Blood On Satan's Claw

 Blood On Satan's Claw (some copies have the word The at the beginning of the title, mine does not) started out to be a completely different movie. It began as an anthology of related stories taking place in Victorian England. Then the Vincent Price movie Witchfinder General was a hit and the studio decided they wanted a single narrative set in the 18th century. Finding this out after seeing the movie made a lot of sense, as it sometimes didn't flow as smoothly as it should have. There were also times when the actions of some characters didn't fully make sense. At other times I had difficulty understanding dialogue, though this may be more the fault of hearing loss and being American than anything else.

All that said, this a a good, solid movie with a fascinating premise. It starts with the remains of somne sort of demon being turned up in a field. Soon people are being attacked and driven mad. Some children find part of the remains after they seemed to disappear earlier. The children soon start a satanic coven, and their games evolve into assault, gang rape, and murder. The children also begin to grow patches of fur on their skin. It turns out they are growing pieces of the demon so he can be reconstituted.

The leader of the coven, Angel Blake, tries to seduce the local priest. When that attempt fails Angel frames him for assualting her and for the murder of another of the children that she herself was responsible for. There is a trial byordeal where some villagers throw a girl into a lake to see if she is a witch. She is saved, but it turns out that not only is she spoting a patch of the devil skin, but is a devoted devil worshipper. There is a local judge who is at first skeptical of any supernatural elements at play, but soon becomes convinced of the existence of the coven.

The effects are cheap and not done well, but there aren't many of them and the movie relies more on psychological elements than monster makeup and jump scares. It has that theme common at the time of "our children are caught up in a scary movement that we don't understand, so it must be diabolical". While not as garish or lurid as Hammer films, it does have a couple of scenes of nudity for those who like their horror a little trashy. (Read this as "there are boobs for you pervs out there") The ending is a bit abrupt, and people seem unaffected by tragedies such as losing both their children in a very short span of time. But the movie is engaging enough to forgive these flaws. If you want gore and jump scares, this won't be for you. But if you enjoy a movie that takes it time in telling a story, you'll like this one well enough.