The Blood on Satan's Claw (Devil's Advocates)

Product Information

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] I'm partial to these rural horror stories about communities collectively engaging with the devil, but not necessarily when they take the premise so straightforwardly as this. This audio drama has a very nice soundscape and better acting than most audiobooks, and on a scene to scene level the writing is good enough. The problem is that overall, despite the witchy trappings, it has the mentality of a very unimaginative slasher movie. The devil possesses practically all of the kids in town almost immediately, and the middle 80% is just a sequence of the same "kid getting murdered" scene playing out over and over again without much escalation or character building or mythology to build a more interesting context for them to fit into. It relies heavily on familiar tropes to get right into its business and get right out of it as soon as it's time to stop, without any particular narrative tissue in between. Moreover, while there are some kind of neat touches, a lot of the specific expression of the devil is either boring, problematic, or just dull. My favorite part about the community aspect of these stories is that the devil gets to be a social lever exploiting internal conflicts and prejudices, and this devil has exactly 0 of that subtlety or charisma. 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.

Kill the Cutie: Poor Cathy is led to the coven’s meeting place, where she is brutally raped and partially flayed. Red Right Hand: Par the course for whoever so much as sees the bones. They grow patches of fur anywhere on their bodies, sometimes even claws.To me, this recording most resembles a 1970s Hammer horror movie -- the vauge setting, the overblown language, and rather silly plot. However, it worked then -- goodness knows how -- and it works now, with the added bonus of nostalgia. Actress Roberta Tovey has an uncredited role as the coven member who lures Padbury's character to her death.

Set in the early 18th century, this is a time when the beliefs and customs of folklore and old Paganism still held firm and Christian fears of witchcraft and Satanism were at the height of hysteria, beliefs combining and conflicting, with the English Civil War and England's witch trials still in living memory. Exploring the epidemic qualities of terror and hysteria, which we've witnessed so often throughout history and continue to this day, Wynne-Simmons crafts an atmospheric narrative of compelling and creeping dread. 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? Undying Loyalty: Margaret, to Angel. Even after the latter leaves her in a bear trap to be torn apart by dogs.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.