I remember having this on an old US VHS at the beginning of the 1990's
and i have the same verdict this time as then, it's not a
Hammer film, and thereby quite ambitious as a period horror with it's
satanism in the 17th century (or is it the 16th ?).
Admittedly it's a bit slow and the acting on some parts could've been
better, but due to the meticulous production design and
the cinematography which gives the film it's impressive visual look
the atmosphere of Blood on Satan's Claw is amazing.
It really feels like you are there, probably sometime during the 1600's,
in the english countryside with it's superstitious village
people, and you can feel the Evil atmosphere getting denser, the result
of the growing powers of a Demon.
As, always nowadays when i watch a period film i look
for historic anomalies, like cars seen in the background, electric cables,
TV aerials, telephone lines, aeroplanes etc. Yes, i've been damaged
after watching too many Jess Franco movies, the master
who often gave a fuck about annoying details like that. Well, i couldn't
find any anomaly in Blood on Satan's Claw.
That's great, but it's bit more
slow than i remembered though. A big plus is the charisma and beauty
of young Linda Hayden,
she's great as the evil devil worshipping girl
Angel (and she was only 17 years old when filming this), and one more
actor can
be mentioned and that's Patrick Wymark as the judge, who is good too.
Beware of the ending with probably the least impressive most ridiculous
looking Satan ever on film, ha, ha, a furry little creature.
A farmer plows up some evil looking remains of a man-monster.
A women turns insane after visions of a clawed hand. The village
kids start behaving sacrilegiously, Angel appearing fully nude in front
of the priest, killing other kids and performing dark rituals
in an old church ruin outside of the village. Are they awaiting the
manifestation of Satan himself ?
The film is presented in widescreen 1.85:1 with a LPCM
stereo english audio.
Extras: Two audio commentaries - one with director Piers Haggard, Robert
Wynne-Simmons and Linda Hayden - one with Mark
gatiss, Jeremy Dyson and Reece Sheersmith,
Touching the Devil: The Making Of (20 minutes, 2004), Interview with
director Piers Haggard (22 minutes, 2013)
Linda Hayden: An Angel for Satan (12 minutes, 2003), theatrical trailer,
previews