User reviews

Set in a small English country town in the 17th Century a farmer unearths inhuman remains that are covered with fur. So he gets the judge of the town to view it, but the evidence has strangely disappeared. After the discovery about the skull and fuss about, weird and horrific occurrences start developing with the appearance of the devil's claw. Also some of the children of the village led by Angel are committing unspeakable terror and performing satanic rituals in a desecrated church in the woods to restore their master.

Atmospheric brilliance on director Piers Haggard's part! Jeez, it was hard to shake off the powerfully foreboding and frantic awe that pierced the air. Mood is a very big key to this film's success in pulling you in with its pervasively chilling and subtle imprint. Visually, Haggard manages to create a beautifully staged period horror by capturing the times and making the most of it's brooding countryside and quiet rural life. What gave it such an embracing atmosphere was that it was mostly shot on location. The beautiful backdrop works rather well with the contrast to the devilishly acts occurring in the peaceful valley. Another thing that hit me and added more to building upon the feel, was the strikingly effective, fine tuned camera-work and the robust score that generates momentum with its unsteady vibe. Also the faintly placed sound effects really do scratch away and cause sudden chills! The classy performances are all strong from the British cast with some richly developed characters. But it's Linda Hayden (Taste the blood of Dracula) luminous performance as Angel Bleak the manipulative evil prowess who stands by the devil's right hand doing his work that makes the film very memorable. Also Patrick Wymark is exceptional as the Judge, the highly placed leader and hero of the town's folk. Maybe the film could have done with a star actor to give it an added boost, but those involved were more then perfect anyway. These provocative aspects took shape and simply completed the film.

The immensely original plot manages to incorporate a whole lot things ranging from folklore tales of witchcraft and Satanism practice to sexuality involving temptation, seduction and lust. This is all done with a serious face. I wouldn't call the plot flawless, as there are many unexplained and meaningless events associated within the material, but it does inject many unexpected turns. It plays around with idea that some sort of curse has hit the town with the devil's presence sinisterly lurking beneath the cracks. Although, it's not terribly all about the devil, but on the innocence of the children, to how the devil has preyed upon them to do his bidding and that's what makes this rather eerie to the bone. Since this is kind of sexually charged in a semi-way, it does provide nudity, but it's not overly graphic when it came to the violence. The gore is low. Though, saying that it does provide some disturbing, raw and perverse images that have the force to stun. It's terrifyingly unpleasant and malevolent in small patches. Like the intense ferocity of the rape scene. Now onto the make-up. Well, the devil design stays mostly hidden in a black cloak, well that's up until the end were we get a clear shot. It's not so bad for the budget. Like so many have pointed out - the only real disappointment in my eyes was the under-whelming conclusion, after being squeezed real tight with tension it just fizzles out without a bang.

Obviously there was profound talent involved, they put their heart into this low-budget production and it all came together perfectly to be highly regarded by those who've seen it. I for one agree. Highly recommended.

By the way I love the original movie poster artwork for this flick. It's damn creepy!

The Blood on Satan's Claw is a terrific film from Tigon Productions and yet, it's still pale compared to their greatest film – this being `The Witchfinder General' staring Vincent Price. Don't let the opening sequences of this film mislead you. The first 20 minutes are rather disappointing, with false scares and missed opportunities to set a satanic tone right from the start. The only real moments to enjoy during these initial 20 minutes are the atmospheric images of rural Britain around the 17th century. The photography of the little cursed village, completely isolated from the rest of England, is shown very effective. Yet, the real `horror' only kicks in when we're introduced to the absolutely astonishing Angel Drake. The young –and bewitching – Linda Hayden plays this shrew from hell. The plot can be summarized as followed: Satan (although never directly referred to as) takes over a little town by transferring his maniacal thoughts and devilish rituals over to the local adolescents and teenagers. Led by Angel Drake, these `children' perform witchcraft, mutilate and brutally kill fellow children who're marked by the growing of Satan's Skin (a bizarre fur suddenly growing on their bodies).

