Blood on Statans Claw Blu Ray Limited Review

Details
Manager:		Piers Haggard
Starring:		Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, Barry Andrews, James Hayter
Type:		Colour
Year:		1971
Language:		English
Length:		83 min
Aspect Ratio:		1.85:one
Video codec:		MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution:		1080p
Audio:		English: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles:		NA
Rating:		eighteen
Disks:		1
Region:		B
Label:		Odeon Entertainment

Tigon Studios, a competitor of Hammer and Amicus, released a relatively small-scale number of films, some of which include the most interesting cult horror of the menstruation. Before he created Tigon, studio head Tony Tenser produced Roman Polanski'southward Repulsion, and with Tigon went on to release The Sorcerers, the incredible Witchfinder General, and Curse of the Crimson Altar. Adjacent to Witchfinder General, Blood on Satan's Hook (1971) is their best film and is an example of some of the strongest satanic horror from that, or whatsoever, period. A blend of horror, exploitation, satanic cults, killer kids, religious repression, and Gothic moodiness, Blood on Satan's Claw deserves far more recognition than it's gotten. Fortunately British company Odeon Entertainment has pulled out all the stops for their contempo Blu-ray release, including some wonderful new special features.

Patrick Wymark in The Blood on Satan'southward Hook (1971)

The Film

In 17th century England, a young farmer accidentally digs upwardly a strange skull in a field. He informs a local gauge, but by the time they investigate, the skull has disappeared and the hamlet is aggress by a number of strange occurrences. A young woman goes mad, people brainstorm sprouting claws, and many of the local children begin to acquit very oddly, turning away from the pastor and his Christian teachings. Their grouping, led by a lovely young adult female named Angel, begins targeting and killing non-believers. The judge is called dorsum to deal with the supernatural evil that has gripped the town.

This is an fantabulous collaboration between first time director Piers Haggard (Venom and the Quatermass mini-series) and prolific cinematographer Dick Bush, who regularly worked with Hammer studios and managing director Ken Russell. ThoughBlood on Satan's Claw has some lightheaded and campy moments, it is a genuinely creepy film. The tense, rapid pace, claustrophobic shots of the lovely English countryside, and conscientious mix of sex, scares, and violence make this one of the best examples of the British pagan horror subgenre of the '70s. The utter weirdness—weirdness in the definition "relating to, or suggestive of the preternatural or supernatural"—is one of the film's strongest points and it thankfully doesn't autumn back on a rational explanation. Marc Wilkinson's eerie score does a fantastic job of evoking the period season of English pastures, likewise as the strangeness of the film.

The Claret on Satan's Claw (1971)

Linda Hayden (Taste the Blood of Dracula, Madhouse) absolutely steals the film and gives a wonderful, sexy performance every bit the ringleader of the satanic gang. Aside from Hayden, there are a number of other familiar faces here: Patrick Wymark (Repulsion,The Skull), James Hayter (The Horror of Frankenstein, Are Y'all Existence Served), Michele Dotrice (And Shortly the Darkness), Barry Andrews (Dracula Has Risen From The Grave), Tamara Ustinov (Claret from the Mummy's Tomb), and others, with many of the actors appearing in Hammer and Amicus horror films and episodes of Doctor Who.

There are some problems with the plot, due to the fact that this was originally intended to be an album moving picture. The stories were woven together seemingly at the last minute and some of the characters can be difficult to keep track of. The weakest link is the final confrontation with the judge, who deserved to be a more adult character. After the conscientious subtlety exercised throughout nigh of the picture, the decision that involves sword fighting and what appears to exist a papier-mâché demon is unfortunate at best. The dialogue and accents are often annoying and overwrought, just the powerful atmosphere and eeriness often overcome this. Though the motion picture is occasionally over the meridian, there are some genuinely terrifying scenes that push button taboo lines much harder than other horror films from the period, such as scenes of a young daughter'due south ritualized rape and murder.

Linda Hayden and Wendy Padbury in The Claret on Satan's Hook (1971)

Video

In Odeon Amusement's new Blu-ray release,Blood on Satan's Hook looks better than it ever has. The digitally remastered print is presented in 1080p resolution and in the original aspect ratio of i.85:1. The transfer has a slight amount of grain, but the lush countryside looks wonderful and Dick Bush-league's cinematography really shines. Some of the muddiness in the darker scenes is cleaned upward and groundwork detail is much clearer than in previous transfers.

Audio

Though there is just 1 basic English sound track, the sound is clear with simply a minimal hiss. Dialogue is a piffling on the tranquility side, but is notwithstanding easily understood, even though the attempt at 17th century-afflicted dialogue can be a picayune abrasive to follow with all the "thees" and "thous" and anachronistic verbs. Marker Wilkinson's haunting score certainly sounds better and clearer than it ever has and it'due south a shame this didn't include a separate CD release of the score.

The Claret on Satan's Claw (1971)

Extras

There are a number of very overnice extras that make this Blu-ray superior to previous releases. There's a brand new 2012 interview with director Piers Haggard, a featurette nigh Linda Hayden, An Angel for Satan , and likewise included is the excellent 2004 making-of documentary, Touching the Devil , which came with the previous DVD release. The ii audio commentary tracks are well worth listening to and make this release worth picking up for all fans of '70s horror. The first rail is with manager Haggard, star Hayden, and write Robert Wynne-Simmons. The second runway, (my favorite matter about this release), includes commentary from horror lover, Physician Who author, and Sherlock creator Mark Gatiss, along with Jeremy Dyson and Reece Sheersmith, his co-stars from League of Gentlemen. Gatiss previously discussed Blood on Satan's Claw alongside Wicker Human and Witchfinder Full general in his excellent documentary A History of Horror. Finally, there's a theatrical trailer and a stills gallery.

Linda Hayden and Barry Andrews in The Blood on Satan's Hook (1971)

The Lesser Line

Though it has some flaws, Blood on Satan'due south Claw is one of the finest rural/satanic horror films of the '70s and deserves to be seen by a much wider audience. I'm not sure why it mostly faded into obscurity, only it should exist known alongside the but slightly superior Wicker Human being and Tigon's other masterpiece of witchcraft and pastoral repression, Witchfinder Full general. Odeon Entertainment has put out a prissy looking Blu-ray of the film that makes earlier editions irrelevant, though U.Due south. fans should exist forewarned that this is a region B release and will only work on region B or multi-region Blu-ray players.

~ By Samm Deighan

palfreymanfacoure1979.blogspot.com

Source: https://diaboliquemagazine.com/blood-on-satans-claw-blu-ray-review/

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