The Touch of Satan (1971)

Thanks for the memories!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

I first saw The Touch of Satan at the Dublin (Georgia) Drive-In Theater following the 1980 re-release under the title Night of the Demon. It was then released under the original title on VHS video. I have read that it was directed by none other than Tom Laughlin, Mr. Billy Jack himself, despite the director's name being Don Henderson. I am aware that some people do direct films and write books using a false name but I have not seen where this credit has ever been officially given, implied or acknowledged. I am well aware that this film has been laughed-at, low-rated, panned, condemned, damned, parodied, spoofed and razzed by many. many people, but I still like it. There is just a certain something that makes it enjoyable to me. Michael Berry (Jody) seems to have gone on to a career working on film crews as an on-set medic, among other things. Lovely Emby Mellay (Melissa) seems to have simply just disappeared from the face of the earth after making this one movie. The location filming in Santa Ynez, California is one of the positives the film has. The scenery is lovely. The music was also quite good, too. The film also features some early makeup effects work by the talented Joe Blasco. I miss going to the drive-in and this is one film that transports me back to those days. I just wish that this DVD had been made from a better quality print of the film, if not remastered. It even looks a bit like a DVD that was ripped directly from a VHS video copy. That aspect makes me wonder just why the DVD is priced a bit higher than perhaps it warrants. Maybe it is also the fact that the film is so hard to find in other formats other than on MST3K. But I would much rather watch the film just as it was originally made and intended to be seen and relive the good old days of the drive-in. As for it being a "bad" or "awful" film, I have seen quite a few huge-budgeted films, featuring big-name casts that I enjoyed a lot less than The Touch of Satan.

I first saw this movie years ago when Mystery Science Theater (or MST3K) showed it. Since then, thanks to the miracle of something called videotape (and more recently on DVD), I've gone back to the definitive version (with the Bots) numerous times! Putting aside their funny antics, I'll try to rate the movie based on its own merits (or lack thereof.) First, the acting is uneven. The main character, Jodie, is kind of a bland Donald Sutherland. His hair, clothes, and mentality firmly point out that he's from the 70s. He's also pretty naive. Even though there's a lot of foreboding, Jodie is completely unaware of it. The actress who plays Melissa is equally bland, pretty but still bland. Between these two will pass numerous uncomfortable pauses. And when I mean pauses, I mean P... A... U... S... E... S... This is another one of those movies where you get the feeling the filmmakers didn't have enough material to make it a feature-length, so they compensated by putting long, slow pauses. Now mind you, pauses work when done right. Anton Chekov made a ton of plays using the pause to enhance meaning. The problem is when there's too much of a pause, it loses meaning. Not to mention, considering Jodie and Melissa are supposed to be budding lovers, it seems odd that they still share so many uncomfortably long pauses. The acting gets slightly better with the supporting cast. My personal favorite is the actress playing the witch/sister/great grandmother (depending on who's telling the story) Lucinda. When she flips out, it's convincing and startling. Good make-up too! In fact, that is the best feature about the film: killer witch/ sister/ great grandmother! Getting back to the love story, it's just as uneven as the rest of this film. Having just met Melissa, Jodie automatically agrees to stay for a few days with her creepy family. He's completely oblivious to their "less-than-welcoming" mood. As the movie goes on, we learn that Melissa is thought of as a witch in town. What follows is some of the blandest events to unfold. You get the feeling that there is a demonic force going on, but the pace needs to be ramped up! The ending is eerie, though it still seems out-of-place considering that the relationship between Jodie and Melissa doesn't appear to be that serious. Throughout the film, it's obvious there is no real chemistry between the two actors and it makes their relationship seem forced. Oh, did I mention the laughable dialogue? My favorite is when Melissa stops by a pond and says "This is where the fish lives." Huh, the fish? Just the fish? Just one fish? What does that have to do with anything?! And why, oh why, did they have "Amazing Grace" play at least three times in this movie? Public domain? The overall problem is that there is a decent and scary little witch movie buried within. Unfortunately, it's so buried underneath ho-hum acting, poorly paced scenes, and those god-awful pauses that it isn't scary. Could you imagine if they remade this nowadays? Here's one movie I wouldn't mind seeing the studios remake!

