The Brotherhood of Satan

A deceptively bland-looking piece of hokum obviously derived 'Rosemary's Baby' combined with the sinister blonde moppets from 'The Midwich Cuckoos' and the pagans in 'The Wicker Man' transposed to the Bible Belt is a prime example example of the bizarre seventies & eighties genre of quickies about satanic rednecks (the most famous examples of which probably are probably "Two Thousand Maniacs' and 'Deliverance') .

Strother Martin intitially looks deceptively normal in his first leading role aided by fellow member of 'The Wild Bunch' L. Q. Jones; likewise the bland little town also looks far too nondescript to harbour such a bizarre secret. Also of interest is a rare film appearance by the gorgeous Ahna Capri.

When I first saw this movie, I hated it as it made little sense. Watching it a second time was good because I discovered that it did have some intelligence to it. However, it's probably too intelligent for the audience it intended to attract. The plot conecrens the inhabitants of a small town who are into witchcraft, attempting to kidnap children for evil purposes and the efforts of a family passing through the town to unravel the mystery. Though not particularly scary, it does have some moments which really stand out and are not easily forgotten. It's also nice to see Strother Martin (an underrated actor) getting to play a lead role.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Bernard McEveety; Produced by L. Q. Jones and Alvy Moore, distributed by Columbia Pictures. Screenplay by William Welch, based on a story by Sean McGregor; Photography by John Arthur Morrill; Edited by Marvin Walowitz; Music by Jaime Mendoza-Nava. Starring Strother Martin, L. Q. Jones, Charles Bateman, Alvy Moore, Charles Robinson, Ahna Capri and Geri Reischl.

Modern supernatural horror film stressing amateurish acting and realistic settings to contrast with ageless devil-worship. Story is suspenseful, with a slow, deliberate pace and the novel idea of starting in the middle -without flashbacks. The initial expository material is simply omitted! Three unwary travelers stop in a California town are beset by the villagers. The town is sealed off supernaturally and nightly massacres have been occurring for three days! Fine contrast of daytime versus night milieu, plus scary effects makes for a good, well-climaxed thriller.

This starts very well and I hoped that it would get better because the dialogue seems a bit odd and some of the acting just the same. Unfortunately it gets bogged down although there are very strange and interesting things at the same time but there is something that seems rather silly. I imagine the ending would be really good but not so and it is a shame because every now and again it would become startling before it falls away.

This totally odd-ball feature is a typical and prime example of satanically shocking 70's horror. The events are thoroughly confusing and it takes up quite a while before you figure out what the hell is going on, but the brooding atmosphere sucks you in immediately. Right from the indescribably bizarre intro, showing a couple of eerie children turning toys into real-life war machinery, you just know this become an uncompromising and gritty shocker. "Brotherhood of Satan" soon appears to be another installment in the alleged & unofficial "creepy little town hiding a dark secret" sub genre. A young widower, traveling with his new yummy girlfriend and 8-year-old daughter, stops in a remote little town to report a car accident they witnessed on a nearby highway. The villagers behave very hostile and insist the visitors on leaving right away. The town clearly bathes in an ambiance of fear and panic, as local children vanish inexplicably vanished and unnatural forces maintain everyone within the boundaries of town. Hillsboro is in the grip of a satanic cult, apparently ruled by the elderly members of the community. I really liked "Brotherhood of Satan" a lot. The story reminded me of a novel written by John Saul, but I can't remember the title. It also dealt with a cult of elderly people abusing youthful villagers for their own greedy merits. The film mainly relies on creepy scenery (like dolls and witchcraft relics) but a slightly more involving and coherent screenplay would have been nice. The subject matter often raises a lot of issues and questions, and director Bernard McEveety can't always provide us with answers. The climax is terrific, very seventies (meaning shocking) and unforgettable. Beautifully shot film, too.