Satan's Slave (1976 film)

Satan's Slave
A poster for the film "Satan's Slave". It shows a man armed with a dagger about to stab a naked woman who is tied to a stone altar. In the background, a group of hooded figures look on with lit torches in hand.
UK film poster
Directed by Norman J. Warren
Produced by Les Young
Richard Crafter
Screenplay by David McGillivray
Story by Norman J. Warren
Les Young
Moira Young
Starring Michael Gough
Martin Potter
Candace Glendenning
Barbara Kellerman
Music by John Scott
Cinematography Les Young
John Metcalfe
John Simmons
Steve Haskett
Denis Balkin
Edited by Norman J. Warren
Production
companies
Monumental Pictures
Crystal Film Productions
Distributed by Brent Walker Film Distributors (UK)
Crown International Pictures (US)
Release date
 December 1976
Running time
 86 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Satan's Slave (also known as Evil Heritage) is a 1976 British independent supernatural horror film written by David McGillivray and directed by Norman J. Warren. It stars Candace Glendenning as a young woman who, after surviving a car accident in which her parents are seemingly killed, is taken in by her uncle and cousin (Michael Gough and Martin Potter), unaware that they are both necromancers who intend to sacrifice her to resurrect the spirit of a supernaturally-gifted ancestor.

The film, a production of Warren's newly-formed company Monumental Pictures, was funded by producers Les Young and Richard Crafter with their own money and shot almost entirely on location in Pirbright, Surrey and Shepherd's Bush, London in late 1975. The following year, re-shoots were undertaken to film additional material and more violent, alternative versions of existing scenes with the aim of increasing the film's appeal to audiences in the Far East.

In the UK, Satan's Slave was originally released as a B movie. Critical reception of the film has been mixed, with aspects such as the acting, script and plot attracting a range of responses.

Plot

Catherine Yorke, a young woman from London, receives a bracelet from her boyfriend, John, for her upcoming birthday. She then leaves the city with her parents, Malcolm and Elizabeth, to join her father's brother, Alexander, for a week at his home in the country. At the turn into Alexander's estate, Malcolm suddenly falls ill at the wheel of the family car and crashes it into a tree. Although the vehicle is only lightly damaged, when Catherine steps outside it mysteriously explodes, seemingly killing her parents.

Alexander, assisted by his son Stephen and secretary Frances, takes the distraught Catherine into the house and gives her a sedative. On waking, Catherine finds that the driveway has been cleared of wreckage and is told that the police have concluded their investigation into her parents' deaths. The funeral is conducted later that day in the grounds of the estate. After the ceremony, Catherine finds an old gravestone inscribed with the name of Camilla Yorke, a young woman said to have died at the age of 20 – the age that Catherine will soon reach.

Over the next few days, as she continues to be hosted by Alexander, Catherine experiences disturbing visions of women being branded, flogged and sacrificed in Satanic rituals. She finds herself drawn to Stephen, with whom she becomes romantically involved. Meanwhile, with the aid of the bracelet that he has stolen from Catherine, Alexander uses dark magic to compel John to kill himself by jumping from the roof of a tower block.

Frances tells Catherine that Camilla, an ancestor of the Yorke family, possessed supernatural abilities. Now Alexander, a believer in necromancy, intends to resurrect Camilla's spirit to increase his own power. Having murdered several women, including his own wife, to test his theories, he has determined that this can be achieved only through the sacrifice of Catherine, Camilla's direct descendant, when she turns 20 – Camilla's age at the time of her death. Frances also warns Catherine not to trust Stephen: having witnessed his mother's sacrifice as a young boy he has grown up to become a murderer like his father.

When he discovers Frances' betrayal, Stephen stabs her to death and locks Catherine in her bedroom. On the morning of her birthday, Catherine is led into the nearby woods to be sacrificed by Alexander and his cult but escapes after running a nail file through Stephen's eye. At the entrance to the estate she runs into her father, who claims that both he and her mother survived the car accident. She is taken back to the house, where Alexander, no longer wearing his ritual robes, claims that her recent experiences were merely hallucinations brought on by the sedative. However, his deception is uncovered when Catherine pulls back a curtain to find Stephen's corpse. Alexander praises Catherine's brutality and hails her as a true descendant of Camilla. It is then revealed that Catherine's father, not her uncle, is the head of the cult.[1][2] Trapped, Catherine screams and the picture fades to shots of another human sacrifice.

