Director: Robert Fuest
Year: 1975
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Cult
Plot:
After his parents and brother are kidnapped, a man and his wife set off to find the leader of a Satanic cult, where they uncover the connection between the two rival families while being stranded in their town, and race to stop them before using the rest of the family in a Satanic sacrifice.
Review:
This wasn't all that bad of a film. The biggest factor in the film is its really quick pace here, as it goes through its motions really quickly and always has something on-screen. That keeps the plot moving along really fast, hardly ever stopping for a lull or a stop in the proceedings, as the attack on the family house and the eventual short-sided confrontation with the deadly cult occurs almost immediately. That makes the rest of the first half built around the two-pronged storyline of the search for the missing family member who was abducted, as well as the torture the coven inflicts on him while he’s in their possession. This is quite a lot of fun, as there’s a lot to like with the dual storylines since the encounters to stop him and retrieve their book coincide nicely with the realization of what’s going on and fill the lower middle section up quite nicely.
The rest of the action sequences spread throughout are pretty decent, and while not really doing much until the end, that alone is a real whopper of a conclusion. The final fifteen minutes are pretty much non-stop, featuring many outstanding setpieces including the climactic showdown and the gruesome aftermath. The graphically melting bodies look great as well and are spread throughout the film, allowing for the dead bodies to be covered in such a unique and clever way, as they look genuinely creepy and chilling. The ending again has the best ones, with full-body meltdowns that look really good, with the long-lasting effects allowing the effect to really sell itself, which looks really cool and fits in really well with the time period it was made. The several sacrifices inside look pretty good, especially when the preacher wears the goat mask, while the flashback to show where everything got started is a rather exciting sequence, actually seeming like it came from that time period. All in all, this wasn’t all that bad.
There are really only two factors here that aren’t that great. The main issue is that the film at times features too many scenes to tell the idea that fewer scenes could’ve done. The opening voyage to the town is told in about six or seven different scenes of a truck driving through the wilderness. The ending features every single member of the coven melting down in their own individual shot, and both of these scenes go on far longer than they should. Trim a couple of the traveling shots or put two or three of the coven members in one shot, and that gives it a much smoother flow and doesn't seem to take as long as it would've otherwise, as they stick out noticeably and stretch out an already thin running time. The other big factor is that it really could’ve gone out there a little more than it does. The meltdowns are the only real bits of violence in the film and aren’t that graphic anyway. It really could’ve gone all-out in the violence and nudity, as there’s nothing there much from either one and plenty of opportunities for both. These knock it down a little, but not all that much.
Overview: ****/5
It wasn't the best Satanic movie ever made and could’ve gone a little further in what was portrayed, but it’s still a pretty decent film overall, being one of the better entries in the style. It still has enough here to recommend for fans of 70s horror and those who like Satanic sacrifices and themes, while those who aren’t fans of the style or approach should heed caution.
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