The Blood on Satan's Claw

10/18/2019

Tigon's Talons. Out of Tigon Productions comes The Blood On Satan's Claw. Directed by Piers Haggard (who co-writes with Robert Wynne-Simmons) it stars Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, Barry Andrews, Michele Dotrice & Wendy Padbury. Story is set in rural 17th century England and sees a village fall under demonic possession after a living one eyed skull is unearthed by the local ploughman. Well it's quite a title the film has got, the sort that conjures up many a blood curdling image. Yet it's some what misleading, but in a good way. There is indeed claws involved, and definitely "Old Nick" is part of the equation, but Haggard's film is more moody and quirky than the title suggests. It has definite links to Tigon's flag bearer, "Witchfinder General", though not nearly as clever or as bri

3/27/2020

***Creepy, unsettling, unconventional, realistic and artistic, but also tedious*** In the early 1700s, devil worship rears its sinister head in a village in England. Barry Andrews (who looks like Roger Daltrey) plays the young man who initially acquires evidence of the deviltry while Patrick Wymark plays the investigator and Anthony Ainley the minister. The young females include Tamara Ustinov (Rosalind), Linda Hayden (Angela), Wendy Padbury (Cathy) and Michele Dotrice (Margaret). When you think of 60s-70s British horror you automatically think of Hammer Films, but Tigon’s “The Blood on Satan’s Claw” (1971) doesn’t have that Hammer or Amicus vibe; or even American International. It’s avant-garde, inventive and lifelike with a harrowing pervasive dread. Unfortunately, it’s a