The Brotherhood of Satan | |
---|---|
Directed by | Bernard McEveety |
Written by | William Welch |
Story by | Sean MacGregor |
Produced by | L. Q. Jones Alvy Moore |
Starring | Strother Martin L. Q. Jones Charles Bateman Ahna Capri Charles Robinson Alvy Moore Geri Reischl |
Cinematography | John Arthur Morrill |
Edited by | Marvin Walowitz |
Music by | Jaime Mendoza-Nava |
Production companies | Four Star Excelsior LQ/JAF |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Brotherhood of Satan is a 1971 American supernatural horror film directed by Bernard McEveety, written by L. Q. Jones, and starring Jones, Alvy Moore, Strother Martin, and Ahna Capri. It follows a man who, while traveling through the American Southwest with his young daughter and girlfriend, encounter a small town where a coven of Satanists are kidnapping the local children to transfer their own souls into their bodies.
Widowed Ben Holden, his young daughter, K. T., and his glamorous girlfriend, Nicky, are on a road trip through the American Southwest. On a sharp corner along the highway, they spot a smoldering demolished car along with what appears to be human remains. Ben quickly drives to the nearest town of Hillsboro to report the incident, but upon arriving, is attacked by the town sheriff, Pete, while the town residents hide in their homes and observe the scene. Pete releases Ben, and the family flee.
Unbeknownst to Ben, the town is on edge because 26 of its residents have met violent deaths in the past three days, and numerous children have disappeared. Pete, his deputy Tobey, and the town physician, Dr. Duncan, travel to the wreckage. They find that the two adult drivers were killed, but that their young son, Timmy—also a resident of Hillsboro—is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, as Ben flees Hillsboro, he is startled by a young girl who appears in the road, and crashes his car. With nowhere to go, he, Nicky, and K. T. head back toward Hillsboro on foot.
That night, resident Ed Meadows and his wife, Mildred, are inexplicably killed in their home after one of their daughter's dolls apparently comes to life. Meanwhile, at the abandoned Barry house overlooking the town, Dr. Duncan gathers in a secret room with numerous elderly residents—they are in fact a coven of witches who worship Satan, and Dr. Duncan is their leader. During their ceremony, the elders marvel at numerous children who stand entranced on pedestals, vessels into which the witches plan to transfer their souls. Shortly after, Ed's son Stuart, and daughter, Phyllis, join a group of children outside their home, who escort them to the Barry house.
Ben, Nicky, and K. T. reach the Meadows home, and find Ed and Mildred's corpses. In town, Ben and his family are welcomed to spend the night at Pete's home, where Dr. Duncan makes an unannounced visit. Meanwhile, Jack, the town's Catholic priest, suspects there is evil abounding, and stays up late into the night researching devil worship. In his studies, he notices a preponderance of children figuring in the literature. Back at Pete's house, Nicky suffers a disturbing nightmare. In the morning, Ben decides they should leave. Peter offers them to borrow his car, but they get a flat tire on the edge of town. When they exit the car, Ben and Nicky realize that K. T. has vanished from the backseat.
K. T. joins the town's children at the Barry house, where they play with toys and other party favors in a room decorated with murals of dead children and cloaked figures. Ben and Nicky return to town to report K. T. missing, and are met by Father Jack, who tells them she has been kidnapped by witches, who he believes will use her in a ritual along with the town's other missing children. Meanwhile, Mike, another local resident, finds his son Joey wandering out of their home in a trance. He runs after him into the woods, where he is decapitated by an armored figure riding a horse. Father Jack witnesses the incident, and flees in terror to report it to Pete, Ben, and Tobey.
Now having acquired a child for each member of the coven, Dr. Duncan begins the ritual at the Barry house, entreating Satan to help transfer their souls into the bodies of the young. Meanwhile, Ben, Pete, Tobey, and Father Jack unite and rush to the Barry house. Outside, Pete finds a toy horseman lying on the ground, with a blood-covered lance. This terrifies Father Jack, who realizes that the coven have been causing the children's toys to manifest as instruments to kill their parents. The men quickly break into the house, but find they have arrived too late—the witches have all perished, and their souls transferred into the children. When Ben, Pete, and Tobey break down the door to the ceremonial room, they find K. T. and the other children gathered around a cobweb-covered table, along with dolls resembling some of the coven members. The children stare at the men in silence.
