Devil's Partner (1961)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

What is up with that crazy poster for The Devil's Partner? The artist sure took some creative license when designing it, depicting a naked, torch-wielding woman astride a galloping centaur, despite there being nothing like this in the film. It's a little disappointing, if truth be told (can't beat a bit of naked centaur riding), but even so, this obscure B-movie is quite an entertaining little chiller, telling an engaging Faustian tale that delivers a reasonable helping of eerie atmosphere and decent performances all round.The film opens with town pariah Pete Jensen (Ed Nelson in old-man make-up) performing a ritual in his run-down shack, making a deal with the devil. Days later, a young man (Ed Nelson, sans crazy hair and big beard) arrives in town claiming to be Pete's nephew, Nick Richards, only to be told that his uncle has died in mysterious circumstances. However, in reality, Nick is Pete, having been transformed as part of his Satanic bargain; in his new guise, he proceeds to charm lovely doctor's daughter Nell (Jean Allison), using witchcraft to deal with those who might get in his way.After causing a savage dog attack on Nell's boyfriend David (Richard Crane) that leaves the guy hideously scarred and acting like a petulant ass, Nick also puts paid to Papers (Byron Foulger), the town drunk, who is trampled to death by a horse, kills plastic surgeon Dr. Marx (who crashes his car into a cow), and attempts to finish off David with the old 'turn into a rattlesnake and slither through the bedroom window' trick. All of this is fairly entertaining nonsense that passes the time painlessly enough, although at a scant 73 minutes there really isn't time for boredom to set in.Still would have liked to have seen that centaur though.

I must admit that I usually have a soft spot for movies where people get great powers and start eliminating their enemies one by one, so I thought that I would like "Devil's Partner". But in the end I thought the movie was a letdown. I will admit it gets off to a decent start, with some intrigue and even a little eeriness, plus also a little style injected by the director. However, after the promising opening, the movie loses its way. It becomes a real slow-moving story (despite having a running time of only 72 minutes), and it is seriously lacking bite. The movie really needed a harder edge; as it is, it feels too soft as well as slow. While I wouldn't call the end results terrible, the movie all the same is a big disappointment.

This movie is beyond weird. I guess this is the reason we watch these old films, they are whack! While I watched this I kept thinking about the mythical city of Mayberry. You have the usual cast of characters, with a few borrowed from the Bevery Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction. We have the down to earth country sheriff, we have Ellie May who spends her time milking goats, we got the town drunk, we got Opie who finds a dead body,and of course we have a broken down old man who is worshiping Satan. I agree with other reviewers who said you want to keep watching... true.The best thing this movie has going for it is the outrageous, off the farm plot. Its also pretty well directed. The last few scenes deliver a big payoff that even includes some VERY weird symbolism. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I thought the cast was very good. I thought Richard Crane was very good and Ed Nelson seemed perfect for his part although if I'd written this, or anybody had today, the girl would have certainly fallen for the handsome fiend. This movie works almost liked a Twilight Zone episode that was rejected because it was just to freaking bizarre. This would be a cool movie to show at a Halloween party. I watched this after watching another Ed Nelson horror film called Night of the Blood Beast. I never realized he had such a cool horror film resume.

by the comments on this page, i feel the need to clarify a misconception. The old man never actually died, on his pact with the devil, he was given a new restored life and youth. This being the reason for why he digresses to his elder state, sometimes when at his shack. Keep in mind the whole thing was simply to get revenge on the town people, which he would not be able to do as a crippled old man. He faked his own death, and simply invented being the nephew of the old man in order to avoid suspicion and explain why a young man now lives and owns the land. On the final scene, where he dies, his body returns to the old man appearance and then dies.