Truly atmospheric and tense with a dazzling demonic theme, subtle undertones of eroticism (Hayden seducing the priest in the church!!) and a spirited courage of director Haggard to break all the typical taboos in horror (pedophilia! Or the Children as symbol of evil!). Peter Wymark is terrific as `the Judge' but you can't help imagining Peter Cushing to play his role. I read in the production notes that Cushing was approached to star (as well as that other British horror legend, Christopher Lee) but the budget of the film was too small. But, just because the budget is modest, it doesn't mean the film can't be shocking. On the contrary! The group-rape scene – controlled by the ghastly eyes of Hayden – is still shocking, even by today's standards. Can you imagine the impact this particular scene caused at the time it was shot? In the year 1970, mind you!

Despite a few flaws, `The Blood on Satan's Claw' is an absolute highlight in the British horror field. Especially recommended to admirers of Hammer films and semi-sleaze lovers. The only letdowns (aside from the semi-tedious opening) is the rather annoying overuse of inappropriate music and the all-too-dramatic slow motion ending.

Fabulous and early English 70s horror, very much in the vein of Wicker Man and if it doesn't quite have that magical something the often inferior film does have, it does have considerable blood and guts. Set very much in the English countryside, this haunting and scary tale drags us into all sorts of horror, both perceived and actual. We never quite see the devilish being, cleverly avoided with harsh and frantic close-ups and discordant sound, but we get a wince inducing 'devil's skin' removal scene and many a violent act. We also get to see much more pleasant young female skin and some crazy and believable woodland set witchcraft scenes. I'm not sure I liked the 'oldie world' language moments and one or two of the births acting stalwarts were a bit lacking but overall everyone dealt very well with an excellent script and confident direction with splendid editing.

For the viewer in 2021, it's easy to find this sort of film over-wrought in tone (not to mention to also see it through the lens of Monty Python And The Holy Grail); but viewed on its own terms it remains a gripping, chilling film that's also at times moving, upsetting, disturbing and challenging. There's no doubt it genuinely has things to say about religion and community; and its totemic influence on much that was to come is clear. I was really engaged by this - I'm not sure why I find myself so surprised by the extent to which I was. An excellent, powerful film.

Personally, I thought this was better than The Wicker Man, the movie it probably gets compared to most often. I loved everything about this movie, though the frequent female nudity was somewhat cheesy (though not especially gratuitous, as it fit into the movie and plot well).

The best part of this movie, I think, is the atmosphere that so many horror and thriller films seem to lack. It's the little things, like a brief glance of someone's fingers replaced by demonic claws, that put you in the mood to be creeped out and told a story of helpless village overcome by evil.

I find it interesting that the children and young adults who rebel against the stern authority of the Church, frolic in the woods, and preach free love are essentially hippies, though they're portrayed as self-centered hedonists, rather than idealists and peaceniks. It's a sly attempt at social commentary in an exploitation movie, which may seem amusingly quaint to modern audiences, 40 years later.

Highly recommended, especially for fans of classic 70s horror.

