The screenplay for the film was originally written by Robert Wynne-Simmons as an anthology of horror stories set in a small village, and had the working title of Satan's Skin. After director Haggard was hired for the project, he and Wynne-Simmons reworked the screenplay into a singular cohesive narrative. Principal photography took place in 1970, mainly in the Chiltern Hills region of England.

This book is a novelisation of the classic folk-horror film, 'The Blood on Satan's Claw' written fifty years later by the original screen play writer. If you've seen the film then you're probably the target audience for this and it's fun reading along waiting for all the bits you remember from the film to crop up and the novel does expand on the film in quite a few ways to give the reader a little more context. Seventeenth-century England, and a plough uncovers a grisly skull in the furrows of a farmer’s field. The skull disappears, but its malefic influence begins to work in insidious ways upon the nearby village of Hexbridge. First, the cows stop milking and the fruit turns rotten on the trees. Then, an insolent ungodliness takes hold of the local children, mysterious fur patches appear on limbs and people start disappearing….Something evil is stirring in the woods. Something that is corrupting the village youth, who retreat to the woodland deeps to play their pernicious games. Hysteria spreads as it becomes clear that the devil has come to Hexbridge, to incarnate himself on earth. The obsession with British landscapes, superstitions, and the occult were the initial steps to the rebirth of folk horror as we have seen with recent movies, such as The Witch (2015) and Midsommar (2019). Blood on Satan’s Claw sparked the resurgence of old customs and beliefs, the supernatural, and violent events that could take place in the daylight. Fifty years later, it has earned the respect of horror fans, and it has scared viewers with its non-fiction plot that exists in the world.

Agent Scully: The judge is highly skeptical of Ralph’s claims to have discovered the bones of Behemoth, even after he comes to believe that witchcraft is, indeed, present in the village. When he's presented with physical evidence of such phenomena however, he fully comes around and leads the climactic witch hunt. By Haggard's account, the film's original working title was The Devil’s Touch, which was subsequently changed to Satan's Skin. [4] Casting [ edit ] there is a certain infamous scene in the film which is depicted quite differently in the book - violence, and sexual violence particularly is largely implied or depicted as happening off screen) The story carefully balances a sense of desolation with moments of violence as supernatural elements slowly creep into the tale. While gradual at first, it cleverly works to show only so much of what’s going on, unveiling it as the devil begins to move more openly. The excellent sound design and voice acting is really what helps to convey the story’s atmospheric strength, and the script knows when let them take the heavy lifting when it comes to drama. Between this and the excellent sound effects, it manages to outshine its source material in moments of true terror. Yandere: Angel Blake tries to seduce Reverend Fallowfield. When he denies her, she lies to her father and the squire, claiming that he molested her. This nearly results in his lynching.

a b c Stafford, Jeff. "Blood on Satan's Claw". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. Related: Harvest Home : The 1973 Pagan Horror Classic that Laid the Groundwork for Stephen King's "Children of the Corn" Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Behemoth is killed rather swiftly with a pitchfork. However, it remains unknown if he'll actually stay dead. Ungrateful Bastard: Margaret is chased by a mob of hysterical villagers, believing her to be a witch, and is nearly drowned. Ralph saves her, but she shows absolutely no gratitude, revealing that she actually is a witch. The tarnished church is the focal point of the earthy and rural scenery. The adults worry about the dark forces in their town and its effect on their innocent children. Young girls like Margaret are accused of being witches for having sexual cravings, and Blake tempts Reverend Fallowfield with her naked body before accusing him of rape. The patches of furry skin and claws are cut off the victims like puzzle pieces put together to form the image of Satan. The abandoned church is where the teenage victims are tortured, raped, and killed in return for the furry skin. The cult’s actions signify the breakdown of values, and the growing madness in the secluded countryside as a result of the demonic possessions.

