The Blood On Satan’s Claw (1971)

When it comes to the genre of folk-horror, there are three titles often referred to as key canonical texts: Witchfinder General, The Wicker Man (original) and The Blood On Satan’s Claw (1971). The latter was also used as the main promotional imagery for the recent documentary about folk horror, Woodlands Dark And Bewitched directed by Kier-La Janisse, mainly images of the bewitched village girl, Angel Blake (Linda Hayden), blonde, wearing a white dress and tree-sticks for a make-shift crown. Set in rural 18th century England, this movie takes us back to a time when people looked like Roger Daltrey and spoke like Samwise Gamgee, when a gormless farmer uncovers a creature’s remains while plowing and unwittingly sets off a chain of events where people start sprouting patches of fur and becoming slaves to Satan. As paranoia sweeps the villagers and the church-going children start playing evil games on each other, the uptight town judge (Patrick Wymark) rides off to gain more knowledge and let terror run its course. The forces that want to rid the land of evil don’t seem that heroic as townsfolk throw women into the lake and the bewigged judge starts an inquisition (though a lot less vile than Vincent Price’s character in Witchfinder General). The Blood On Satan’s Claw has that eerie banality that I find with British horror, particularly from the 70s – like you’ll be watching pastoral imagery, thinking it’s all very quaint, like a pleasant midday TV movie, until something absurdly violent or absolutely grim happens. While a little bit slow, taking its time to establish this bizarre satanic curse presided over by an unclear figure in the mist, the movie is ultimately effective and kooky. Directed by Piers Haggard who also co-wrote it with Robert Wynne-Simmons. Available to stream on Tubi in Australia. Recommended, particularly if you’re into folk-horror.

Psychomania (1973)

The opening credits to Psychomania (1973) aka The Death Wheelers are such a vibe. Helmeted bikers riding around a Stonehenge-type clearing in the mist while droney psychedelic rock plays. This reaches a level of eerie that the remainder of the movie doesn’t quite reach. Still, that’s not a knock, this is an entertaining 1970s British horror-biker movie hybrid. The people making it thought it might have just been a B-movie filler with a kooky plot – a motorcycle gang coming back from the dead – but it has great elements that make it work. Primarily Nicky Henson as the leader, Tom, of the gang that ride through the countryside, terrorising motorists and pedestrians. Henson has got such smarmy, egotistical energy that he’s magnetic; his character is a rebellious Satan-worshipping son from a wealthy home with a mother who’s a medium (Beryl Reid) that believes in witchcraft and psychic practices, supported by their mysterious butler (George Sanders, in his last role). Then there’s the great costumes – the skull and crossbones helmets and jump suits – and the stunts, with plenty of bikes launched off bridges and so on. Finally, there’s the high concept plot, which revolves around Tom’s wish to go to the other side, to make a deal with Satan and come back to life. The trick to immortality? You’ve just got to believe you’ll come back, that’s all! It’s an entertaining mix of folk horror and delinquent bikie gang shenanigans within a provincial UK setting. Along with the Bat Out Of Hell album cover and the Motorhead Killed By Death music video, this features in the ‘motorcycle flying out of a grave’ pantheon. Great midnight movie that I rented at 10pm through MIFF Play as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival. Directed by Don Sharp with a score by John Cameron. Also stars Mary Larkin as Abby, our heroine in danger, Ann Michelle as Jane, the devilish wannabe leader of the gang, and Robert Hardy as the stiff upper lip cop on the case. (You can also find it on YouTube to stream). Recommended.

Witchfinder General (1968)

Deeper into the Vincent Price Blu-Ray boxset, I’ve finally come to the acclaimed folk-horror film, Witchfinder General (1968), which has the reputation of being one of Price’s finest performances. Having seen it, I think his acting is as good as he is in many of the other Corman/Poe movies, but maybe it is more that director Michael Reeves aimed for a more intense, realistic film. That, and whereas there’s usually something likeable or charming about Price’s other villains – here, he’s quite a hateful sort. There’s still plenty of derring do here, but no actual witches or anything supernatural. Rather, the horror comes from the era of lawlessness, superstition and manipulation in representing a version of the notorious Matthew Hopkins (Price), the self-appointed Witchfinder General during the English Civil War of 1645, who with his thuggish assistant John Stearne (Robert Russell), moves from village to village, collecting money from country folk to “investigate” witches or those in league with the devil. This basically amounted to torture and murder, and it’s even a more grim prospect when you read up on the fact that it was real (resulting in hundreds of deaths). Thankfully the movie deviates from history and offers a revenge plot: a dashing soldier (Ian Oglilvy) seeks out Hopkins on account of how he’d tortured and abused his bride (Hilary Dwyer) while sentencing her uncle, a priest, to death. Even for a late-1960s film, there is some nasty violence (despite the red paint looking blood) and the fastidious Hopkins and the loutish Stearne are truly a despicable pair. Apparently, director Reeves clashed with Price on set – he’d originally wanted Donald Pleasance but producers cast the more bankable Price; still, the result was something Price was proud of despite the on set tension, and it became a cult classic, particularly a key text in the area of ‘folk horror’ (along with the original The Wicker Man). Recommended.