Devil's Partner (1961)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Instant Favorite.

Best movie ever!

Beautiful, moving film.

DEVIL'S PARTNER is a forgotten little American horror flick that looks and feels like a contemporary western with a few horror touches added to the mix. I'd never heard of it before I sat down to watch it, and while it's certainly no classic, it's an adequate time waster that's difficult to dislike. The film was shot by TV director Charles Rondeau who creates a cosy atmosphere despite all the supposed horror going on.The story is about a guy who makes a Faustian pact with the devil for eternal youth. There are shades of Dorian Gray here along with all the old-time deal-with-the-devil movies of the 1940s. Unfortunately youth isn't enough for this guy and he also enlists the black arts to help bump off anyone who opposes him. There are some cheesy animal attack scenes mixed in but most of the film concentrates on the resolutely dull heroic characters trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. Again, no classic, but this is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type movie.

Newcomer Ed Nelson has a unique way of making friends... and losing them. He introduces himself to town-folk as the nephew of a recently deceased resident whom nobody liked, a hermit who was found dead covered in blood along side a goat which obviously had its throat slit. Bizarre goings on reveal that Nelson isn't the nice man he appears to be, and the town doctor and sheriff try to discover what is really behind all of the recent tragic events. The sudden attack of the rival to Nelson's attempt to win the doctor's daughter by his devoted dog, the discovery of a trampled body of the town drunk, and other bizarre happenings prove that something spiritually evil is taking place.Nelson, a cult actor who found romantic leads on the soap operas "Peyton Place" and "Capital", is a bizarre presence, his easy going demeanor hiding something truly foul. The poor drunk gets a first hand view, and his terror in realizing what he's witnessed isn't a hallucination is truly frightening. This is the type of horror movie that probably sent viewers immediately to church to pray or home to shower. It's cheaply made, adequately acted, and truly disturbingI can't watch films like this and praise them simply for that reason, even though I think that later horror films like " Rosemary's Baby" and "The Omen" are classics among the genre. This has an element of trashiness to it that puts it in the classification of exploitation rather than a piece of art.

An old guy seemingly dies on his farm in the small town of Furnace Flats and soon after, his nephew, Nick Richards arrives. Richards affects a suave and charming, but rather slimy, presence, as he seemingly attempts to fit into the small town. But soon after his arrival, unexplained attacks by animals and mysterious deaths plague this little one-horse-town.Old man has really made some sort of deal with the devil for eternal youth, and is passing himself off his own nephew, and using Satanic magick to exact revenge on the townspeople. He shows another old goat, a wino, his secret to eternal youth and he panics and runs--- so Richards uses magick to cause the wino's death by horse-trampling. Towards the end, shapeshifting also works into its strange-as-hell story in ways which are never fully explained. Film has atmosphere and suspense, the dime-store sets and lighting and no-name actors all add to its overall creepy feeling, but also a bit more violence, especially towards animals, than can be expected in an old Z-movie like this, which makes it a bit difficult to watch at times, but perhaps that was the intention. Bizarre music score, too.**1/2 out of ****

Don't get too attached to the idea presented by the movie poster or the film box cover for this movie - there is no beautiful naked woman bareback-riding a wild centaur anywhere to be found. Sorry. But despite this fact, The Devils Partner is not a terrible film. It makes up for in mood and performances what it lacks in the style that a bigger budget might have given it. A nasty, hairy, smelly old hermit sacrifices a goat in his dingy shack and is given a new life by the Devil Himself...or at least I'm assuming it was the Devil. You only get to see a burned black hand co-signing a contract that our hermit has already signed with the blood of the poor, aforementioned goat. Anyway, the hermit - minus about 40 years and having benefited from a recent flea bath - waltzes into our story which takes place in a heat blasted desert town. Mr. Brand New SatanicPants never breaks a sweat, strolling cool as ice cream into the lives of Nell and her boyfriend and causing major problems for both of them before he can be dispatched. True enough, this is a low budget extravaganza, but it makes the best with what it has to work with. The performances are sincere, the mood is spooky and the plot is actually rather original and benefits from some light yet surprising touches of perversion and sadism. Filmed in black and white and totally devoid of gore, The Devils Partner still manages to be disturbing, especially when you take into consideration the year in which it was made. Harmless entertainment, and not a total waste of an hour and a half or so.