Cast

Themes

Critic Adam Locks notes that Satan's Slave features plot devices typical of horror films of the 1970s, such as settings that represent "nowhere places" in which characters become lost. He argues that the Yorkes' car journey has an effect similar to time travel, writing that it serves as a "re-programming for the audience with memories and associations disconnected from the modern and the urban ... In psychogeographical terms of the relationship between the individual and space, there is the clichéd yet interesting idea of the road leading to nowhere."[2]

Locks also compares Satan's Slave, along with other Warren films, to the 1960s TV series The Avengers for the way in which it conveys an "underlying disquiet" about its setting: "Behind the façade of mundane England, threatening figures or forces – be they crooks in The Avengers or Satanists in Satan's Slave ... – plan to disrupt the everyday world." He writes that through this sense of unease "the familiarity of 'Englishness' is transformed and warped."[2]

Leon Hunt, author of British Low Culture: from Safari Suits to Sexploitation, regards the conclusion to Satan's Slave as representative of a trend towards "downbeat" endings in "generation-gap" British horror films during the 1970s, contrasting this with the "angry", "anti-authoritarian" style of Michael Reeves' films of the 1960s. He observes that Satan's Slave ends with Catherine trapped by members of her own family and about to be "consumed", commenting: "The battle is over and 'youth' has lost."[3]

Locks describes Alexander as an "atavistic amalgamation of various icons of British gentlemen" – among them the "chivalrous knight", whose moral code he inverts through the planned sacrifice of his niece and the actual sacrifice of his wife.[2] Warren believes that both the character and his house are influenced by the style of contemporary Hammer horror films.[1][4]

Production

After making Her Private Hell (1968) and Loving Feeling (1969), Norman J. Warren had been in negotiations to direct films for Amicus Productions and American International Pictures.[5] When these deals fell through, Warren and Les Young, who had served as camera operator on the earlier films, agreed to make a film of their own.[1]

Satan's Slave is Warren's horror debut as well as the first release of Monumental Pictures, an independent film production company that Warren formed with Young, Young's wife Moira and another camera operator, Richard Crafter.[6][7][8] With their limited means restricting their choice of genre to either erotic or horror, the four chose to make a horror film on the basis that it would enjoy a longer "shelf life".[7] The decision to produce the film independently was made after several failed attempts to secure a financing deal. Ultimately Crafter and Les Young funded the production with their own money: the former by selling his shares in the retailer Mothercare, the latter by selling his car and mortgaging his home and film equipment rental company, Crystal Film Productions.[1][6][8][9] As labour union rules prohibited him from officially performing more than one role in the production, Warren was credited only as director.[5] He gives the total budget as either £30,000 or £35,000, about half of which took the form of deferred payments.[10][11]

The story was devised by Warren and the Youngs and expanded by screenwriter David McGillivray, whom Warren had first met while editing Her Private Hell.[1] McGillivray completed the script in nine days.[6] Warren did not want the script to end with a revelation that the events of the film had been a nightmare as he considered dream sequences to be clichéd.[1][10] Though reluctant to edit the film, believing that this would result in a creative conflict of interest with his directorial responsibilities, Warren ultimately accepted the dual role as he "so much wanted this film to happen".[9]

Casting

Warren says that Candace Glendenning, whom he had seen in films such as Tower of Evil (1972), was "always [his] first choice" to play Catherine.[7] Due to the character's complexity, the role of Stephen was harder to cast.[7] Martin Potter, who had recently played the title role in the TV serial The Legend of Robin Hood, was hired after first choice actor Michael Gothard withdrew at a late stage of pre-production.[5] Potter researched psychopathic behaviour to better understand his part.[7]

Although the production could not afford to pay Michael Gough's usual fee, the actor accepted the role of Uncle Alexander after reading McGillivray's script and hearing Warren's personal vision for the film.[7] His participation was conditional on the crew scheduling the filming around his theatre commitments.[7] Gough was paid £300 (equivalent to £2,309 in 2016) for his appearance.[12]

James Bree and Celia Hewitt were cast through Spotlight. Michael Craze had worked with Warren before, having appeared in his short film Fragment (1965).[10]

