TL;DR: The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1970)
Piers Haggard’s The Blood on Satan’s Claw delivers a Satan-soaked slice of English folk horror complete with cursed earth, possessed children and a coven drunk on black magic and nudity. Linda Hayden stuns as Angel Blake, leading a pack of corrupted youths into a frenzy of ritual sacrifice.
Despite Haggard’s claims of rebuking Hammer’s camp, the film embraces it cinematically by creating a mood that’s both eerie and occasionally absurd. Special effects waver from unsettling little fur patches to a demon that looks more like a prune than a prince of darkness. Still, the film helped define “folk horror,” even if the label itself remains nebulous. It’s not the pitchforks or pagan symbols that make this genre, it’s the moral panic, mob hysteria, and how belief turns ordinary people monstrous. Flawed but fascinating, The Blood on Satan’s Claw is essential for lovers of witchcraft and Satanic cinema.
Did we mention Linda Hayden?
Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) – Trailer
Malevolent Dark believes that the world needs more horror films set in old English folk historic backdrops. Even better would be horror films not only set in old English folk historic trappings, but also incorporating heavy doses of Satanic panic, tasteful nudity and religious persecution. The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1970), directed by Piers Haggard, checks all of those glorious boxes. Haggard attempts to distance himself from what he would refer to as the ‘campy’ style of British juggernaut Hammer Productions. He would coin the phrase ‘Folk Horror’ to describe his style, and the horror lexicon would be forever changed.
For better or worse, the term Folk Horror would be used to describe a wide variety of films such as Alucarda (1977) well as the more modern take, Midsommar (2019). Interestingly enough, the same Hammer Productions that Haggard intended to eschew would adopt the style for classics like Vampire Circus (1972) and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974). In fact, if one were to go the Wikipedia list of Folk Horror films, they would quickly walk away confused as that list includes a New York City based film, Q: The Winged Serpent (1982). More on that later.
Anyone interested in this particular slice of horror goodness could not be better served than to watch the documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (2021). It is an absolutely fabulous and detailed look at the world of folk horror presented as an academic study on the matter. It is really that good.
Where to Watch The Blood on Satan’s Claw
Satan’s Plot
Writers Piers Haggard and Robert Wynne-Simmons tip-toe into their film rather plainly. While plowing his field, Ralph Gower uncovers a malformed and decomposed skull beneath his feet. He reports his findings to the local judge. But when he returns to the field, the skull mysteriously disappears. Meanwhile, the local children find the severed claw from the dismembered corpse.
Lead by Angel Blake, played wonderfully by Linda Hayden, the children steal away to practice black magic in an abandoned church. With this ceremony, the Satanic die is cast, as these events lead to the resurrection of the demon known as Behemoth.
One by one, the townspeople assimilate with the growing cult of Satan worshipers or become a sacrifice dedicated to rebuilding the loving body of Behemoth. Any one else succumbs to the Behemoth’s curse and their skin slowly grows a thick pelt of Satanic fur.
The writers weave a fairly boilerplate plot that would be repeated in many forms throughout cinema. The aforementioned Alucarda (1977) and Ken Russle’s The Devils (1971) pose a prime examples. Still, this plot continues to provide a firm backdrop for exploring our fascination with witchcraft and devil worship while also exemplifying the narcissism of man and the bloody results of mob rule.
Ritualistic Orgies and Blood Sacrifices
Among the zombies, slashers, chest bursting aliens and chainsaws, films about witchcraft and Satanism present a welcome change of pace. Blood on Satan’s Claw is no exception. It possesses all of the required elements as the rituals are intense, and the panic of the townspeople feels frenzied and authentic. The ritual abuse of the victims feels very real and unsettling while full frontal nudity exemplifies the sexualized energy of the witches coven. This is particularly evident in a smashing scene in which Angel Blake tries to seduce the local clergy.
However, outside of the coven, the rest of the townspeople feel clumsy at times, and ridiculous at others. The Judge, played by Patrick Wymark, carries all the character traits of King Roland of Planet Druidia; although King Roland might be more believable as a legitimate contender to the forces of evil.
Picking Satan’s Scabs
The special effects in The Blood on Satan’s Claw struggle. The eponymous “Satan’s Claw” looks like a giant non-articulated lucky rabbit’s foot. As the Behemoth’s curse infects the townspeople, the develop disgusting little patches of fur on their skin. At one point, one of the doctors removes one like gross little hairy scab from the leg of Ralph Gower. Questionably, the backside of that scab show no blood or gristle, which seems like an obvious opportunity for improvement.
The Behemoth itself looks rather silly. It’s face has more in common with a wet prune than a demonic beast from hell, although the camera never commits to a good view of the beast. Additional research showed that the Behemoth’s face actually resembles that of a wrinkle-faced bat. While more forgivable than a sun dried plum, its still a highly questionable choice for a demon.
Is Folk Horror Really a Sub-Genre
At the time of reviewing this film, “Folk Horror” was not in my lexicon, and at first I resisted its charms. Certainly the term Folk Horror could represent a sub-genre in the same sense that The Stuff (1985) ushered in the age of Alien Ice-Cream Horror, but is it really a worthwhile distinction? As mentioned before, the Wikipedia page on the topic seemed to list about any film that nary mentioned a cornfield and a heck of a lot that didn’t.
Then there is the bit about Piers Haggard coining the phrase himself in 2004 in an interview for Fangoria (Issue 230, page 72).
Also, to me the countryside was terribly important, I grew up on a farm, and it’s natural for me to use the countryside as a symbol or as imagery. As this was a short story about people subject to superstitions about living in the woods, the dark poetry of that appealed to me. I was trying to make a folk-horror film, not a campy one. I didn’t really like the campy Hammer style.
This didn’t really clear it up for either. As an added note, if you hate campy Hammer style films, you’ll hate The Blood on Satan’s Claw, guaranteed.
The truth is is that Folk Horror is a real thing, but it is not so easily explained. Attempts to describe are not wrong, but most fail to grasp at the true distinguishing thing. Folk Horror isn’t about trees, it’s not about pitchforks and it isn’t about cornfields. Folk Horror is about the evils and dangers lurking inside real everyday people. Modern, classical, gothic, whatever, real terrors can be found when people’s beliefs manifest into reality.
The wrinkled face of the Behemoth
The Opinion of Satan’s Claw
When it comes down to it, Piers Haggard performed admirably in creating a cool little film on Satanism and witchcraft. As hokey as the film can be at times, it manages to weave an interesting tale. For as much as Piers Haggard tried to refute the Hammer style, he created a fantastic emulation of it; and that’s wonderful. Haggard’s film suffers a few missteps, but all prove forgivable when weighed against very compelling human drama. For people that love a good yarn about witchcraft, The Blood on Satan’s Claw will likely check every box.
Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) - Hammer, Not Hammer - Malevolentdark
Director: Piers Haggard
Date Created: 1970-01-01 00:32