Powerful

Perfectly adorable

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

An absurd story about the return of witchcraft after its heyday in the 17th century, when everyone thought it was extirpated, involving weird rituals and disturbing turns of events, but very well made with a seducing beauty and charm over it all, greatly enhanced by Marc Wilkinson's music, which almost makes the film. Linda Hayden as the leading witch and Patrick Wymark as the so called authority of justice lead the atrocities, which get worse all the way. He is abominable in his usual ways, which almost makes the poor bewitched children appear innocent in comparison. It's a speculative almost experimental wandering into the occult very much in the vein of "The Wicker Man" from the same period, but this is all 18th century perfectly revived, a kind of post-puritan horror story of fascinating ingenuity, almost architectural in its composition, and part of its very suggestive strength lies in its character of almost an impressionistic improvisation, which adds to its totally absurd but still convincing reality. The chief backbone of the film making it well worth seeing to anyone remains though the perfect music.

THE BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW is one of the most finely crafted Fright Films to play outside an Art House; the cinematography is absolutely beautiful, the direction topnotch, and the music very creepy, indeed. My biggest complaint is that the FOCUS of the movie should've been on the Coven youths themselves and their REAL "spiritual leader" (who we don't even get to see fully until the final moments of the movie, when most of the males in the audience are being distracted by the voluptuous young woman offering up her VERY ample endowments). And the hero rebounds pretty quickly after chopping off his own hand (not to mention the sudden-onset madness of his fiancé, who's dragged away after growing a Monstrous CLAW)... Other than the sometimes meandering story, THE BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW has a lot to offer the discriminating viewer.

Blood on Satan's Claw, while obviously suffering from a few narrative lapses and abrupt transitions (probably due to editing) is a fine little movie. Like it's Tigon-backed predecessor Witchfinder General, this succeeds in capturing the medieval period splendidly, and the diabolic goings on are cleverly contrasted with the pastoral setting.The film also manages to be original in a way few of its contemporaries manage. It handles its shock moments very well and remains a disturbing entry in the British horror field. I should mention that some viewers might find what amounts to a rape scene a little too distressing. The shocks and gore moments are mainly done by implication or quick cuts away, so it's the suggestion as much as what you see that makes it work.The plot at times is a little hazy for the first time viewer; but essentially the demon Behemoth (pronounced BEY-AH-MOTH) is churned up by a plough and spreads some sort of infection amongst the rural community, driving a girl mad on her wedding eve (never explained) and growing various parts of itself on the younger members of the community. These are gradually used to make a composite of the demon.As silly as this may sound committed performances from the actors - Linda Hayden and Michelle Dotrice especially - and some narrative obscurity actually makes it work. With an excellent music score and a brilliant realised medieval rural England Blood On Satan's Claw has retained its position as a Cult favourite. Memorable and atmospheric and well worth seeing.

Personally, I thought this was better than The Wicker Man, the movie it probably gets compared to most often. I loved everything about this movie, though the frequent female nudity was somewhat cheesy (though not especially gratuitous, as it fit into the movie and plot well).The best part of this movie, I think, is the atmosphere that so many horror and thriller films seem to lack. It's the little things, like a brief glance of someone's fingers replaced by demonic claws, that put you in the mood to be creeped out and told a story of helpless village overcome by evil.I find it interesting that the children and young adults who rebel against the stern authority of the Church, frolic in the woods, and preach free love are essentially hippies, though they're portrayed as self-centered hedonists, rather than idealists and peaceniks. It's a sly attempt at social commentary in an exploitation movie, which may seem amusingly quaint to modern audiences, 40 years later.Highly recommended, especially for fans of classic 70s horror.