Filming

The film was largely shot in and around the country house of the Baron and Baroness DeVeuce in Pirbright, Surrey over three weeks in December 1975.[9] The house had previously appeared in Tigon's Virgin Witch (1971) and would also be used as a shooting location for Warren's later film, Terror (1978). Warren remembers the challenges that the production was facing due to the low budget and how production designer Hayden Pearce found the DeVeuce house: "Most places were not suitable or the people were not interested. And because we didn't have any money, we needed a house that also had furniture in it. Hayden was ringing everyone he knew in connection to art departments and someone suggested the mock-Tudor house in Pirbright, and we couldn't believe our luck. Not only did it look great outside but everything in there was genuine - there were wall-to-wall paintings and it was fully dressed."[5] The estate surrounding the property contained an electrical substation that the crew were allowed to use as a power source, eliminating the need for generators.[5] A nearby cottage served as the location for the Yorkes' London home.[7]

Due to budget limitations both Gough and Potter supplied their own wardrobe.[8][7][9] Gough, who could not be provided with hotel accommodation, stayed with a friend in Barnes, London throughout the filming.[9][10] Warren remembers: "We would pick him up each day at around 5.45 a.m. ... He would work with us all day, often until midnight, and then we would drive him back to his friend's house, stopping on the way to buy fish and chips." He adds that "even with the incredibly long hours we worked each day, [Gough] never had a word of complaint."[9] Various members of the crew, including the producers, appear in the film as hooded cultists.[10] Moira Young took over the role of the woman who is sacrificed in the opening scene when the actress who had been cast failed to attend on the night of filming.[7]

While filming on a hill near an Army base, the production found itself surrounded by soldiers conducting a training exercise.[9] Due to the noise from the base's shooting range, the production schedule was revised to avoid filming outdoors on the days when it was in use.[10] For the scene in which the Yorkes' car explodes, the crew were given permission to film on the base; the Army then used the wreckage for target practice before disposing of it.[5]

Scenes set inside John's flat were filmed at the home of one of the crew.[10] The character's suicide was shot at a block of flats in Shepherd's Bush, with producer Les Young serving as the stunt double for Michael Craze.[10] To create a first-person "falling" effect, a camera was tied to a bungee cord and then dropped from the roof of the 23-storey building.[9] The car crash stunt was also performed by Young.[10]

Post-production

Principal photography was completed shortly before Christmas 1975.[9] Warren then edited the film at home.[1] While preparing the first cut, Warren and his colleagues decided that the film contained an overabundance of dialogue and shortened or removed certain scenes that they considered redundant. These included a dream sequence involving Catherine and a scene set after the funeral in which the Yorkes bond over tea and Alexander and Stephen learn of the existence of Catherine's boyfriend.[7] According to Warren, "the main problem with [Satan's Slave] was that the plot was very complicated, and actually rather boring. So we just cut out complete scenes where people were explaining things. And a lot of the film doesn't make sense because of those cuts. But it was less complicated, and no one ever questioned the plot."[4]

To boost distribution prospects in the Far East, it was also decided to re-edit the film to include larger amounts of gore and nudity.[8][9] This involved shooting a more explicit version of an early scene in the film, in which Stephen attempts to rape and then murders a young woman, Janice (played by Gloria Walker). Warren considers this version, in which Stephen ties his victim to a bed and threatens to cut off her nipples with scissors, "very unpleasant" and expresses his preference for the original.[9] Additional scenes written by Warren and filmed during the re-shoots include Catherine's vision of a Puritan priest (played by McGillivray) overseeing the torture of a young woman, which was filmed in the grounds of a nursing home.[7][10] McGillivray also has a speaking role in the film as the priest who conducts the funeral of Catherine's parents. Various cutaway shots were also filmed by Crystal Film Productions.[10]

The score, composed by John Scott, was recorded in a single session with seven instrumentalists – the largest ensemble that the budget would allow.[8][10][13] It features a clarinet and various gong effects, supported by a piano, xylophone, xylorimba and vibraphone.[13]

The film's title was changed from Evil Heritage to Satan's Slave during post-production after distributors Brent Walker suggested that the latter was "more commercial".[9]

Release and reception

Satan's Slave was released in December 1976.[14] In the UK, it was distributed as the B movie in a double feature with Thriller, an American International Pictures release.[7] It was also paired with Ruby.[7] Satan's Slave was commercially successful and was re-released five times during the 1970s.[8] Its box office revenue was used to fund Warren's subsequent film, Terror.[4]

