The Brotherhood of Satan (1971)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Bernard McEveety

Writers:

L.Q. Jones (writer)
Sean MacGregor (story)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A demon-spirit of madness and murder holds a California town in the grip of terror.

Plot:

A family is trapped in a desert town by a cult of senior-citizens who recruit the town's children to worship Satan. |

Plot Keywords:

Satan | Children | Kidnapping | Satanism | Devil

Cast

Strother Martin	...	Doc Duncan
L.Q. Jones	...	Sheriff
Charles Bateman	...	Ben
Ahna Capri	...	Nicky
Charles Robinson	...	Priest
Alvy Moore	...	Tobey
Helene Winston	...	Dame Alice
Joyce Easton	...	Mildred Meadows
Debi Storm	...	Billie Joe
Jeff Williams	...	Stuart
Judith McConnell	...	Phyllis (as Judy McConnell)
Robert Ward	...	Mike
Geri Reischl	...	K.T.
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Scott Agular	...	Child
John Barclay	...	Witch
Patrick Sullivan Burke	...	Witch
Phyllis Coghlan	...	Witch (as Phillis Coghlan)
Jonathan Eisley	...	Child
Gertrude Graner	...	Witch
Robyn Grei	...	Child
Cindy Holden	...	Child
Anthony Jochim	...	Witch
Donald Journeaux	...	Witch
Debbie Judith	...	Child
Ysabel MacCloskey	...	Witch
Brian McEveety	...	Child
Kevin McEveety	...	Child
Sheila McEveety	...	Child
Grant McGregor	...	Child
Alyson Moore	...	Child
Elsie Moore	...	Witch
Lenore Shanewise	...	Witch
Linda Tiffany	...	Child
Cicely Walper	...	Witch
Margaret Wheeler	...	Witch

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Norway:18 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

When the film was originally released, theatergoers were given a packet of "Satan's Soul" seeds when they purchased their tickets. Each paper envelope (illustrated with the movie's logo) contained two seeds, which were, according to the instructions, supposed to provide protection "from the Black Magic of The Brotherhood of Satan". It is not known for certain if anything (hellish or otherwise) ever sprouted from the seeds.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: Blood on Satan's Claw/The Brotherhood of Satan (#1.36)" (2008)

early 70's horror with good atmosphere

I would probably say this was on a par with films like "Devil's Rain" and that sort of film, although this is probably a bit better made. I love 70's horror and this has most of the elements that make up other movies I like so it was pretty easy to enjoy. A family on their vacation stumble across a small town where the people seem to be gripped by some sort of hysteria. Seems like the children have been disappearing. After an initial attempt to flee this place, the family is somehow stopped on the edge of town and find their way back, but not without first finding a house where the kids are gone and mommy and daddy are dead. Seems like we have a different kind of twist on a senior citizen community center in this town, they're all Satan worshipers and they need the kids to renew their lives so they can continue on in their service, I guess. Not that anyone seems too keen on giving up their kids for this enterprise. This is fairly classy considering that it's scary and creepy without buckets of gore or the loud startling events that try to make people jump in films today, which seem to have replaced actual scares. We have Hank Kimball (Alvy Moore) from "Green Acres" as Tobey, a sheriff's deputy that reads UFO magazines, and LQ Jones as the sheriff, and a very familiar character actor as the dad of the stranded family. And Strother Martin plays the doctor who seems to be doing double duty unbeknown to his fellow townsfolk. This is pretty good stuff but a tad on the confusing side sometimes, but overall works pretty well & is recommended for fans of 70's horror. 8 out of 10.