Customer Reviews

Brotherhood of Satan [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Brotherhood is a lesser known atmospheric chiller of the early 1970s. A family becomes stranded in a small town populated by some decidedly different inhabitants. Similarly themed to "Race With The Devil" sort of. What really makes this film work is the excellent cinematagraphy and attention to detail plus a dynamite ending. Sure, the cult almost seems laughable at times but by the end, you won't find them so amusing. Also if you like this movie try to dig up the fabulous and out of print Australian gem "Allison's Birthday" with similar themes.

A secret coven of wrinkly senior citizen witches (lead by the great Strother Martin) cast a spell on the small town of Woodley preventing anybody from getting in or leaving. The purpose of this entrapment isn't cause the old folks are lonely and want somebody to talk to No! they want the children so they can take over their bodies and be young again. Not a bad idea.

The sheriff (played by Peckinpah favorite L. Q. Jones) is getting sick and tired of being stuck in this smelly ol town so him and his posse start investigating where all the kids have disappeared to. Will they find them before it's too late?

Very interesting story, but the direction by veteran TV director Bernard McEveety comes off kinda stale, almost like a made for TV movie. I did get the creeps a few times (especially at the doll scene - yikes!), but I think that the lack of violence and the improper director kept THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN from reaching its full potential. Still very much worth watching.

The picture on the DVD is good, but the extras are completely nonexistent. A short about the career of Strother Martin or L. Q. Jones would have been nice.

D: Bernard McEveety ("Misfits of Science", "Knight Rider")

Doc Duncan - Strother Martin (Cool Hand Luke, The Wild Bunch)
Sheriff - L. Q. Jones (Casino, The Wild Bunch)
Tobey - Alvy Moore ("Green Acres", A Boy and His Dog)

When a couple and child are stranded in a small desert town, they find the place suddenly plagued by rabid-fire deaths and the mysterious disappearance of the local children...a coven of senior citizen satanists plotting to use the children as the young bodies for their life of renewed service to the lord of darkness. Quite good, with an intriguing premise carried out well. Nice, creepy climax.

"The Brotherhood of Satan" reminded me of why I enjoy watching horror movies from the seventies. This strange outing has a suspenseful, creepy plot without the gratuitous gore, foul language and sex that plagues today's theatres. Think "Village of the Damned" meets "Rosemary's Baby." Instead of aliens, it is a coven of Satan worshippers that are terrorizing a small, southwestern town. For three days, it has been isolated from the rest of the world. No one has been able to get in or out. It's like an episode of Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone." Entire families are being murdered and their children whisked away to a secret location. The Satanists use war toys, dolls, and other seemingly harmless objects to slaughter parents before luring their children away for their own hellish purposes. One couple, with their little girl, manages to enter the town. Will they be able to stop the Satan worshippers' diabolical scheme before it is too late?

Strother Martin gives a realistic, disturbing performance as the evil, two-faced Doc Duncan. (He also played a mad professor in the successful science fiction horror film "Sssssss"; he was transforming his young lab assistants into cobras.) The ending is wonderfully downbeat and left open for the imagination - the type of ending that will haunt and chill you long after the credits have finished.

If you like occult classics such as "Rosemary's Baby," "Race with the Devil," and "The Devil's Rain," then you will want to add "The Brotherhood of Satan" to your collection. It is highly recommended for fans of classic horror. Also, if you enjoyed the modern "Skeleton Key," starring Kate Hudson and Gena Rowlands, you will want to see "The Brotherhood of Satan." Both films involve body snatching through witchcraft.

It is a shame that, at the time of this writing, "The Brotherhood of Satan" is no longer in print. Perhaps Sony will reissue it in a two-disc collector's edition with commentary.

I can't say I remember this flick from 1971, and it surprises me because I ate this kind of thing up with both hands back then, but I'm glad I found it. This is one nifty piece of film making.

A young couple with his daughter (by a previously deceased wife) are driving through the American South West when they come upon a town. Things are not right here and as the story progresses you find out why. No one else has been able to either leave or enter the town, and a bunch of kids have gone missing. I won't divulge any spoilers here so let's leave it at that.

This movie gets your curiosity up right from the get go. All these weird things happen at the beginning of the film and it all just seems.....weird. But as the story progresses all that weirdness starts to come together and make total (or near total) sense.

