The Brotherhood of Satan [Blu-ray]

Director: Bernard McEveety Bernard McEveety

Overview

A small town is plagued by a series of murders -- 26 in all! The village elders would like to call for help, but all links to the outside world have been severed. Can a local coven of witches and devil worshippers be responsible? Brotherhood of Satan was produced by character actors L.Q. Jones and Alvy Moore as sort of a warmup for their more celebrated A Boy and His Dog. Horror-film habitues Strother Martin and Ahna Capri are among the cast members.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/31/2021
UPC:	0760137662587
Original Release:	1971
Source:	Arrow Video
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	31,562

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Strother Martin	Doc
L.Q. Jones	Sheriff
Charles Bateman	Ben
Ahna Capri	Nicky
Alvy Moore	Tobey
Geri Reischl	Kiti
Charlie Robinson	Priest
John Barclay	Witch
Phyllis Coghlan	Witch
Joyce Easton	Mildred Meadows
Gertrude Graner	Witch
Anthony Jochim	Witch
Debi Storm	Billie Joe
Cicely Walper	Witch
Robert Ward	Mike
Margaret Wheeler	Witch
Helen Winston	Dame Alice
Jeff Williams	Stuart
Jaime Mendoza-Nava	Composer

Technical Credits

William Welch

Bernard McEveety	Director
L.Q. Jones	Producer
Alvy Moore	Producer
William Welch	Screenwriter
Steve Karkus	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

This independently-made effort is not as famous as other horror films of its era but it remains a potent, effective little chiller. The script for The Brotherhood Of Satan plays like a mixture of a The Twilight Zone episode and Rosemary's Baby and sets its unnerving tone from the start by hurling the audience head-first into a bizarre setting where insane, deadly things happen as a matter of course. Director Bernard McEveety gives the film an eerie sense of style, using the scope frame to great effect - seeing this film in widescreen is a must - and creating a number of disturbingly effective setpieces along the way (for instance, there's a very startling decapitation scene that is guaranteed to make the viewer gasp). His work is all the more impressive because it achieves an intense creepiness without the benefit of elaborate makeup or optical effects. The film also benefits from a cast who fuels the film's grim, hopeless tone by playing the material straight: co-writer L.Q. Jones is quietly effective as the weary sheriff struggling to keep his self-control in an insane situation and Charles Bateman and Ahna Capri are sympathetic as the couple who stumbles into a deadly situation. However, the film's truly indelible performance comes from Strother Martin: without getting too deep into spoilers, he does a phenomenal job in a role where he is cast against type and his work will stick with the viewer after the film is over. To sum up, The Brotherhood Of Satan is a superlative shocker that is worthy of rediscovery by horror buffs.