Satan's Slave (1976 film)

Satan's Slave
Directed by	Norman J. Warren
Written by	David McGillivray
Produced by	Richard Crafter
Starring	Michael Gough Martin Potter Candace Glendenning Barbara Kellerman
Cinematography	Dennis Balkin
Music by	John Scott
Production company	Monumental Pictures Ltd.
Distributed by	Crown International Pictures
Release date	December 1976 (UK)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Satan's Slave (alternatively titled Evil Heritage) is a 1976 British erotic supernatural horror film written by David McGillivray, directed by Norman J. Warren and starring Michael Gough and Candace Glendenning.

Plot

A young girl, Catherine Yorke (Candace Glendenning), shares a ride with her parents to visit her uncle Alexander (Michael Gough), that no one had met before. But the drive ends in tragedy when Catherine's parents die in a car accident.

The girl is then hosted by the mysterious Alexander, who lives in a beautiful house with his son Stephen (Martin Potter) and the faithful Frances (Barbara Kellerman). Catherine takes a taste for life and notices that Stephen is far from being insensitive to her charms. But Catherine is soon the victim of terrible hallucinations. As time passes on, Frances then informs her of what her uncle and cousin are planning to do to her. She tells them they plan to sacrifice her in order to avenge an ancient ancestor of hers named Camilla York (because the only way to resurrect the dead is through the body of a descendant) who was said to possess evil powers, she tells her that they plan to use Camilla's powers for Alexander's own evil.

Frances then offers to help her escape this terrible fate and run away from them. When Stephen finds out he kills Frances by slashing her with glass and stabbing her through her mouth. When Catherine discovers her dead body Stephen locks Catherine in her bedroom until the morning of the ritual. When they take her in the woods and prepare her, Catherine kills Stephen by stabbing him in the eye with a blade. She temporarily gets away then is tricked back into the clutches of her evil uncle by an illusion. When she is trapped by the cultists and the film ends on a neat suspense note.

Cast

• Michael Gough as Uncle Alexander Yorke
• Martin Potter as Stephen Yorke
• Candace Glendenning as Catherine Yorke/Camilla York
• Barbara Kellerman as Frances
• Michael Craze as John
• Gloria Maley as Janice
• James Bree as Malcolm Yorke
• Celia Hewitt as Elizabeth Yorke
• David McGillivray as Priest

Production

The film was made in Pirbright, Surrey from December 1975 to January 1976. The house belonged to the Baron And Baroness DeVeuce. It had previously appeared in Tigon's production Virgin Witch. It would later be used for another Norman J. Warren film, Terror.

The score composed by John Scott uses a small chamber ensemble as the film's budget would not stretch to a full orchestra.

Critical reception

Bill Gibron of DVD Talk gives the film a mixed review. Awarding a rating of three stars out of five, he considers the script "silly" and the film's atmosphere "often wasted" but praises the performances of Michael Gough and Candace Glendenning. He comments: "... 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".

Home media

The film has had home video releases in the UK and US on VHS in PAL and NTSC formats. It has also had a DVD release as part of Anchor Bay Entertainment's Norman J. Warren Collection, which also contained special edition releases of Prey, Inseminoid and Terror.

Further reading

• Locks, Adam (2010). "Anglo Argento: A Critical Reassessment of the Films of Norman J. Warren". In Forster, Laurel; Harper, Sue (eds.). British Culture and Society in the 1970s: The Lost Decade. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 213–223. ISBN 9781443818384.

External links

• Satan's Slave at IMDb
• Satan's Slave at AllMovie
• Satan's Slave at Rotten Tomatoes
• Satan's Slave at the TCM Movie Database