The film was distributed by Crown International Pictures in the United States,[15][16] where it had only a limited release.[17][18]

Critical response

In a contemporary review for The Monthly Film Bulletin, Michael Grossbard described Satan's Slave as "basically an archaic second feature" that "looks ... like the sort of subject likely to turn up on Sunday afternoon children's television, with its kids-in-trouble/blame-the-older-generation theme." He considered the plot "well constructed and written" and the performances "never below standard, though it would be nice to see Michael Gough in more demanding parts."[19]

Satan's Slave continues to divide critical opinion. TV Guide magazine calls the film a "vile shocker ... full of unappetising gore effects".[18] Time Out considers it an "absolute stinker", criticising its dialogue and "dragged-out" theme.[20] Awarding the film three stars out of five, David Parkinson of Radio Times concludes that Warren "ultimately over-indulges in horror clichés and garish set pieces".[21] By contrast, Martin Unsworth of Starburst magazine names it "one of the big underrated movies of the '70s" and a "vital entry to the British horror pantheon".[22] Gary Raymond and Gray Taylor, writing for Wales Arts Review, rank Satan's Slave 21st in their list of the "50 greatest" lesser-known horror films.[23]

Jo Botting of the British Film Institute website Screenonline opines that while the plot is "slightly old hat", the film's closing plot twists make for a "satisfying" ending. She argues that Satan's Slave "brought a new realism to horror, with its settings in high-rise urban blocks and with suburban ordinariness hiding Satanic rituals."[8] Dennis Schwartz of the Online Film Critics Society rates Satan's Slave "C+", remarking that the film is "directed with high production values but with little else that rocks". He considers the film overall to be "clichéd", the script "weak", the dialogue "abominable" and the final plot twist unsurprising as it was "given away in the opening act".[24]

Reviewing the film for the website DVD Talk in 2004, Bill Gibron described Gough's character as a "grey Sunday drag of a villain" and Satan's Slave in general as a "near-immobile mess", adding: "With an ending that repeats, laps and then doubles back on itself, and an overall atmosphere of dismal dissatisfaction, the only suggestive thing about this movie is its titillating title."[25] In another review published in 2012, he gave the film three out of five stars, judging the script "silly" and the atmosphere "often wasted" but praising the performances of Gough and Candace Glendenning. He commented: "... if you can get past the endless conversations, [the] lack of real suspense, the flawed feeling of familiarity and the dearth of any or all plot twists toward the end ... then – by all means – saddle up and strap in".[26] Ian Jane, also of DVD Talk, suggests that Satan's Slave is "plagued by some rather obvious pacing problems" and is less atmospheric and suspenseful than Hammer horror; however, he believes that the film "has its moments".[27]

AllMovie considers the film a "standard effort".[17] Awarding two stars out of five, Fred Beldin comments that Satan's Slave "delivers extra gore and skin to keep the attention from wandering off a well-trodden road ... There's no mystery for the viewer, because director Warren isn't shy about introducing the male lead with a scene in which he rapes and murders a flirty blonde." He argues that the film is "more watchable" than Warren's later horror films, concluding that Satan's Slave provides a "generous allowance of uncomfortable moments for those seeking sick thrills".[28]

Octavio Ramos of axs.com criticises the film's "wooden" acting and argues that the story and characterisation "lack dynamic punch". Ramos also believes the film to be misogynistic, "given that the bulk of the more graphic attacks are aimed at women." On the other hand, he commends the script's ideas as well as the presentation of certain scenes, such as the build-up to John's suicide.[29]

In a separate review of the film's soundtrack, Unsworth gives a rating of nine out of ten, describing John Scott's score as "a stunning piece of work, melding some erratic styles perfectly and creating a genuine atmosphere of dread with each listen".[22]