The Brotherhood of Satan was filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico in August 1969. [1]
A book adaptation, titled The Brotherhood of Satan, by L. Q. Jones was published by Universal-Award in 1980 ( ISBN 0441083013).
The Brotherhood of Satan was released theatrically on August 6, 1971, premiering in New York City. [1]
The Brotherhood of Satan was released on VHS in 1986 by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video ( OCLC 22091401). A DVD version was released in 2002 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment ( ISBN 0-7678-8253-9), in 2013 the film was released by Mill Creek Entertainment on a double feature Blu-ray with Mr. Sardonicus . [2] and in 2021 released again to Blu-ray from Arrow Films. [3]
The film is also available for streaming video rental and digital download through Amazon, Apple's iTunes Store and Vudu.
The industrial dance group, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, sampled The Brotherhood of Satan in the song "Rivers of Blood, Years of Darkness" from their 1990 Confessions of a Knife album.
Practical Magic is a 1998 American fantasy romantic drama film based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman. The film was directed by Griffin Dunne and stars Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Aidan Quinn, and Goran Višnjić.
Family Affairs is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per week, followed by an omnibus edition on Sundays. The series never achieved high ratings, so it went through a number of dramatic revamps involving wholesale cast turnover. The premise of the series was also refocused from a family in a quiet suburb just outside London, to a range of different people living on a bustling outer London street.
Jack Alvin "Alvy" Moore was an American actor best known for his role as scatterbrained county agricultural agent Hank Kimball on the CBS television series Green Acres. His character would often make a statement, only to immediately negate the statement himself and then negate the corrected statement until his stream of statements was interrupted by a frustrated Oliver Wendell Douglas portrayed by Eddie Albert. One such statement was, "Good morning, Mr. Douglas! Well, it's not a good morning ... but it's not a bad morning either!" Moore appeared in 142 of the 170 total Green Acres episodes.
Little Nicky is a 2000 American fantasy comedy film directed by Steven Brill, written by Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler, and Brill, and starring Sandler in the title role, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr., and Rodney Dangerfield with supporting roles by Allen Covert, Kevin Nealon, Jon Lovitz, Michael McKean, and Quentin Tarantino. The film depicts the son of Satan and an angel who is tasked with returning his two brothers to Hell and preventing them from destroying the boundary between good and evil on Earth.
Bell, Book and Candle is a 1958 American supernatural romantic comedy film directed by Richard Quine from a screenplay by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1950 Broadway play of the same title by John Van Druten and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon and Ernie Kovacs. Novak portrays a witch who casts a spell on her neighbor, played by Stewart. The supporting cast features Lemmon, Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, Elsa Lanchester, and Janice Rule. The film is considered Stewart's final role as a romantic lead.
Jesse Kenneth Tobey was an American actor who performed in hundreds of productions during a career that spanned more than half a century, including his role as the star of the 1957-1960 Desilu Productions TV series Whirlybirds.
Virgin Witch is a British horror sexploitation film directed by Ray Austin and starring Ann and Vicki Michelle, Patricia Haines and Neil Hallett. A prospective model and her sister join a coven of white wizards.
The Blood on Satan's Claw is a 1971 British supernatural horror film directed by Piers Haggard and starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, and Barry Andrews. Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village whose youth fall under the influence of a demonic presence after a local farmer unearths a mysterious deformed skull buried in a field.
Season of the Witch is a 1973 American drama film written and directed by George A. Romero, and starring Jan White, Raymond Laine, and Anne Muffly. The film follows a housewife in suburban Pittsburgh who becomes involved in witchcraft after meeting a local witch.
