Satan’s Slave

A return to Blighty for Satan’s Slave, a black magic offering from exploitation kingpin Norman J. Warren.

Michael Gough, no stranger to strange, twisted British horror, heads the family as genial uncle and head of a coven, Alexander, who presides over demented sadist son Stephen and duplicitous secretary Frances, played by Barbara Kellerman. It’s niece Catherine’s birthday soon, and Candace Glendenning is going to be offered up for a spot of necromancy on her twentieth. Not the type of party she was wanting, but recently orphaned in a bizarre car crash, she is at a loose end.

Warren throws in the usual satanic tropes of frequent nudity, black mass rituals and brightly coloured robes. He adds some cousinly love, brutal bloodletting and a preposterous twist, but it kind of works, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

The location of the stately home of the coven was also used in Virgin Witch, for those eagle-eyed purveyors of 1970s satanic exploitation.