Blood on Satan's Claw and Children of the Moor at London's BFI

One of the finest British horror movies of the 1970s gets a rare big screen outing in London in August - Blood on Satan's Claw.

This dark and atmospheric horror (produced by Tony Tenser's Tigon company) is set in an isolated rural community in 18th century Britain, with the devil taking over the village's youngsters, using the body parts of the local teens to manifest itself. It's a real gem - as is the score (which you can find out about here).

It's part of a Flipside presentation at the BFI, with the movie introduced by director Piers Haggard, screenwriter Robert Wynne-Simmons and actress Linda Hayden (pictured), who will also be around for a post-screening Q&A. Also on the bill is rarely-seen 70s folk documentary Children of the Moor, which looks at life in three remote village in Dartmoor.

It takes place on Thursday 21st August, with ticket details available here. Check out the introduction of Blood on Satan's Claw below...

Manhattan Baby (1982)

Manhattan Baby doesn't make a lick of sense, yet remains one of Italian gore maestro Lucio Fulci's more endearing films.  In Egypt, an old witch hands nine year old Suzy Hacker (Brigitta Boccole) a strange amulet.  Suzy's archaelogist father, George (Christopher Connelly) is blinded by blue lasers inside a dusky tomb - whereupon wife Emily (Martha Taylor) brings the family back to New York.  Here, Suzy and kid brother Tommy (Giovanni Frezza - who will forever be Little Bob from The House By the Cemetery (1981)) become unwitting pawns of an ancient Egyptian evil as the Hackers are terrorized by snakes, scorpions, and strange portals to another dimension. 

Explicit gore is restricted to a memorably squishy climax involving marauding (stuffed!) birds, yet the bulk of this weird, hallucinatory chamber piece presents the closest Fulci got to the minimalist wonder of Val Lewton.  Hazy, scope photography soaks up the Egyptian locales and transforms a child's playroom into mystical domain where strange, unsettling fantasies leap upon unsuspecting adults. 

DVD Review: The Black Cat (1981)

Probably the least heralded movie from Lucio Fulci's "gothic period", The Black Cat isn't a classic but will interest fans of Italian horror.  Edgar Allan Poe's much-adapted short story inspires only the climax, but the bulk of the film is impressively claustrophobic, played in twitchy close-ups between the frightful feline and its master, Professor Robert Miles (Patrick Magee).  Miles is a paranormal researcher, who uses his demonic familiar to gorily slaughter those he feels have wronged him.  Nosy American photographer, Jill Travers (Mimsy Farmer) stumbles onto these mysterious deaths in a quaint English village and teams up with Scotland Yard's Inspector Gorley (genre icon David Warbeck) to bring the culprit to justice.  But is Miles in control, or the cat? 

The film strives for ambiguity, but winds up just confusing.  After the cat lures Gorley into a horrific accident, Miles screams: "No!  I didn't want that!"  Then he looks disappointed when Gorley turns up alive.  Fulci allegedly cranked this one out with little passion involved.  It's a less inspired reworking of Poe than Dario Argento managed with Two Evil Eyes (1989), but there is plenty to savour.  Mimsy Farmer attacked by rubber bats; a foggy village with superstitious locals straight out of Hammer films; a mix of occult lore, super-science and metaphysical chatter; and a victim who cowers while the cat opens a locked door. 

DVD Review: The Monster (aka I Don't Want To Be Born) (1975)

'Starring Joan Collins as the stripper cursed by a dwarf to give birth to a demonic child...'

So reads the packaging for The Monster, a truly bizarre mid-70s shocker from the hand of Peter Sasdy. Collins (then aged 42) is ex-stripper Lucy Carlesi, married to successful Italian businessman Gino Carlesi (played inexplicably by Ralph Bates, armed with the worst accent ever committed to film). She gives birth to their child - but this is no ordinary child. The child is growing fast and inflicting injury on all that go near him.

So, why is this child so evil? Well, it seems that Lucy fell foul of an infatuated dwarf called Hercules towards the end of her stripping career. And there's nothing so evil as a dwarf spurned, with Hercules planting a curse on poor Lucy, damning her to have a child 'as big as I am small' and possessed by the devil.

Classic Hammer movie posters reissued

Good news for fans of classic Hammer movies - the pick of the film posters have been officially reissued.

The posters are back in print to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of The Curse Of Frankenstein, with 12 classic images available over a period of time. All are of the original 'quad' size, litho printed on 170gsm paper and sold in a heavy duty black glossy tube.

