Ralph Gower (Barry Andrews) is plowing the field of his mistress, Isobel Banham (Avice Landone) when he digs up an unusual skeleton. He relays what he found to the local Judge (Patrick Wymark). The Judge agrees to check out what Ralph found, but when they get to the field the skeleton is gone. The Judge chalks it up to peasant superstition.
Later Isobel’s nephew, Peter Edmonton (Simon Williams) brings home his fiancé Rosalind Barton (Tamara Ustinov). He tells Isobel that they are going to be married the next day. Isobel is not pleased with this news. Since it is too late to take Rosalind home, Isobel tells her to sleep in the attic. That night Rosalind becomes bewitched and is rendered insane. She attacks Mistress Banham. She is taken the next day to Bedlam and Peter is devastated. Mistress Banham becomes ill from Rosalind’s attack and disappears. Peter, still upset with what happened to Rosalind, decides to sleep in the attic where she last slept. During the night Peter becomes convinced that he is being choked by a demon and ends up cutting off his own hand.
Meanwhile some of the children in the village find claws and bones from the skeleton. They become disciples of the devil and begin playing ritualistic games that result in the death of some of the other children. Angel Blake (Linda Hayden), one of the children, becomes the leader of the coven and uses the skin of other children as donors as she bit by bit restores the devil back to life.
The judge discusses the situation with Reverend Fallowfield (Anthony Ainley). The reverend gives him a book on witchcraft. The judge leaves for London to follow up on his research and formulate a plan on how to deal with the evil that has infested the village.
“The Blood on Satan’s Claw” was released in 1971 and was directed by Piers Haggard. It is a British supernatural horror film. It is also considered part of a sub-genre called “folk horror”. It includes a couple of short nude scenes.
For a low budget film, it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, it didn’t do too well at the box office. Since then, it has garnered a cult following and is now appreciated more than during its original release. There is a lot of gothic creepy atmosphere and some actually ghoulish scenes. The film is often compared to “Witchfinder General” 1968 and “The Wicker Man” 1973.
The movie was originally written to be an anthology of three separate horror stories taking place in a rural village. The stories had been written by Robert Wynne-Simmons. He and director Haggard rewrote the film into one story incorporating the ideas from Wynne-Simmons’ three tales. Reportedly, the three original stories were inspired by the Manson family and the Mary Bell child murders. Mary Bell was a British woman who, in 1968, at the age of 10, murdered two preschoolers.
Tamara Ustinov, who plays the part of Rosalind Barton, is the daughter of actor Peter Ustinov. Patrick Wymark, who plays the Judge, died soon after the movie was completed.
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Rape scene