Rigby, Jonathan (2004). English Gothic: a Century of Horror Cinema (3rded.). London: Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 978-1-903-11179-6. 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. Cassandra Truth: Ralph's concerns about witchcraft in the village are repeatedly laughed at and ignored, despite him not being far off at all.

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. 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. 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. 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. Related: Harvest Home : The 1973 Pagan Horror Classic that Laid the Groundwork for Stephen King's "Children of the Corn"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.... Canby, Vincent (15 April 1971). "Screen: Rural Diabolism:' Satan's Claw' Opens in Horror Double Bill". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Asshole Victim: Whether or not Angel Blake was an Unwitting Pawn to Behemoth and was just brainwashed or was operating of her own volition, she still led a group of teenagers into committing acts of ritual sacrifice and rape. So it’s not terribly sad to have to see her die. Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Behemoth is killed rather swiftly with a pitchfork. However, it remains unknown if he'll actually stay dead.

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.” The Dragon: Angel Blake to Behemoth. She appears to have one herself in Margaret, who's loyal to her (or at least their cause) beyond all reason, although she's never shown to do much beyond read an invocation from a book. Too bad for her Angel is a very cruel taskmaster. The plot of this story is demonic interference in a rural village in the olden days (I'm not sure it is possible to be more precise about the date of the setting than this.) The main performers are perhaps better known for their comedy shows, but this is not a comic tale -- well, not deliberately, anyway. 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. Bait the Dog: Margaret is rescued from drowning by Ralph, then taken in by his family and sheared of the mark of the beast. But she rejects his offer of redemptive kinship, tempts him to the coven with promises of sex, and is ultimately compelled to cooperate purely through fear.Blood on Satan's Claw; or, The Devil's Skin' is the novelisation of the 1971 film 'The Blood on Satan's Claw', a story of supernatural horror, devil worship, demonic possession and religious mania, and one of the forebears of the folk horror sub-genre. Written by Robert Wynne-Simmons, who wrote the original screenplay and co-wrote the reworked version alongside director Piers Haggard, the novel combines a vivid depiction of its rural setting and its inhabitants with slow-burning, ominous plotting to produce a vision of nightmarish, vintage horror. The story is a rare example of diving headlong into the action done right. It spends little time establishing the status quo prior to its disruption, but instead gives a general impression of what it might have been prior to the supernatural horrors which stalk the land. While in many cases this could have been abrupt, the audio drama uses a strong cast and a building sense of dread to hook the listener very early on. Body Horror: Let's just say that the Red Right Hand borne by those infected with Satan's skin isn't pretty. The story is a simple one of the devil coming to the town of Hexbridge in the 1700s. The discovery of a grotesque relic begins corrupting the youth, and before long strange mutilations and hysteria break out among the townsfolk. Blood on Satan's Claw and the Devil films of the 1970s". www.acidemic.com . Retrieved 28 January 2022.