1970's "The Blood on Satan's Claw" was produced by Tony Tenser's Tigon British company in the wake of their best known effort, Vincent Price's 1968 "Conqueror Worm," which was a collaboration with American International. Unlike higher profile competitors Hammer and Amicus, Tigon lasted barely a decade before going belly up as England's film industry entered its early 70s decline, but were successful in employing Donald Pleasence ("Cul-De-Sac"), Boris Karloff ("The Sorcerers"), Peter Cushing ("The Blood Beast Terror"), Barbara Steele ("The Crimson Cult"), George Sanders ("Invasion of the Body Stealers"), Christopher Lee ("Hannie Caulder"), and Ian Bannen ("Doomwatch"). The originally titled "Satan's Skin" must be regarded as their last great masterpiece, conceived by Robert Wynne-Simmons as an attempt to do an Amicus anthology of three separate stories, extensively rewritten by director Piers Haggard to render an almost seamless tale of old world witchcraft shot in unvarnished Bix Bottom Valley, northwest of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, where no other movie has ever been filmed, 253 acres still open to the public. It served as the perfect location for a wooded community in the early 18th century, beset by horror brought on by the plough of farmer Ralph Gower (Barry Andrews), the remains of a face resembling something human but covered with animal fur. He summons The Judge (Patrick Wymark) to see the evidence but the face (and staring eye) have disappeared, the Judge dismissing talk of a 'fiend' on his return to the home of Isobel Banham (Avice Landon), an old friend. Also back is Isobel's nephew, master of the house Peter Edmonton (Simon Williams), the night before his impending marriage to Rosalind Barton (Tamara Ustinov), treated as an intrusive peasant by Peter's aunt, forced to sleep in the unattended attic room. Waiting for her fiancee to join her, Rosalind is attacked by an unseen menace crawling up from beneath the floorboards, scratching Isobel's face and sent away to Bedlam by morning, her missing hand replaced by a fearful claw. It's not long before Peter's aunt also disappears, while the ironically named Angel Blake (Linda Hayden) takes possession of the other village youth, the Reverend Fallowfield (Anthony Ainley) finding his class shrinking day by day. Peter is victimized the following night in the attic, cutting off his own hand in a delusional effort to prevent being strangled by the hairy clawed creature. Angel hopes to seduce the man of God to serve her lord and master, removing every stitch of clothing for the kind of temptation that few men would resist, but his pure soul remains intact in banishing her from the premises. The Edmonton maidservant, Ellen Vespers (Charlotte Mitchell), now runs the household with Mistress Banham gone without a trace, only to lose her son Mark (Robin Davies) to Angel's deadly games deep in the forest, at the ruins of a disused church, where the fur covered Behemoth calls for its skin from every member of its growing coven, many of whom bear bloody bandages for lost limbs. Angel's accusation of rape by the hapless Reverend is quickly disproved when Ralph turns up with the corpse of his beloved Cathy Vespers (Wendy Padbury), cruelly raped and stabbed during orgasm by Angel Blake herself during an unholy orgy demanding the blood of the innocent. Coven member Margaret (Michele Dotrice) first presides over Cathy's sacrifice, then loses her own fur covered skin by a skillful doctor (Howard Goorney), whose ancient tome on witchcraft enables The Judge to take on the growing evil once he returns from London. The US suffered from a darkened print to hide some of the nighttime mayhem (Angel's full frontal reveal trimmed to just a topless treat), a picture that never made any money yet proved durable enough to continue filling out drive-in double and triple bills deep into the 1980s. Linda Hayden enjoyed the fairy tale-like atmosphere in Hammer's "Taste the Blood of Dracula," but found this to be quite different from anything else at the time, a quaint and realistic look at a period where Christianity was still threatened by the old religions. Marc Wilkinson's evocative, haunting music score magically transfers the audience to another time and place, earning special kudos as part of the brief run of 'folk horror.'

I can remember first hearing the title of this movie back in the 1980's when I was a horror hooked teen and I just couldn't wait to see it. The 17th Century English rural setting is superb, it felt to me so real. No large Gothic mansions or castles, just simple bumpkin folk, a church and the local squire. The film has a wonderful musical score, helping pile on the atmosphere, and there are several very (for the time) graphic images.Stunning Linda Hayden plays the devilish Angel, no question her character is one of the strongest female roles in horror cinema from this period. I also like the fact that it also stars Michele Dotrice, who went on to play Betty Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'ave 'em, one of the funniest TV shows ever.

An absurd story about the return of witchcraft after its heyday in the 17th century, when everyone thought it was extirpated, involving weird rituals and disturbing turns of events, but very well made with a seducing beauty and charm over it all, greatly enhanced by Marc Wilkinson's music, which almost makes the film. Linda Hayden as the leading witch and Patrick Wymark as the so called authority of justice lead the atrocities, which get worse all the way. He is abominable in his usual ways, which almost makes the poor bewitched children appear innocent in comparison. It's a speculative almost experimental wandering into the occult very much in the vein of "The Wicker Man" from the same period, but this is all 18th century perfectly revived, a kind of post-puritan horror story of fascinating ingenuity, almost architectural in its composition, and part of its very suggestive strength lies in its character of almost an impressionistic improvisation, which adds to its totally absurd but still convincing reality. The chief backbone of the film making it well worth seeing to anyone remains though the perfect music.

