Blu-ray Review: The Brotherhood of Satan (1971)

With a film involving Satan that begins with child characters, you just know you’re going to be getting one of them sing-song, “la la la” type of main theme, and boy howdy The Brotherhood of Satan does not disappoint there… there’s also footage of a car being crushed by a tank while unholy screams ring out, so there’s that bit that is also not disappointing.
Following that, Ben (Charles Bateman), his girlfriend Nicky (Ahna Capri), and Ben’s young daughter K.T. (future Brady Bunch Hour alum Geri Reischl) resume their cross country vacay after being caught in one of those realistic movie downpours where the rain goes in multiple directions at once… but that once again grinds to a halt when they discover the aftermath of a grizzly car “accident” and are forced to seek the assistance of the local sheriff (L.Q. Jones and his amazing hair), who already has his hands full dealing with the half-crazed inhabitants of Hillsboro who’s children are going missing at an absurd rate.
As one would naturally expect, the town’s senior citizens are all balls deep into a Satanic cult that takes their old ass essence and places it in the bodies of children so they can get a fresh start on things… oh and the Big D has granted them the power to make children’s toys turn deadly to perform their murder biz.
Things are going to get rather dicey for our heroes…
Arriving early in the occult drenched cinema cycle of the 1970’s (kicked off by 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby), The Brotherhood of Satan is chock full of melodrama and ridiculousness, not unlike the similarly themed trashy paperback novels one could pick up at the supermarket check-outs at the time… and it’s just as bizarre and entertaining as you can imagine!
To be fair, the film is uneven, with the creepy besieged town parts standing in sharp contrast to the comic book-style Satanic (also referred to as “witchcraft” because yeah, why not… ) ceremonies that those aforementioned geezers get up to (ceremonies that come complete with baby burning, soul transference, glowing skulls, and all other manner of bullshit that has about as much to do with real Satanic practices as pizza has to do with algebra… their robes are snazzy as fuck though, so there’s that)… but things dovetail nicely at the end so all is well and shit.
A way that dichotomy is used to great effect is present in the picture’s art design; with the minimilistic, dusty, earth-toned desert locales thrown up against the surreal set-design and lurid rainbow colors of the Cults crib… it keeps things visually arresting throughout.
While the acting in the picture is solid across the board, the award here must go to Strother Martin who carves a slice of ham the size of Cleveland as he goes full on Shakespearean villain mixed with Doctor Doom in a performance this critic calls “Fuckin’ balls-out awesome”! Special mention to Charles Robinson as the town priest; his hysterics become high art (though he pronounces the word “coven” like Mark Borchardt).
Speaking of “awesome”, Arrow Video (along with MVD Entertainment) have included some choice bonus material on this Blu-ray release including: a lively and info-packed audio commentary courtesy of authors Kim Newman (always a welcome presence in these affairs) and Sean Hogan, a visual essay regarding 70’s Satanic cinema courtesy of author David Flint, interviews with actors Jonathan Erickson Eisley and Alyson Moore (who played kids in the film), a collection of TV and radio spots as well as the film’s theatrical trailer, and an image gallery.
Also included are a reversible sleeve featuring new artwork courtesy of Richard Wells, and if you snag a first pressing you get a an illustrated booklet featuring new writing by editor Johnny Mains and author Brad Stevens!
Irresistible fever-dream occultist craziness of the highest order, The Brotherhood of Satan is a must-own for lovers of Satanic cinema!