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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) in Movies

Feb 9, 2018 (Updated Feb 9, 2018)  
The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)
The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)
1971 | Horror
9
8.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
What's In A Name?
One of the big three British folk-horror movies (along with Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man) and the only one to go for an explicitly supernatural storyline: in 18th century England, a ploughman unearths a deformed skull, which mysteriously disappears soon after. Insanity, mutation and violence begin to spread amongst the young people of the area, forcing the local judge to take extreme measures in the cause of virtue.

On one level this does sound like the broadest kind of exploitative schlock, and it's true that the monster suit at the end is utterly crapulous, but this does not take into account the disturbingly dreamy atmosphere conjured up by director Haggard and Marc Wilkinson's score. There's a touch of the genuine gothic in the way something ancient and disturbing erupts into a quietly bucolic world.

Plus, there is a hard edge of gleeful nastiness to this film which is wholly lacking from the movies being made by Tigon's better-known rivals at Hammer and Amicus during the same period. There's a sense in which most Hammer movies feel like costume dramas with a little blood included as a contractual obligation, but Blood on Satan's Claw goes all-out to mess the viewer up - it's not especially frightening as such, but it's a very unsettling, creepy movie that's a worthy successor to an ancient English tradition of supernatural horror stories.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) created a post

Jun 22, 2018  
Yesterday evening I went to watch War Horse at the Lowry Theatre - there has been a lot of hype about this for quite some time, and after seeing it myself I can understand why.

This was a fantastic show. Everything from the folk music interludes (the guy singing had a fantastic voice) to the script which had a lot more humour in than I expected. It's been a while since I've seen the film, so I'm not sure right now how closely this follows the story but it was such an enthralling show. The acting was great, they even did the French and German language barriers very ingeniously.

By far the best bit about this show though is the set, props and the animal mechanics. The set is minimal but very well done, and the animals and horses are truly amazing. It feels strange to begin with seeing how the horses work, but you soon get used to it and by the end, you begin to think they're actually real. And there's also a well done goose that's absolutely hilarious, a great addition to an other serious show.

I'm just annoyed that for half of the show people behind us were loudly rustling & eating sweets, and it really spoils your enjoyment when they're louder than the dialogue. Why is there no consideration any more?

Anyway despite the moan, this is a fantastic show and I'd highly recommend going. 10/10
     
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    Rebekah Owens

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    Why write about Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971) as part of a series of books dedicated to the...

Liege & Lief by Fairport Convention
Liege & Lief by Fairport Convention
1969 | Rock
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"My favourite song is 'Farewell, Farewell' which is this beautiful arrangement, awesome songwriting and then Sandy Denny's voice is just so haunting. But that album is masterfully arranged, masterfully recorded and I love the drum sounds. We were always trying to get the drum sounds to be more Fairport - it's so economical but really funky at the same time and they just have a lot of crazy meters that you don't even notice are shifting from 7/8 to 4/4 because it's carried by these strong folk song lyrics and melodies. But that was a big touchstone for us, especially some of the fiddle style parts. I think Richard Thompson is one of the coolest guitarists out there and there's a Richard & Linda Thompson album, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, the title song of which is featured on this HBO show [Enlightened]. I thought. ""Is this a Liz Phair song from 1993, what is this?"" and then you discover it and think this song's fucking awesome. Her voice is definitely not as good as Sandy Denny's but it's probably more suited for that kind of 70s pop rock. But there's also this really great song on that album called 'The Calvary Cross', which could be a Lungfish song. He's just a dude who was way ahead of his time and more interesting than someone like Jimmy Page, who's been played to death and is such a rip-off artist!"

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Beth Orton recommended Solid Air by John Martyn in Music (curated)

 
Solid Air by John Martyn
Solid Air by John Martyn
1973 | Folk, Rock, Singer-Songwriter
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I first heard him at about 16, and listening to him was like just doing really good drugs, it was like smoking [laughs]... I felt very moved by his music and when I did, it felt like it was just for me, because it seemed like no-one had ever heard of him. No-one really knew of him that well until - I'd often put his record on and blow people's minds with it. I'm not sure what I meant by it being ""personal"" - it sounds like a good way of not talking about it! - I don't want to repeat myself, but listening to it, I never get bored. If we want to get into the sound of a record, there's some pretty innovative sounds in there, in a way. I think it was quite an adventurous record, really, for a supposed folk singer and I find his songs very moving. The first song I ever sang was 'Don't Want To Know ‘Bout Evil', I did a version with William Orbit, and then one of the first gigs I ever did was supporting John Martyn. I think it was at Queen Elizabeth Hall - I was so happy, and running around with bottles of champagne and was like ""no! He's not drinking them!"" He was pretty grumpy, but it seemed to me had different states of mind - this time, he was in a different place."

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