"Blood on Satan's Claw" (aka. "Satan's Skin") of 1971 is a creepy and incredibly atmospheric gem of British Occult/Gothic Horror that should by no means be missed by a Horror fan. Second only to Michael Reeves' 1968 masterpiece "Witchfinder General" (starring the great Vincent Price), "Blood on Satan's Claw" ranges among the greatest films released by the magnificent production company Tigon, and among the moodiest British Horror films from the early 70s.

Piers Haggard's film is magnificently set in a remote village 17th century England, where farmer Ralph Gower (Barry Andrews) stumbles over a mysterious skull with an eye while plowing his fields. When he wants to show his find to the local judge (Patrick Wymark), the skull has vanished. From that moment onward, however, the entire village seems affected by a mysterious demonic power: It starts with a young woman going mad and suddenly growing a claw; soon thereafter village teenagers show satanic tendencies in their behavior...

"Blood on Satan's Claw" is incredibly gloomy from start to finish. The creepy atmosphere is supported by a fantastic eerie score, and the photography and rural British setting are beautiful and very moody. The performances are great. British character actor Patrick Wymark (who played Oliver Cromwell in "Witchfinder General") is once again fantastic in his role (once again a figure of authority). Other actors, such as Anton Ainley or James Hayter are also great. The actress who steals the show, however, is the ravishing young Linda Hayden (also known for her role in the Hammer Studio's "Taste the Blood of Dracula"), in the role of Angel Blake, the leader of the possessed teenagers. Looking beautiful, almost cherubic, the seductive Angel is utterly sinister and malevolent, and Hayden is great in the role. However, all the performances are good, the accents and dialog give the film a great feeling of authenticity.

Overall "Blood on Satan's Claw" is a fantastic and highly atmospheric Horror film that is creepy and suspenseful from start to finish and furthermore includes a bunch of genuine shocks. An absolute must-see for my fellow fans of British Horror.

In my reviews I try not to repeat what others have said. I will, however, draw attention to the fact that this was planned as an anthology of stories set in the same 18th century village in the same period, then only in development were the three stories spliced together, and it shows.

(In the same way, IIRC, the script for the Wicker Man was shortened to remove one day and night's events from the story, which also has a rather disjointed feel)

So, sure: it's rather disjointed.

But...

It has a simply fantastic score.

It has equally fantastic and evocative location cinematography, perhaps the fact I'm a rather self-consciously rural Englishman makes this have a more profound impact on me, I don't know.

The sound recording in general is excellent, the inclusion of the skylark singing over many unnerving scenes is wonderfully jarring with their content.

Patrick Wymark - dead by the time of release - is as good as ever.

Linda Hayden is great, creepily erotic as Angel Blake.

Now I'll completely spoil her performance for you. Try and watch her with the drawn-on eyebrows at the end and not think of Cara Delevigne. I dare you.

So yeah, it's not great, it makes very little sense. But I love it.

Independent British film studio Tigon films presents this first rate period piece of horror cinema titled 'The Blood on Satan's Claw' released in 1971.

This film has serious production value. The period piece customs are wonderful. The set design of rural Britten, the outstanding cinematography and interesting camera angels. Every scene is soaked in the lush greens and browns of a damp British summer, giving it a sense of time and place which helps suspend disbelief transporting the viewer back in time to England in 15th century.

Set in the 15th century English countryside, a farmer unearths a weird skull, unleashing an ancient evil on his village. Something scary in an attic sends a local girl mad and drives her fiance to self-mutilation. The evil spreads to the local youngsters as they begin to worship something nasty in the ruins of an old church, sacrificing anyone found to be cursed with Satan's skin...

American film director, screenwriter and production designer Robert Eggers I am sure was a huge fan and possibly influenced by, The Blood on Satan's Claw.

Leading the cultists is the deliciously monstrous character of Angel Blake. Linda Hayden imbues Angel with a devilish malevolence. Her alluring sensual sexuality is undeniable in this film as beautiful teen aged Linda Hayden bares it all. This film does not hold back.

