With this, I now have the dubious distinction of having gotten all of would-be Horror icon Mike Raven's four films under my belt. While the first two were middling efforts for genre brands (Amicus' I, MONSTER and Hammer's LUST FOR A VAMPIRE {both 1971}), the last couple – the recently-viewed CRUCIBLE OF TERROR (also 1971) and the movie under review – were independently-produced and also more personal projects. None of this quartet has a good reputation, and I am not sure DISCIPLE OF DEATH even has one at all, considering its sheer rarity (the print I watched is so ragged, with vertical lines running across the screen practically all the way through, that it feels like the film emanates from a couple of decades prior to the actual release date!) – even if one write-up I read of it in the entertaining "British Horror Films" website actually singles the movie out as the worst ever watched by that particular reviewer – but I do know that Raven took its critical lambasting and commercial failure so badly that he retired from acting there and then to take up sculpting and sheep farming in Cornwall!
Well, while the picture is certainly nothing to write home about, I could name a few genre outings – from this vintage alone – that I would personally rate lower! What this has working against it is that, lacking a solid financial backing, the end result inevitably comes across as amateurish at best (the faded look, already mentioned, actually accentuates this)! Then again, the hoary script (by director Parkinson and Raven himself under an alias) does not help any: the star is a Satanist (the title, by the way, is fairly idiotic and, if one wanted to look down upon the whole, he could well dub it DISCLAIMER OF DRECK!) who was executed but, since a couple of young locals (the squire's daughter and a struggling farmer, whose union is frowned upon by the girl's father, sporting the bushiest eyebrows you ever saw!) choose to pledge their love with a blood pact conducted – of all places – over his grave, he is revived 50 years after the fact (and instantly picks the pretty wench for his own partner!).
Naturally, Raven assumes control of his old property – but, unbelievably, none of the townsfolk seem to have been around at the time of his demise, given that nobody recognizes him...save for a gypsy woman whose daughter he had killed back in the day: she spits in his face at the first opportunity, but is gotten rid of by him before long. The protagonist's distinctive looks (a mix of The Who bassist John Entwistle and actor Ron Moody, which is appropriate in view of Raven's background as a radio disc-jockey!) are particularly well-suited to the period setting: during the course of the film, he enslaves a number of girls (who have all refused to share a hellish afterlife with him!) – among them, the hero's sister – but, after a while, he seems to lose his power and ages considerably!
Aiding the youngsters in their opposition to the diabolic influence of the "Stranger" (as Raven is credited during the end titles) is town parson Ronald Lacey – eccentrically made-up to resemble Peter Bull! Since the villain's powers are ineffective in the daytime, he conjures up a fiend from the beyond thanks to the elements of air, fire, water and earth)...but all he can muster is a dwarf who laughs heartily when his devilish pranks work and make a fist and stamp his feet when they do not! The side of good, however, does not have it any better: Lacey refers the boy to a Jewish alchemist, who seems to belong to the "Monty Python" universe: he literally has a mirror into the outside world and also procures his visitors with some "kosher Yiddisher magic" (as if we were suddenly thrust into some adventure from Greek Mythology!) in the form of nothing more remarkable than a flask of holy water, a bag of sand and a tiny golden talisman. Before having even embarked on their quest, however, the two bungling heroes realize they need more assistance from the magician but, when Lacey goes back inside the cave, he finds it in a state of disarray and the Jew himself a web-shrouded skeleton...so the Parson begs his pardon and sheepishly steps outside again! Eventually, the Man of the Church and the 'Little Fella' from the Pits of Hell engage in a duel – which basically just sees Lacey lying down on the ground and allows his vertically-challenged opponent to climb on top of him and tear voraciously at his throat!
The finale, then, obviously has Raven being defeated – by having the Jew's talisman shone in his face{!} and his own yanked from around the neck and burned – but he still contrives to entrap the lovers (with the help of his slaves) and leave them at the mercy of the hero's sister, who is made to turn the wooden flaps of a windmill with her feet, thus literally stretching out the youngsters who are tied to them. Inevitably, a fire saves the day, so that a surprisingly serene Raven can only make his way back to whence he came.
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