Satan's Slave (1976)

Evil Heritage

Cast:

Michael "Alfred from Tim Burton's Batman" Gough is Uncle Alexander Yorke
Martin Potter is Stephen Yorke
Candace Glendenning is Catherine Yorke
Barbara Kellerman is Frances
Michael Craze is John

What the box says:

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 her cousin, who - unbeknownst to her - are disciples of Satan!

Plot:

A cult readies fora girl on their altar while their leader wearing a big goat mask with glowing red eyes rambling about possession. Elsewhere, Steven is trying to entertaining some girl. She doesn't enjoy the sociopath and tries to run away before he goes all psycho on her...

Catherine and her parents are going to visit her father's brother who they hadn't seen in years. Right outside, Uncle Arthur's mansion, the car crashes. Catherine goes for help and the car explodes afterwards. Uncle Arthur, a doctor, checks on the wounded Catherine. Steven, Arthur's son, is looking at Catherine in a creepy Law & Order: SVU vibe. Arthur offers to let Catherine stay as long as she wants.

Steven shows Catherine around the mansion grounds. She starts getting weird premonitions: flashback to witchburning hundreds of years ago. That kind of thing is definitely creeping Catherine out.

The quick burial of Catherine's parent occurs. Apparetly, Uncle Arthur has a plan.

Arthur's assistant, Francis, doesn't want Steven to abandon her.

John, Catherine's boyfriend, is still in the city. Arthur has taken Catherine's bracelet which was her early birthday present from John. Let the Latin chanting ensue. In the elevator, noises attack John. He heads for the skyscraper roof and takes the fatal plunge off.

Catherine's danger sense kicks in again. That night, Uncle Arthur gives her a sedative which leads to some witch sacrifice. Steven checks on her which leads to the lovin'.

The next morning, Catherine wants to go away with Steven. She tries but can't telepohone John. Arthur hears about this and is very displeased with Steven who has ruined the plan.

Francis finally tells Catherine what is happening. Arthur and Steven are trying to re-animate Camilla (who happens to be Catherine's direct ancestor). Apparently, Arthur has been trying to bring her back for years. He sacrificed his own wife with Steven watching which is what warped that sociopath. Apparently, they need to wait until Catherine reaches her 20th birthday. She explains that Arthur used magic to kill John. Francis and Catherine decide to meet later to escape.

Steven goes Psycho on Francis before the meeting. Catherine goes to meet but finds Francis's body.

The next morning, she awakens when Uncle Arthur and Steven explain the entire thing about sacrificing her on her birthday. Heading to the cult meeting, Catherine is able to stab Steven in the eye and runs off from the chasing cult. Catherine walks into her father who claims that she'dd been deluded since the car wreck. Taken back to the mansion, Catherine doesn't tell about her "dream." Going to the phone, she finds Steven's body stabbed in the eye. The cult and Arthur surrounds her including her father who is wearing the cult robes...

What I say:

Most people know of Hammer movies to some degree if they just know that Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing are in most of the bigger or better ones. Don't know much about the other English horror movies. By 1976, Hammer was either about to give its last breath or had, and it wasn't going to be re-animated. One sub-genre of horror movies from the 1970s was the cult horror movies especially the devil-worshipping cult movie. Hammer had even tried a more known famous approach with the Satanic Rites of Dracula. Well, the DVD box describes it as a devil-worshipping cult but the movie itself seems more pagan or witch-like. In fact, this movie also seems to have been inspired by 1970s by way of the Wicker Man.

This ain't no Paul Lynde's Uncle Arthur from Bewitched. Though if Michael Gough had did some of the Paul Lynde personality, the movie would at least be more interesting. Michael Gough is propably better known as Alfred from the Tim Burton's Batman movies and farther the series rather than the several English horror and sci-fi movies such as They Came From Beyond Space. He's playing the distinguished, gentleman and just pops up at the end into ultra-evil. The DVD explained how evil he was so we know fom the beginning he must be up to something with the number of times he seems to give Catherine tranquilizers and sedatives every couple of hours.

Francis is never explained why she's doing anything. Was she trying to stay with Steven to keep him from Catherine? Why was she trying steal Arthur's book and so determined to save Catherine from the Camilla rising? Were these questions vaguely sounding like something from the end of an episode of a soap opera?

Cheap horror movies aren't typically known for brilliant film editing. Somehow, the many different scenes jump back to back (cult worship, witch, nightmare, stabbing) are so disjointed possibly could throw your back out. At least, night and day are visibly light different than so many of the past horror movies from the last few months.

Horror movies love to mix dreams and reality to the point. The Nightmare on Elm Street movies and practically most horror movies from the last 20 years that want the "obligatory" shocker ending play in and out of dreams. No one can keep track of what is where. It's a cheap rip-off to avoid any sort of coherent plot. Why did this happen? Well, it was a dream not part of the "real" part of movie. Maybe, if I hadn't just seen a movie that twists reality with dreams into deeper dreams: Inception, I'd not be trying to analyze a 1970s horror movie.

Quotable Dialogue
"I daresay I'd be very grateful..."
"They're not voices. They're premonitions..."
"The thing I admire most about you, Francis, is your ability to suffer in silence. Don't ever change. "
"This is our enchanted forest."
"I would trust him as far as I could throw him."
"Have you ever heard of necromancy?"
"Don't forget tomorrow is your special day."
Morals of the Story
Giant goat heads are stylish with glowing red eyes.
Cars routinely explode all the time.
All spells are spoken in Latin.
Stabbing deaths all should have a Psycho style of attack music.
London city girls know how to evade forest trackers.