Dir. Piers Haggard | Now Streaming On: Tubi | Rating: 4/5

One of the great founders of the folk horror subgenre, The Blood on Satan’s Claw is somehow both a dreamlike and nightmarish watch. I streamed this gem a few weeks ago and it is still burned into my brain. Though a victim of ambling storytelling seen often in this subgenre, The Blood on Satan’s Claw has easily become one of my top ten horror films of all time. 

The village our story takes place in is riddled with distrust – in each other, in the government, and in the church. This lack of community opens the door for evil to prey upon the innocent. It becomes apparent very quickly no one is quite as they seem, especially the teenagers in this village. The children commit calculating and brutal acts of violence that even contemporary horror fans wouldn’t scoff at. 

At the center of this brooding demonic lore is the beautiful and charming Angel Blake, one of the most amusing and entertaining female characters in the horror genre. Angel’s character is a jab at organized religion and a symbol of the anti-establishment nature of satanism. She is literally named Angel but is also inviting the devil in to ruin everyone’s lives. 

My two qualms with this film are its verbosity and elements of male gaze. This film gained some notoriety in the UK for earning an X rating upon its initial release due to the lengthy scenes of Angel in various sexual situations, especially considering Linda Hayden was 17 at the time of filming. This element, and the sexual violence including in the black mass scene, does knock this down a peg for me. I’d love to see this on a cinema screen sometime soon. 

Know Before You Watch: Features death, blood, sex, rape, nudity.