The ruined church

Something evil is stirring in the woods. Something that is corrupting the village youth, who retreat to the woodland deeps to play their pernicious games. Hysteria spreads as it becomes clear that the devil has come to Hexbridge, to incarnate himself on earth. Can the villagers, led by the Squire Middleton (Mark Gatiss) and Reverend Fallowfield (Reece Shearsmith), prevent the devil gaining human form? The 1960s witnessed the rise of Satanism as Anton LaVey founded the first Church of Satan, and Alexander Sanders founded the tradition of Alexandrian Wicca in Europe. The occult was a freedom from religion and an openness of the unknown, power, sex, and witchcraft. “I was trying to make a folk horror in a way because we are all a bit interested in witchcraft, we were all a bit interested in free love,” said Haggard. "The rules of the cinema were changing and nudity became possible; over prevalent because the lid had slightly been taken off.” Consequently, the film’s depiction of witchcraft is also complicated: on the one hand, the film never shies away from depicting the cruel and evil actions carried out by the coven, including the rape and murder of sacrificial victims from outside the community. At the same time, the film avoids presenting the coven as made up entirely of fundamentally evil people and instead offers some implicit explanation for why so many members of the community–particularly young people–find the movement so appealing. The Blood on Satan's Claw first received a VHS release in the United States in 1985 by Paragon Video Productions. [31] It was re-released in this format in 1993 by MGM Home Entertainment. [32] [33] In 2005, it was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment in a Region 2 box set along with several other Tigon British Film Distributors films, including Witchfinder General, The Beast in the Cellar, and others. [32]

a b c d Simpson, Michael (2003). "Piers Haggard interview". MJSimpson.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Onto the positives - yes, this book does describe a late 17th century rural village really well. We have the unknown but ever present threat of superstition and pagan practices and good old devil worship. We have witchfinder authority figures, who never really come across as the good guys either. There are quite a few scenes which are creepy without being gratuitous.Several of the younger cast members, particularly Hayden, Ustinov, and Richard Williams, recalled that Haggard's direction was concise and that the shoot operated smoothly. [18] Card-Carrying Villain: Margaret identifies herself as "the devil's child", and Angel's other minions aren't much more subtle about their dark allegiance. Angel herself maintains an ingenuous charade.

Folk horror of the early ‘70s sits in a special place in film history. Sitting at the crossroads between classic Hammer and the golden age of the slasher film, they are a unique entity which does not fit into the definitions of popular genres. In the case of Blood on Satan’s Claw, while it failed financially these unique qualities earned it a very devoted cult audience. Two of who just happened to be Mark Gatiss and Mark Morris. This adaptation couldn’t have been in safer hands. Whilst this book is released under an imprint of Liverpool University Press, Evans-Powell’s delivery gives it greater appeal. Not just for students and scholars, it is accessible, and of interest to wider fans (and even detractors) of The Blood on Satan’s Claw– a film which, although not entirely devoid of flaws (in my opinion it would be better had the fiend itself not be seen outright, but just vaguely depicted in shadows – and for the ending to have been drawn out longer, as it seems a tad rushed), is an important piece of both folk horror and British film history and, indeed, a disturbingly mesmeric artistic creation. An important addition to the Devil’s Advocates catalogue, and one concisely and extremely well provided by its author. Seventeenth-century England, and a plough uncovers a grisly skull in the furrows of a farmer's field. The skull disappears, but its malefic influence begins to work in insidious ways upon the nearby village of Hexbridge. First, the cows stop milking and the fruit turns rotten on the trees. Then, an insolent ungodliness takes hold of the local children, mysterious fur patches appear on limbs and people start disappearing....Flower curtains open as the sun rises at noon, and people with animal masks prey upon trespassers as spring makes way to summer. There is blood dripping like strawberry jam on your fingers and the group chants to honor your work. That, my friends, is folk horror—bloody and ritualistic terror thriving by day. The Blood on Satan’s Claw (released originally in the UK under the title of Satan's Skin) is a 1971 English Folk Horror/ Religious Horror movie released by Tigon British Film Productions and directed by Piers Haggard. Evans-Powell, David (29 April 2021). "Reviving forgotten horrors: celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Blood on Satan's Claw". Liverpool University Press. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Whilst the atrocity of rape had been featured in films before, such as Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring (Sweden, 1960) (a film which would influence the 1970’s horror subgenre of rape-revenge movies like The Last House on the Left (US, Wes Craven, 1972) and I Spit on Your Grave (US, Meir Zarchi, 1978)), and was implied in earlier horror films such as Hammer’s The Curse of the Werewolf (UK, Terence Fisher, 1961) and Tigon’s Witchfinder General, The Blood on Satan’s Claw depicted the crime unrelentingly. Also a Tigon film, neither The Blood on Satan’s Claw nor Witchfinder General share the camp gothic or fun entertainment value of Hammer’s output; they are dark, heavy films, and their sexual elements are likewise not the titillating bodice-heaving of Hammer horror. Cathy’s grim fate is watched by leering, aroused kids and also, unsettlingly, a pair of gleeful old folk. We the viewers are made to feel like voyeurs to this cruel event, and it feels disturbing. It is meant to feel disturbing – that is the whole point.