Satan's Slave (1979)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Satan's Slave is a cult film, a horror pic for those with a bent for occult based euro trash made on a small budget. Plot has a young woman played by Candace Glendenning caught up in a devil worshipping cult run by her uncle Alexander Yorke (Michael Gough).It's full of the familiar tropes of such movies, plenty of nudity, violence and blood, and of course some interesting attire - gotta love those goat head masks! But it's all so tediously ridiculous and acted accordingly. Yes the violence is cold and nasty, and there's shock value here, including attempted rape, making this one that for sure would have had the censors of the time looking nervously through the print. But the interim passages of dialogue, of which the pic is predominately built, are borderline yawn inducing. Director Norman J. Warren is guilty of overdoing the horror cliche's, and the garish luridness of it all wears thin by the midpoint, but in the plus column is Les Young's intense colour photography.Cult fan base for it does exist, understandably so since there is a big call for this type of cinema, but with that comes the fact that it's an acquired taste and obviously not for all horror buffs. 4/10

On her way to a nice, relaxing vacation at her uncle's isolated country mansion, Catherine (Candace Glendenning) is instead tortured and terrorized by her uncle Alexander (Michael Gough) and cousin Stephen (Martin Potter), who -- unbeknownst to her -- are disciples of Satan.Michael Gough is here pre-"Batman", Michael Craze, who plays John, also appeared in other films by director Norman Warren. The cast in general is pretty good.The picture a little shaky on the Mill Creek copy, and the sound is somewhat muffled, but there are plenty of hairy nude women getting sacrificed, if that's your thing. And decent kills, like a head slammed in a door.Apparently, there exists a version with an audio commentary. I know nothing about that, but it would be an improvement. If the sound and picture are cleaned up on there, too, it might actually be a decent film.

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.

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.