This is not at all a lazy movie. There are a lot of things to draw your attention. It's very tight with no real filler added. There is also outstanding use of leitmotif. Tiny things repeat throughout but often with subtle changes.

This movie has more going for it than most in this genre. The main sufferings are due mostly to budget. The director has tons of TV credits under his belt and only a few feature length films but he does more than a decent job here with a decidedly limited budget. The actors are all OK but of course Strother Martin and L.Q. Jones stand out. Ahna Capri is also a step above average and real easy on the eyes to boot.

If they would have had a few more dollars and a few more days this would take on a real gleam. But as it is it's a great view.

Strother Martin (Sssssss) is the leader of a coven of elderly witches / satanists in a small town who must be reborn. This requires new bodies in the form of the town's children. The cult starts killing off parents in strange ways, using killer toys! Of course, the kids vanish soon after their parents' untimely deaths. The sheriff (L. Q. Jones), his deputy, and a preacher try to figure out what's going on. They are joined by a family of travelers after they get into a bizarre accident. BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN is filled w/ an atmosphere of impending doom. The true horror lies in the use of darkness and dread to slowly choke off all hope of a happy ending! I really enjoyed this one, but I'm a sucker for 70s devil movies...

I first saw this "chiller" on my local T.V. stations horror double feature one very quiet Saturday night in 1976. It started at 10:30 and by 10:45 I was creeped out big time.
A small town in the southwest(the devil really likes the southwest in horror movies doesn't he) is having problems. Kids are missing and anyone trying to leave finds their life span is very short. While this is happening Strother Martin(one of the best character to ever grace the screen and a very evil presence in this film) is readying his group of Satan worshipers for a big ritual to be reborn for "Another lifetime in the Brotherhood Of Satan. To say more would deprive you of the fun of watching this one unfold to it's humdinger of an ending. The whole cast is good and is filled with the best character actors of that or any other day.
Side note: This one was so creepy that while I was watching it an Uncle that had just gotten into town knocked on our door and scared the.... well lets just say that I watched the rest of this one with the lights on. Enjoy it.

A truly bizarre hybrid. Take one part ROSEMARY'S BABY, add in the production design from THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, and top it off with one truly kick-ass evil performance from the late Strother Martin and you have an instant cult classic. It veers into cheesiness at times, but redeems itself with beautifully creepy atmosphere. A perfect companion film to both the previously mentioned ROSEMARY'S BABY as well as the Chuck Heston classic OMEGA MAN. Too bad it's not on DVD yet. The picture and sound could use a good remastering, but it's still very much worth seeing on VHS.One of my personal favorites.

I first saw this film when it was first released. The movie theater gave out packages of Satan seeds as a promo which had grown into some cool looking wildflowers which I still have to this day in my backyard. Out of all the films on the subject of Witchcraft and the Occult which sprouted out of the major studios and low budget filmmakers in the late sixties and early seventies, this is the one which chilled me to the bone and I still think its the best of its type to this day. The subject of soul transference was dealt with here and there throughout horror film history probably reaching its apex with Paul Wendko's 'THE MEPHISTO WALTZ' but this chiller dealt with it through the possession of children. To this day, I have never seen a film which has the classic paranoia of the original 'INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS' but this film comes close. No one can be trusted as slowly we see that each member of the town is involved with the coven of satanists. The films motif of a married couple who are allowed to enter the town because they have a child and not allowed to leave builds to a chilling climax and the ending is a true stunner. Old western stalwarts Strother Martin and LQ Jones are included in the mix giving Martin one of his best over the top rolls. I do not want to spoil it for first time viewers but showing the meetings of the coven and the rituals they perform are extremely impressive and director Bernard McEvetty gives the films set pieces just the right amount of atmosphere lacking even in the high tech direct to video dreck being released to this day. All moviegoers interested in horror films owe it to themselves to purchase this gem. 'THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN' is the best film on the occult ever made , and as I said way back in the seventies, its a sleeper classic ready to be discovered.

Saw, brought this dvd. It's a classic film from the seventies. Great actors, and story. Local town cult lure children to satanic church. Children do not got hurt in anyway, just their perents. Great decapitation scene done by a knight riding a horse.