Home media

Satan's Slave has been released on home video by Sovereign Marketing, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Scorpion Releasing.[30][31] It is included on Anchor Bay's "Norman Warren Collection" DVD box set along with Prey, Terror and Inseminoid.[32][33]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Locks, Adam (April 2009). "Satan Chic: An Interview with Cult British Horror Director Norman J. Warren". Senses of Cinema. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Locks, Adam (2010). "Anglo Argento: A Critical Reassessment of the Films of Norman J. Warren". In Forster, Laurel; Harper, Sue. British Culture and Society in the 1970s: The Lost Decade. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 213–223. ISBN 9781443818384.
  3. ↑ Hunt, Leon (1998). British Low Culture: from Safari Suits to Sexploitation. London, UK/New York City, New York: Routledge. p. 150. ISBN 9781136189432.
  4. 1 2 3 Bayley, Bruno. "Norman J. Warren". vice.com. Vice Media. Archived from the original on 25 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Unsworth, Martin (14 November 2016). "An Evil Heritage – Norman J. Warren talks Satan's Slave". starburstmagazine.com. Starburst Magazine Ltd. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Wyatt, David. All You Need is Blood – The Making of Satan's Slave (DVD documentary). Monumental Pictures. ODNF389.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Warren, Norman J. (producer) (2013). Creating Satan: Making Satan's Slave (DVD documentary). Anchor Bay Entertainment/Odeon Entertainment/Euro London. ODNF389.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Botting, Jo. "Satan's Slave (1976)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Warren, Norman J. (2013). "Satan's Slave" DVD liner notes (Media notes). Odeon Entertainment/Euro London. ODNF389.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Warren, Norman J.; McGillivray, David (2013). "Satan's Slave" DVD audio commentary. Odeon Entertainment/Euro London. ODNF389.
  11. ↑ Perry, Darren (producer/director); McCarthy, Paul (presenter) (1999). Evil Heritage: Independent Film-Making and the Films of Norman J. Warren (DVD documentary). Stonevision Entertainment. SVD 5001.
  12. ↑ Smith, Adrian (9 November 2013). "Report: London Film Memorabilia Convention – Celebrating Films of the 1960s and 1970s". cinemaretro.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  13. 1 2 Warren, Norman J. (producer); Scott, John (interviewee) (2013). Devilish Music – Composer John Scott on his Score for Satan's Slave (DVD documentary). Anchor Bay Entertainment/Odeon Entertainment/Euro London. ODNF389.
  14. ↑ "Satan's Slave (Evil Heritage) (1976)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "Satan's Slave (1976)". IMDb. Amazon. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  16. ↑ "O-S Titles". crownintlpictures.com. Crown International Pictures. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  17. 1 2 Erickson, Hal. "Satan's Slave (1976) – Norman J. Warren". AllMovie. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  18. 1 2 "Satan's Slave Movie Trailer, Reviews and More". tvguide.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Grossbard, Michael (January 1977). Combs, Richard, ed. "Satan's Slave". The Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 44 no. 516. London, UK: British Film Institute. p. 10. ISSN 0027-0407. OCLC 2594020.
  20. ↑ "Satan's Slave, directed by Norman J. Warren". timeout.com. Time Out Group. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  21. ↑ Parkinson, David. "Satan's Slave – Review". radiotimes.com. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  22. 1 2 Unsworth, Martin. "Satan's Slave (1976)". starburstmagazine.com. Starburst Magazine Ltd. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  23. ↑ Raymond, Gary; Taylor, Gray (29 October 2015). "50 Horror Movies That May Have Passed You By (Part Three: 30-21)". walesartsreview.org. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  24. ↑ Schwartz, Dennis (3 May 2015). "Satan's Slave (Evil Heritage): A Nutty Stab at Devil Worship in GB". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  25. ↑ Gibron, Bill (31 October 2004). "Horrible Horrors Vol 1". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  26. ↑ Gibron, Bill (12 May 2012). "Satan's Slave: Katarina's Nightmare Theater". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  27. ↑ Jane, Ian (25 August 2009). "The Gorehouse Greats Collection". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  28. ↑ Beldin, Fred. "Satan's Slave (1976) – Norman J. Warren: Review". AllMovie. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  29. ↑ Ramos, Octavio (20 May 2013). "Movie Review: Satan's Slave". axs.com. Anschutz Entertainment Group. Archived from the original on 30 September 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  30. ↑ "Satan's Slave". bbfc.co.uk. British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  31. ↑ "Katarina's Nightmare Theater – Satan's Slave (DVD)". scorpionreleasing.com. Scorpion Releasing. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  32. ↑ Sutton, Mike (12 November 2004). "The Norman J. Warren Collection – DVD Video Review". thedigitalfix.com. Poisonous Monkey Ltd. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  33. ↑ Power, Ty (2004). "The Norman Warren Collection – DVD Review". sci-fi-online.com. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.