The Touch of Satan (1971)

User Rating:

1.9/10   

Director:

Tom Laughlin

Writer:

James E. McLarty (screenplay)

Release Date:

1971 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A Story of Exorcism!

Plot:

A man meets a farmgirl who is actually a witch.

Plot Keywords:

Witch | Murder | Farm | Witchcraft | Burned At The Stake

Cast

Michael Berry	...	Jodie Lee Thompson
Emby Mellay	...	Melissa Strickland
Lee Amber	...	Luther Strickland
Yvonne Winslow	...	Molly Strickland
Jeanne Gerson	...	Lucinda Strickland
Robert Easton	...	Mr. Keitel
Lew Horn	...	Deputy John Mason
Sharon Crabtree	...	Young Lucinda
John J. Fox	...	Attendant
Hal K. Dawson	...	Mr. Gentry
Frank Jansen	...	Frank Larsen
Ellen Bailey	...	Sarah Strickland

Also Known As:

Curse of Melissa
Night of the Demon
The Touch of Melissa

Runtime:

90 min | UK:85 min (1979) (video)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Santa Ynez, California, USA

Company:

Stupendous Talking Pictures International

Trivia:

Makeup artist Joe Blasco's first film.

Quotes:

[at the pond]
Melissa: This is where the fish lives.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Touch of Satan (#10.8)" (1998)

Deserves to be re-made with better production values

Yes, the movie is pretty bad, and probably deserves the "heckling" it receives when being aired on MST-3000 on Sci-Fi channel. But it is still watchable, all the way to the end. I actually felt a sort of pity towards it: it seemed the movie had a feeling of wasted potential, like someone who could have been successful in life if only they had been allowed to attend a better school.

It brings to mind an excellent comment I read by a reviewer who was commenting on the remade (1998) version of the movie "Psycho" - basically, that it was so pointless, afterall there are so many bad movies out there that deserve to be remade, so why would Hollywood waste time and money remaking the good movies, it makes no sense...

And this movie fits that category exactly. It screams for re-make. It has all the makings of a pretty interesting, if not downright creepy, story: a traveller (driving a Maverick no less) who stumbles off the beaten path, into a remote out-in-the-boonies country location, where he encounters a good-looking girl living with sweaty people... But, she is not what she seems, because in reality she is 127 years old - her youth and vitality being due to a pact she made with Satan a long, long time ago... Oh, and there is death by pitchfork, and rural cops who even consider cowchips in the course of their crime investigation.

Yes, there is a veritable gold mine of possibilities here. So, I nominate this movie as one of the bad ones that urgently needs to be remade, only with better production values, better script, better acting, better overall budget. (And a better soundtrack, too - it needs more songs in it than "Amazing Grace"). I see lots of potential here. Too bad I'm not a producer or a director, I could really do a lot with the basic ingredients that are at hand here. And if the remake doesn't work, well, "Zah!"