies . For its US release the nudity was censored, particularly in Linda Hayden's seduction scene , by darkening the footage to avoid an X rating . Enjoyable casting by Patrick Wymark (a role ¨Witchfinder general¨-alike) who died slowly after making the film , a gorgeous and erotic Linda Hayden (Taste of Dracula blood) , Barry Andrews (Dracula has risen from grave) , Michele Dotrice(who married to Edward Woodward) and Tamara Ustinov (daughter of Peter Ustinov and niece of Angela Lansbury) . It's produced by Tigon , usual in terror movies and richly atmospheric in Pinewood studios . The movie displays a weird and creepy score musical by Marc Williamson . Evocative and imaginative cinematography by Dick Bush , Hammer films ordinary (Twins of evil , Dracula 72 , When dinosaurs ruled earth). The motion picture was well directed by Piers Haggard (Venom , Quatermass conclusion) . The flick isn't for the faint-hearted , however to be liked for horror fans.

In 17th Century England a man ploughs a field and comes across the skeletal remains of something . Summoning a judge he tells him that the remains belonged to a fiend and takes the judge to the field only to find the remains have disappeared

This acquired a cult following in DOCTOR WHO fandom circa 1990 when the fan press revealed it contained a scene where Wendy Padbury ( 60s companion Zoe ) appeared topless in a scene . Knowing this no one bothered to ask about the rest of the film but the major problem was trying to track it down . It was a time before the internet and Britain was confined to four TV channels and despite Hammer horror movies being broadcast on a fairly regular basis BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW was made by an entirely different film company and no one could recall it being broadcast or released on video . In other words it became something of a cult film and a cult film no one had seen but it eventually turned up on Channel 4 a couple of times along with the occasional screening on satellite channels

It'd be all too easy to dismiss this a Hammer clone full of lowbrow thrills and historical hokum featuring witchcraft but this would be slightly unfair to the film whose central idea revolves around Satan trying to reassert himself on Earth by using a 17th Century English village as his bridgehead . Realistic ? Of course not but my disbelief was totally suspended for the entire running time . There's quite a few themes going on at the same time such as the abuse of authority , of scapegoating , sexual repression and sexual awakening and the hypnotic power of sexuality

Piers Haggard doesn't have a massive budget to work with but he does the absolute best with what he's got . Where he succeeds best is in the production design . This isn't the expensive looking interiors you'd find in a big budget historical movie but far more cramped and drab interiors befitting of the times which comes over as being totally realistic . The cast too are very good especially when you compare to these all too good looking and sassy teens we've seen over the decades in American horror movies . Their accents might be a bit too cod regional but this is a minor flaw . The ending itself might be a too silly for its own good where the supernatural comes to the fore but this is always the problem featuring the supernatural . Up until then the human aspects is enough to keep the story going in a horror film that remains something of a cult but perhaps deserves to be better regarded in horror circles