A film deserving of its cult status and following, Blood On Satan's Claw is an incredibly well crafted British horror tale that is vastly superior to other Tigon Produced horrors of the 70's and ranks highly as one of the creepiest on screen depictions of witchcraft and devil worship ever made. Ignoring the sensationalist title which doesn't do the film itself justice, this is one good old frightfest that really doesn't fail to deliver the goods.
Set in rural 17th century England, the remains of a decomposing inhuman corpse are found by the local farmer Ralph (our heroic male lead played with a compelling desperation by Barry Andrew's)who, upon informing the local judge (Patrick Wymark, appearing drunk throughout the film) of his findings, realises the remains have disappeared and his story is cast off as supernatural nonsense. However, members of the village slowly begin to fall under a strange spell that turns the local school children into a clan of Satan worshiping upstarts. Blood On Satan's Claw has so many great performances it's hard to mention them all, but obviously the most memorable performance is that of Lindas Hayden, who plays Angel Blake, the vicious and manipulative ringleader in the devils playground. At 17, and braving a full frontal seduction of her school teacher and local preist, this must be a career highlight for her as she helped create not only an iconic female character by odorning most of the films gorgeous publicity artwork but one of the greatest demonic children in horror history. Dressed in her crown of thorns and o.t.t face paint, she leads the villages children on a rampage of rape, murder and sacrificial evil doings all in the name of Satan himself. Who, I must point out makes a particularly frightening appearance during the films showdown when Wymark interrupts the children's ceremony.
Awash with an unnerving sense of dread, Blood On Satan's Claw also boasts one of the more memorable and addictive soundtracks of it's time. Mark Wilkinsons rhapsodic theme really does get under your skin and lingers in the subconscious long after viewing, as all good film scores should. The Repetitive use of certain musical phrases contributes greatly to the films overall presence, and as with Dario Argento's best known films, it's hard to imagine the picture, as powerful as it is, working quite so well without it.
Founded by Tony Tenser in 1966, Tigon was a British Horror film production company that found popularity after the initial success of Hammer and the growing demand for scares and chills on the big screen. Alongside the fabulous Amicus films, Tigon never quite equalled the prolific output of Hammer or left such a vast and dizzying legacy but did, however, strike gold with the Vincent Price Cromwell(ian) gorefest Witchfinder General. Causing uproar with the censors in 1968, director Michael Reeves brave and daring portrail of witch hunting in 16th century England is nowadays accepted as a gratuitous yet almost endearingly camp slice of horror. Flawed yet deserving of its place in the pantheons of nastiness.
Blood On Satan's Claw has a similar demonic atmosphere but chooses to skip the romantic subplot and instead goes straight for the throat with its tales of forbidden folklore, bloodlust and the taboo breaking use of children as the evil doers.
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