Writers: Robert Wynne-Simmons & Piers Haggard of the screenplay have a very serious and somewhat dark disturbing subject matter as it explores rural pagan beliefs and practices, insanity, sex, borderline exploitation nudity, mutating gore and murder. Continual struggle of good against evil. Everything a horror film should be.



As with any atmospheric chiller the music is an important part of the equation. Composer, conductor Marc Wilkinson's orchestral compositions are used to heighten terror and suspense .The marvelous score has a quintessentially evocative English feel to it , almost like a dark brooding twist on English folk ballads and adds enormously to the atmosphere.

A perfect combination of accurate period details, superb musical score, overwhelming atmosphere, and convincing central performances help provide the basis for one of the finest British horror films of the 1970s.

One of the best british horror films from the days of the 'Hammer Studios'. In fact there were two other studios producing lower budgeted pictures of the same ilk 'Amicus' and the very obscure 'Tigon' (the latter also produced two other legendary movies 'Creeping Flesh' and 'The Witchfinder General'). 'Tigon' studios were not rich enough to secure actors such as Christoper Lee, and this one was also turned down by the most prolific Peter Cushing. A great shame really because unlike 'Hammer' almost everything 'Tigon' touched turned to gold. With an interesting plot, coupled with a quality script and with the violence ratcheted-up to a new bar level (contains one of the most brutal rape scenes). The lost but truly bizarre ceremonial dance, has thankfully been restored. This is my 300th review on IMDB and so happy it's a great movie.

"The Blood on Satan's Claw" follows the unraveling of a small English village in the 1800s, which begins when a farmer discovers a bizarre inhuman carcass in a plowed field. The remains mysteriously vanish, after which the village youth become subject to the influence of a demon hoping to be reborn.

Something of an outlier where '70s British horror is concerned, this second directorial effort from Piers Haggard is effective, subtle, and audacious all at once. It begins with a seemingly trivial occurrence, which slowly churns an entire community toward a hellish downward slide. On one hand, it plays out almost like a fairytale, but on the other, there is a visceral bent to the proceedings that leaves the viewer uncomfortable on multiple occasions.

There is a pervasive sense of evil taking hold that runs through the film, and it sustains this, for the most part, up until the conclusion. A handful of sequences are masterfully executed, including one in which a character is glimpsed with a claw hand, and another harrowing scene in which a children's game swiftly descends into ritualistic rape and murder. The film teeters between these two extremes: downbeat subtlety, and flagrant luridness--but it never manages to veer too far into either, somehow managing to keep one foot in both.

Marc Wilkinson's chilling musical score helps tie things together here, as does the moody cinematography. The film is set against lush green backdrops of woods and meadows that at times almost seem otherworldly, or even prehistoric--in some way alien from the humans that inhabit them, much in a way you find in the films of Ingmar Bergman. The performances here are also tightly-controlled, with the younger actors really taking the reins.

The only real fault I find in the film is the stumbling that occurs at its conclusion, leaving it feeling slightly irresolute. The film seems to clamber in the last ten minutes or so, in a way that makes it feel like the writers didn't quite know how to end it. Even still, despite this slightly fumbled conclusion, "The Blood on Satan's Claw" is a masterful exercise in mood and dread that achieves a rare feat: It shocks and frightens us in ways that are both over-the-top and under-the-skin. There are moments in this film that are truly unforgettable. 9/10.

I saw this fine movie when it first came out in London in 1971 (I believe); it had the title "The Devil's Skin". I saw it later in the US under the title "Blood on Satan's Claw." There were some 20 minutes cut from the UK version. I have to agree with the previous posts on the superior quality (for this genre) and the superb music effects- this is indeed a classic, and it would be nice, in this more "enlightened" age(!?) to be able to see the original again. Anyone have any ideas on how to do this?

And yes, I too was very disappointed with the editing, in both the UK and US versions. After the evident care taken with sets, atmosphere, dialog etc. it is difficult to attribute the 2 or 3 disjointed edits (as mentioned in other reviews) to anything more than haste or bad judgment on the part of the editors; rather like ripping out a chapter here or there in a good novel to please the publisher.