The Touch of Satan (1971)

Director:

Don Henderson

Writer:

James E. McLarty (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 August 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 | The Devil | Devil

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

Directed by
Don Henderson

Writing credits
James E. McLarty		(screenplay)

Produced by
George E. Carey	....	producer

Original Music by
Robert O. Ragland

Cinematography by
Jordan Cronenweth		(director of photography) (as Jordan S. Cronenweth)

Film Editing by
Dick Elliott

Makeup Department
Joe Blasco	....	makeup creator
Valerie O'Tuohy	....	makeup assistant
Ron West	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Gordon E. Gadette	....	in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ron Sawade	....	assistant director

Art Department
Emil Grieco	....	set constructor
Kevin G. Tracey	....	property master

Sound Department
Ken Carlson	....	production sound
Doug Rigney	....	production sound

Special Effects by
Steve Karkus	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Elliot	....	key grip
Michael A. Jones	....	lighting gaffer (as Mike Jones)
Nick McLean	....	assistant camera
Robert Vose	....	still photographer
Donald M. Wolak	....	best boy (as Donald Wolak)

Editorial Department
Stanford C. Allen	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Robert O. Ragland	....	conductor

Other crew
Abel Baca	....	production assistant
Ellen Bailey	....	associate director
Susan Nicoletti	....	production secretary
Lon Ravitz	....	production assistant
Pamela Walshe	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Stupendous Talking Pictures International

Distributors

• Futurama International (1971) (USA) (theatrical)
• Dundee Productions (1974) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• International Film Distributors (1974) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Parker National Distributing (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release) (as "Night of the Demon")
• Shout! Factory (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• King of Video (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Jenkyns & Associates  title design
• Modern Film Effects  opticals
• Ryder Sound Services  sound (as Ryder Sound Service)

Also Known As:

"Night of the Demon" - USA (reissue title)

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:

Satan's "I am a friend and companion of the night..." speech is taken from Howard Phillips Lovecraft's short story "The Horror At Red Hook."

Quotes:

Jodie:This your pond?
Melissa:It belongs to my father.
Jodie:Oh. Does he mind if people skip rocks across it?

Movie Connections:

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

Dreadful & Dull

A young man named Jody drives across country and decides to stop and have lunch in a small town where, he's been told, a "chromichidal maniac" is on the loose. He meets a young pretty girl named Melissa, falls instantly love and follows her home for dinner. Dinner turns into a weekend and we slowly (very slowly) learn that Melissa is no ordinary seventeen year old girl. She's a 120 year old witch who sold her soul to Satan, and the incredibly wrinkled woman she claims is her great grandmother is actually her little sister...and a "chromichidal maniac" to boot. Seems Melissa sold her soul to save the weird old chick from being burned at the stake by an angry mob 120 years earlier. Now, it seems, nothing can save Melissa from the curse...except perhaps for Jody's love. Will he sell his own soul to save her? Who cares?

This 70s effort is filled with bad acting, a terrible script and a story that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The flashbacks to the 1850s still manage to look like the 1970s and the angry mob is more of a slightly irritated gathering. Everyone looks stoned and delivers their lines in half hearted monotones, eyes glazed and faces expressionless. And Jody has got to be the stupidest kid yet to appear on screen. He hangs around even though he's clearly not wanted and continues to hang around even after things begin to get menacing. Not even the sight of Gramma-Sister eviscerating a cop with a scythe can scare him away for long. No, he's too much in love with Melissa, a drab farmgirl with minimal beauty whose claims of Witchy-ness cannot penetrate Jody's thick skull and sound any sort of alarm bells. And who the hell are those people that Melissa is living with? They're not her parents, but they're in on the Dreadful Truth, so what gives? This is just one of the many glaring plot holes that litter this lackluster film. Not even the horrific murders and the fiery finale could keep me from nodding off. This movie just kind of plods along like a cinematic sedative until it finally peters out and ends with no fanfare whatsoever.

Guaranteed to cure insomnia.