The first four of the 12 available are The Curse of Frankenstein, Countess Dracula, Vampire Circus and our favourite, The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires (pictured above). The remaining titles will follow over the coming weeks - and if you subscribe to buy them all, you will also receive a free copy of The Curse Of Frankenstein/The Mummy poster. This will not be sold separately.

All retail for £19.99 each, with postage and packaging free to anywhere in the world.

Find out more at the Posters and Stuff website

DVD Review: The Black Cat (1934)

In the 1930s, special effects weren't that special - menace had to come from the actors on display. And the best in the business were Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, who teamed up for the first time in The Black Cat.

Based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, this is a dark tale of revenge and satanism, with Lugosi as Dr. Vitus Verdegast, one of many men betrayed by Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff) during the Great War. Most died at the hands of the enemy, but Verfegast spent 15 years as a prisoner. And now he's back, seeking news of his wife and daughter - and seeking revenge on Poelzig.

On his way to Poelzig's amazing modernist home (built on the site where he betrayed his comrades), Verdegast shares a train with an American couple Peter Alison (David Manners) and his wife Joan (Julie Bishop). During a car ride over to their respective destinations, the driver crashers the vehicle - forcing them to get help at Poelzig's home.

DVD Review: Jess Franco Collection Volume 2 (1975 – 1994)

Remember that period between Steven Spielberg directing AI: Artificial Intelligence and Munich when the film fraternity thought he’d become a workaholic? “Wow, six films in four years,” they said in the press. “They don’t even involve a subtext about a family breaking up.” 

They probably didn’t, actually, but if you are surprised that in the world of the Hollywood blockbuster a director/producer can knock out films at speed, then can I turn your attention to Jess Franco? Since beginning his career writing music for films at the improbable age of six (when most of us had the musical talent to scrape a stick down the side of a wooden fish or bang blocks together), the Spanish director has clocked up over 180 directing and writing credits, and he doesn’t look like stopping in his dotage.

Born in Madrid in 1930, Jesus Franco was a jack of all trades, training to be a lawyer and then trying his hand at novels. After a few short films, he started directing properly in 1959, although the man who penned and directed both Swedish Nympho Slaves and Two Female Spies with Flowered Panties isn’t short of critics. Directing horror, sex, and horror sex, Franco has been a notable straight and hardcore porn director. It’s fair to say anything goes in Franco-world.

Coming to DVD: Haxan - Witchcraft Through The Ages (1922)

Described as the first-ever cult movie, Tartan are reissuing Haxan - Witchcraft Through The Ages in its original form as well as the later re-working with William Burroughs.

Directed by Benjamin Christensen, it's a story of witchcraft and superstition, based on the infamous medieval book, Malleus Maleficarum - regarded as the 'bible' of the Inquisition's witch hunts. However, dramatising satanic rituals in 1922 wasn't widely accepted - in fact, it was greeted with outrage and protests, which sent the director into hiding.

Blood On Satan's Claw - the soundtrack

Hopefully you caught our recent Cult Clip of Blood On Satan's Claw. If you liked what you saw and indeed liked what you heard, you may be interested in a reissue of the soundtrack.

It's released by the always-excellent Trunk Records and features the haunting orchestral (with a twist) score of Marc Wilkinson. The CD reissue is accompanied by a very limited vinyl reissue of just 500, so you'll need to get in quick if you want one.

No specified date as yet for the reissue, but you can find out more and see stills from the movie at the Trunk website.

Find out more at the Trunk Records website

Cult Clip: Blood On Satan's Claw (1971)

Blood On Satan's Claw is a genuine lost gem of British horror. Set in a similar era and indeed landscape as Witchfinder General, it's a much darker film, with the devil taking over a community - and indeed the body parts of its young inhabitants.

Great script, great score and great acting - making a very far-fetched tale of devil worship almost believable. Check out the film's introduction below, then go and buy it.

DVD Review: Virgin Witch (1971)

This entertaining satanic sexploitation flick was released on Region-1 NTSC DVD as part of Image Entertainment's Redemption label late last year and if you're a fan of British horror films from the 1970s I think it's worth a look.

Virgin Witch features the cute British actresses and sisters, Ann Michelle and Vicki Michelle. The girls play sisters Christine & Betty in the film. When Christine (Ann Michelle) gets her big chance at modeling after applying to the Sybil Waite's Agency, the girls find themselves at an eerie old estate for a weekend photo shoot.

