Satan's Slave (1976)

After watching some decent movies, it was time to get myself prepared for this weeks episode of American Horror Story (I am bummed, I missed last weeks and that halted my weekly review – but I will catch up Monday). So, I decided to sit back and watch some Satanic / Reincarnation goodness with the 1976 entry Satan’s Slave (AKA Evil Heritage)

Plot/ A young girl is caught up in a devil cult run by her evil uncle and cousin. She can trust no one and even people she thought were dead comes back to haunt her.

This flick was definitely one that I enjoyed. Any time you get bizarre twists with some mind-provoking imagery couples with equal amounts of nudity and bloodshed, you should have a winner. This one had all of that and more. In fact, other than some minor pacing issues and some strange illogical story twists that were a bit confusing, everything else worked. The acting and characterization were solid, atmosphere was creepy, the cinematography was on point and the effects were decent considering the age of the film (love the head smashing and pin to the eye). More importantly, the ending was quite an enjoyable twist that was not expected. In the end, this 1976 film seems to stand as a marker for the tragic end of the Hammer Horror monopoly, demonstrating that society had tired of the Hammer blueprint, and quality gore, horror and supernatural movies could come from other studio's as well. Overall, I would definitely recommend this one to horror fans or fans of the 1970s, and the great thing is, it is available for less than full price on a few Mill Creek Box Sets… A Win-Win for all!  

The Gorehouse Greats Collection

After viewing all 12 movies on this set, it was definitely a great gift from my little brother. Yes, there were some down moments, but in the end, there were more winners than losers. My only major complaint is the overall lack of gore! The best films on the the Gorehouse Great Collection are:

Blood Mania
Satans Slave
Stanley
Terrified
Terror
The Devils Hand
Trip With The Teacher

Satan's Slave (1976)

After taking a break for a few days, I was dying to watch something in the horror genre again. With that in mind, I jumped back into the Gorehouse Greats Collection that my mother picked up for me. Having watched (and reviewed) three or four of the films already, I figured it was time to finish that set (although, I will not watch Prime Evil again!). After some debate, I decided on Satan's Slave, a 1976 British entry in to this set.

Plot/ On her way to a relaxing vacation at her uncle's isolated country mansion, a young woman is instead tortured and terrorized by her uncle and cousin, who unbeknownest to her, are disciples of Satan. Soon, she discovers that she can trust no one and even people she thought were dead comes back to haunt her.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film, as it is actually one of the better British Horror films from the late 1970s that doesn't seem to get the awknowledgement it deserves. Yes, the story line is a bit run-of-the-mill, yet, director Norman Warren pulls it off quite nicely with the solid use of flashbacks to aid the plot. The script, writen by David McGillivray is sound with god dialogue throughout. The one thing that really impressed me was that while, I had some idea of what I would see based on past satanic torture and British Horror, the movie still held some surprises that I didn;t expect. he film plays nicely on our expectations and manages to surprise and plant different questions in the mind throughout. The cinematography is awesome,and the combination of soundtrack, grittiness and color create quite an atmosphere. In the end, this 1976 film seems to stand as a marker for the tragic end of the Hammer Horror monopoly, demonstrating that society had tired of the Hammer blueprint and quality gore, horror and supernaturalmovies could come from other studio's.

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