The Halloween Tree is a 1993 animated fantasy-drama television film produced by Hanna-Barbera and based on Ray Bradbury's 1972 fantasy novel of the same name. The film tells the story of a group of trick-or-treating children who learn about the origins and influences of Halloween when one of their friends is spirited away by mysterious forces. Bradbury serves as the narrator of the film, which also stars Leonard Nimoy as the children's guide, Mr. Moundshroud. Bradbury also wrote the film's Emmy Award winning screenplay. The animation of the film was produced overseas for Hanna-Barbera by Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines. The film premiered on ABC on October 2, 1993.
The Witches of Eastwick is a 1987 American supernatural comedy film directed by George Miller and starring Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne, alongside Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon as the titular witches. The film is based on John Updike's 1984 novel of the same name.
The Witches, released in the United States as The Devil's Own, is a 1966 British horror film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Joan Fontaine, Alec McCowen, Kay Walsh, Ann Bell, Ingrid Boulting and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies. Made by Hammer Films, it was adapted by Nigel Kneale from the 1960 novel The Devil's Own by Norah Lofts, published under the pseudonym Peter Curtis.
Strange Behavior is a 1981 slasher film written, directed and co-produced by Michael Laughlin, co-written with Bill Condon, and starring Michael Murphy, Louise Fletcher and Dan Shor. Its plot follows a series of bizarre murders being perpetrated against teenagers in a small Midwestern town, at the same time that the local university is engaging in covert mind control experiments on the youth.
Liar's Moon is a 1982 film directed by David Fisher and starring Matt Dillon, Cindy Fisher, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Hoyt Axton. It tells the story of two star-crossed lovers in 1940s Texas—a working-class teen and the banker's daughter who elope to much strife. Texas band Asleep At The Wheel provided multiple songs for the film.
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt is the ninth collected edition in Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic book series, the second of three connected story arcs written by Mignola and illustrated by Duncan Fegredo. Its eight chapters, collected in March 2010, were originally released from December 2008 through November 2009 as issues 1-8 of the Hellboy: The Wild Hunt limited series, also numbered as issues 37 through 44 of the continuing Hellboy series. The storyline delves into Irish and Arthurian legend, reprising several characters first introduced in Hellboy short story "The Corpse". As with Hellboy stories generally, it was published by Dark Horse Comics.
ParaNorman is a 2012 American stop-motion animated comedy horror film directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler, and written by Butler. Produced by Laika, the film stars the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jodelle Ferland, Bernard Hill, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, and John Goodman. It is the first stop-motion film to use a 3-D color printer to create character faces, and only the second to be shot in 3-D. In the film, Norman Babcock, a young boy who can communicate with ghosts, is given the task of ending a 300-year-old witch's curse on his Massachusetts town.
Pete's Dragon is a 2016 American fantasy adventure film directed by David Lowery, written by Lowery and Toby Halbrooks, and produced by James Whitaker. The film is a live-action remake of Disney's 1977 live-action/traditionally animated musical film of the same name, although the 2016 live-action film is not a musical. The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban, Oona Laurence, and Robert Redford. The film tells the story of an orphaned feral boy who befriends a dragon in the Pacific Northwest, and the ensuing repercussions of their discovery by the town's residents.
Daughters of Satan is a 1972 American horror film directed by Hollingsworth Morse and written by John C. Higgins. The film stars Tom Selleck, Barra Grant, Tani Guthrie, Paraluman, Vic Silayan and Vic Díaz. The film was released by United Artists in the fall of 1972, screening as a double feature with Superbeast.
The Witch is a 2015 folk horror film written and directed by Robert Eggers in his feature directorial debut. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy in her film debut, alongside Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson. Set in 1630s New England, its plot follows a Puritan family who encounter forces of evil in the woods beyond their farm.
Jaws of Satan, also called by its working title King Cobra, is a 1982 American horror film directed by Bob Claver, and starring Fritz Weaver, Gretchen Corbett, Jon Korkes, and Christina Applegate, in her feature film debut. Its plot follows a preacher from a cursed family who is forced to battle Satan, who has taken the form of a huge King cobra and is also influencing other regular snakes in the area.