Sybil Waite (Patricia Haines) has lured Christine there for more than just modeling. Sybil's recruiting a virgin for induction into a witches' coven led by the owner of the estate, Gerald Amberly (Neil Hallett). Sybil has also become enamored with the pretty Christine and she makes a successful attempt to seduce her. Unfortunately for everyone involved Christine is not as innocent as she seems, and we soon discover that she has evil plans of her own.

The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 1

This week fans of Italian horror cinema are in for a real treat! Anchor Bay is releasing The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 1 DVD set, which includes five of director Mario Bava's films from the sixties including Black Sunday (La Maschera Del Demonio, 1961), Black Sabbath (I Tre Volti Della Paura, 1963), The Girl Who Knew Too Much (La Ragazza Che Sapeva Troppo, 1964), Kill, Baby... Kill! (Operazione Paura, 1966) and Knives of the Avenger (I Coltelli Del Vendicatore, 1966).

All of the films have previously been available on DVD before, but the DVDs in this terrific collection feature new transfers of the original films and come with lots of great new extras such as trailers, radio spots, actor biographies, poster galleries and new audio commentary by Bava biographer Tim Lucas.

Mario Bava is one of Italy's most influential directors and during his long career he created many beautiful and horrifying films. His groundbreaking work as a cinematographer and mastery of special effects has inspired generations of filmmakers such as Dario Argento, David Lynch, Tim Burton, Michele Soavi and his son Lamberto Bava.

New Bedazzled DVD

Next week 20th Century Fox will finally be releasing Stanley Donen's Bedazzled (1967) on NTSC Region-1 DVD. The movie has been available in the UK on PAL DVD for a few years, but next week will mark the first time this classic comedy has been available on DVD in the US.

The movie stars Dudley Moore as the hapless Stanley Moon, a cook working at Whimpy Burger who is hopelessly in love with a waitress named Margaret (Eleanor Bron), but Margret hardly knows that he's alive. When Stanley decides to kill himself and end his misery, the smooth-talking George Spiggott (Peter Cook), a.k.a. Satan, appears and grants Stanley seven wishes to help him win over Margaret. Unfortunately his attempts are thwarted at every turn by the appearance of the Seven Deadly Sins, which include the lovely Lilian Lust (Raquel Welch).

Terror (1978)

Just when you thought that 70s British horror was all about angry 16th century villagers waving pitchforks and chasing disciples of the devil, along comes Norman J Warren with some Euro-inspired trash - best summed up by Terror, which recently (and inexplicably) received another outing on the BBC.

It's everything you want in a cult horror movie, with the exception of a solid plot. It does have a plot of sorts - film director James Garrick makes a film about his family, which happens to include a 16th century squire (yes, we're briefly back to those pitchforks) responsible for burning to death a witch. The witch returned from the grave to kill the Squire and his wife, throwing in a curse for all their descendents for good measure.

Cult Clip: Bedazzled (1967)

It worries me to a large degree that an entire generation now associates Bedazzled with Liz Hurley. Don't fall for it - the definitive version was made in 1967 with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore - inferior copies just aren't worth considering.

Enjoy this clip of Drimble Wedge and the Vegetations - then go out and buy the original on DVD, which is available for under £5 on Amazon right now.

Cinema Art: Night of the Eagle (1962)

We mentioned earlier this week that creepy Brit flick Night of the Eagle (also known as Burn, Witch, Burn!) was returning to DVD, so a good chance to feature its very cool cinema poster.

And I wish I knew more about it - and indeed the person that created it. Much more artistic than the majority of cinema posters of the era, the stylised image and quirky font are still incredibly eye-catching today.

However, as it's not really an obvious cult movie, you should be able to pick one up fairly cheaply (as vintage film posters go) for around £250 - maybe less.

Night of the Eagle and Circus of Horrors coming to DVD

Typically, one day after I mention that you can't get Circus of Horrors on DVD than word reaches Cinedelica HQ that it is coming out on the shiny disc, along with another lost gem - Night of the Eagle.

Full details of Circus of Horrors can be found here, But to sum up, it's a slightly disturbing tale of a plastic surgeon on the run and hiding in a circus. Carrying on with his surgery, he helps to re-build the faces of female criminals. But there's a condition - they can't leave.

Cult Clip: The Devil Rides Out (1968)

If you're in the UK and with the digital channels, you can enjoy a vintage slab of Hammer with The Devil Rides Out on ITV4 on Sunday 24th February at 10pm.

Not your usual Hammer fayre, this time Christopher Lee is the hero, battling satanists in a movie based on a Dennis Wheatley novel. If you're unsure whether or not to tune in, check out the trailer below. And if you're not in the UK, the movie is widely available on DVD.