The Brotherhood of Satan

Rating:
Summary: Come in, children...
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Come in, children...
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Another worthless exploitation of the occult
Review: A truly meaningless, meandering little film that has zero understanding of the occult in general and Satanism in particular. I found no exemplary acting to offset the mindless script, either. Not as bad as 'Devil's Rain'--this is a little bit more artistic and imaginative--but the dialogue is nearly as bad; both are superficial, exploitative, and shamelessly ignorant. If you want diabolical thrills and chills, then I suggest 'The Mask of Satan,' 'Rosemary's Baby,' or even 'The Wicker Man'. All of these are masterpieces by comparison--and scary as well. Although every one of these films needlessly misrepresent witchcraft and paganism in the name of the almighty dollar.

Rating:
Summary: Truly creepy chiller
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: I enjoyed it, thought Strother Martin was really good and should have performed in more movies to really get a good look at this actor besides bit parts in old cowboys shows.

Rating:
Summary: "Come in, Children...".
Review: I was expecting a sort of 'satanists vs the townspeople' type movie, but what I got was sort of a creepy little movie. The first 30 to 45 minutes of the movie it sort of drags you around, not really presenting you with a story, but different scenes and incidents...and then the movie starts to let you in on what's going on, and things really start getting freaky. The basic story of the movie deals with a man, his daughter and his girlfriend, a town under the control of a mysterious force, helpless to do anything about it, and how it trys to understand what's going on. A couple of lurid horror scenes, but nothing really over the top, which I like, and relatively good acting all around. What's nice about a movie like this is it doesn't spell everything out for you, treat you like you need everything explained to you. I've always liked Strother Martin and I think he does a pretty good job here. I wonder how I would have viewed this movie if it had a different title? I mean, "Brotherhood of Satan' kind of gives it away, in that you get the idea that the movie is about a satanic cult. But, had you not had that information, and let the movie disclose it as it did, I think it would have been more effective. There's not a lot in the way of special effects, instead relying more on atmosphere to build suspense, and pretty effectively. One thing that suprised me was the lack of pentagrams you so often see in movies dealing with this subject matter. To sum it up, a raw, unpolished movie, short of effects but heavy on atmosphere that kept me engaged until the end.

Rating:
Summary: "Come in, Children...".
Review: I was expecting a sort of 'satanists vs the townspeople' type movie, but what I got was sort of a creepy little movie. The first 30 to 45 minutes of the movie it sort of drags you around, not really presenting you with a story, but different scenes and incidents...and then the movie starts to let you in on what's going on, and things really start getting freaky. The basic story of the movie deals with a man, his daughter and his girlfriend, a town under the control of a mysterious force, helpless to do anything about it, and how it trys to understand what's going on. A couple of lurid horror scenes, but nothing really over the top, which I like, and relatively good acting all around. What's nice about a movie like this is it doesn't spell everything out for you, treat you like you need everything explained to you. I've always liked Strother Martin and I think he does a pretty good job here. I wonder how I would have viewed this movie if it had a different title? I mean, "Brotherhood of Satan' kind of gives it away, in that you get the idea that the movie is about a satanic cult. But, had you not had that information, and let the movie disclose it as it did, I think it would have been more effective. There's not a lot in the way of special effects, instead relying more on atmosphere to build suspense, and pretty effectively. One thing that suprised me was the lack of pentagrams you so often see in movies dealing with this subject matter. To sum it up, a raw, unpolished movie, short of effects but heavy on atmosphere that kept me engaged until the end.

Rating:
Summary: Do you have to be a Satanist to get it?
Review: This movie was not good, not good at all. It was as if they wrote the thing, and then decided not to finish it with an ending. I guess maybe if you are a Satanist you might get it, but for regular (non devil-worshipers) save your time and money. No scares, no laughs, no gore, no nothing. This movie ....

Rating:
Summary: Underated Horror Gem!
Review: 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.