"Touch Of Satan" has the feel of a movie destined for the 3rd feature at an drive-in triple feature. You get the feeling that by the time this thing started rolling at 1:00 am, everyone left at the drive-in was either 90% asleep, drunk off their butts, or so involved in heavy petting that it didn't matter what was on the screen. So on that level, TOS worked fine. It filled in 90+ minutes of screen and gave the night-owls some video background to accompany whatever their real priority happened to be at the time. Unfortunately, I had to watch it while wide awake, 100% sober, and undistracted by any opportunity to smooch and make out. And so I have little use (or pity) for this movie....and I have to confess that it was so incredibly dull that I had a lot of trouble making myself pay attention to it. I kept pausing the VCR to get a soda, or go to the bathroom, or make myself a sandwich, or make a phone call, or to start the dishwasher. Then I'd get back, start things up again, and try to pay attention for another 5 minutes...only to decide it was time to start the laundry, or pay a couple of bills, or do some push-ups...But unless a movie is actively offensive or horrifically awful, I always try to watch a movie all the way through and give it every chance to prove itself. So I eventually got to the end of "TOS", and my final reaction was...."Meh.". I have to admit, there is the germ of a decent, unsettling story in this movie, and there is a plot twist that could actually be considered somewhat clever. The cinematography is OK in a 70's "Movie Of the Week" way, and the young romantic leads are decent looking, if not particularly striking. But even though director Tom Laughlin (of "Billy Jack" and "Master Gunfigher" fame) had previously managed to make some involving (if contrived) movies, here he couldn't pace a dramatic scene to save his life, and he definitely didn't have the know-how or the talent to make these uncharismatic actors carry the movie. Maybe he should have stuck to directing himself and his regular cast of cronies. Or maybe he should have stuck in some hapkido or some gunfighting to pick things up a bit. He definitely didn't have a feel for "horror". As a previous reviewer astutely commented, this movie screams for a remake. Unlike good older movies, which are often happy accidents of inspiration, zeitgeist, and talent, the addition of modern 'gee-whiz' MTV jump cuts, CGI, and hot young actors would add a lot of visual interest to the proceedings, and would help frame the mildly interesting plot in a flattering way that held the viewer's attention. However, that probably isn't going to happen. Hollywood is never going to be that desperate for material that this dull-tastic collection of 70's clichés will ever get a shiny new outfit. Even in the MST version, the guys just didn't have anything to work with. That's kind of sad.

**This review is based on the MST3K version of the movie.**This is a movie about a direction-less, spineless, and unlikable "hero" ( or at least the producer's idea of one) named Jodie who drives out to the country to eat his sandwich and meets a farm girl named Melissa. Melissa has a slight problem being that about 120 years ago she sold her soul to Satan and with our "hero" Jodie ( a male ) on the job the chances for correcting this problem do not look good. Jodie ends up spending a couple of days with Melissa at her family's walnut farm with her drab family who we do not care for or find interesting except for her old and ugly sister who makes a few appearances to murder people.The acting is bad but what will really get to you is the SLOW dialog between the two main characters. If you edited out half the gaps between their words the conversation might actually appear to flow normally but since this was not done you are simply left with big gaps where audience members ( the smart ones that is ) will run out of patience and leave the room. It is amazing that the editor left these scenes in; "Yes, no room for improvement here. Another perfect take HA HA!" Speaking of amazing, the song "Amazing Grace" is featured about half a dozen times toward the end of the film. It would have been interesting to have seen this in the theater to see how much the audience groaned when the song started for the third or fourth time. I am sure that a collective "Not again !" drowned out the first measure of the fourth, fifth, and sixth renditions of the song.About the only good thing about the movie is the woman who plays Melissa. She is most pleasant to look at. You think with a few, make that A LOT of acting lessons, her career could have been salvaged but it was not to be. With the mean-spirited and well-crafted remarks of the Mystery Science Theater gang the viewing experience will be about an 8 1/2. This is one of their best projects. They really tear this movie apart which is exactly what it deserves. Without them I only issue this warning; DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM ! YOU WILL BE SORRY ! I GAVE IT A 2 OUT OF 10 AND I MEAN IT !!!**** SEMI-SPOILER AHEAD****Our "hero" Jodie lets us down right to the end of the film. No surprise that a guy who takes THREE DAY lunch breaks is not a champion overcomer of adversity. Non-Christians will find the ending unclimatic but Christians will probably find it offensive much like I did. Remember, throwing a rock or an empty beer bottle at your television will not hurt those who are responsible for this film so just write a scathing review like I did. God Bless Mike and his robot friends.