THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN (1971) – Episode 181 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

“Not your baby! Our baby! Satan’s baby!!” You seemed like a folksy small-town doctor but it turns out, you’re really the head, satanic dude. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out The Brotherhood of Satan (1971), a Black Saint favorite from the producing team (L.Q. Jones and Alvy Moore) that brought you A Boy and His Dog (1975).

Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 181 – The Brotherhood of Satan (1971)

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A family is trapped in a desert town by a cult of senior citizens who recruit the town’s children to worship Satan.

• Director: Bernard McEveety
• Writers: William Welch; Sean MacGregor (original story by); L.Q. Jones (uncredited)
• Selected cast:
  • Strother Martin as Doc Duncan
  • L. Q. Jones as Sheriff
  • Charles Bateman as Ben
  • Ahna Capri as Nicky
  • Charles Robinson as Priest
  • Alvy Moore as Tobey
  • Helene Winston as Dame Alice
  • Joyce Easton as Mildred Meadows
  • Debi Storm as Billie Joe
  • Jeff Williams as Stuart
  • Judy McConnell as Phyllis
  • Robert Ward as Mike
  • Geri Reischl as K. T.

Back in the fall of 2013, just prior to launching Gruesome Magazine, Doc’s cohost on Horror News Radio, Santos Ellin, Jr., The Black Saint, joined him on the Monster Movie Podcast to discuss their favorite films of the Seventies. Exploring two films from each year between 1970 and 1979, this two-episode retrospective would give birth to Decades of Horror 1970s.

For the year 1971, Santos picked The Brotherhood of Satan featuring Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Alvy Moore, and Charles Bateman. At long last, the Grue-Crew set their eyes on this often overlooked classic. The film holds up amazingly well over 50 years later, spotlighting Martin chewing the scenery in style and featuring some impressive cinematography. Seriously, only Strother Martin can handle dialog such as this and keep a straight face while delivering these lines and looking so menacing.

At the time of this writing, The Brotherhood of Satan is available to stream from Tubi and a variety of other PPV options. Regarding physical media, the film is currently available as a Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule, chosen by Bill, will be The Ghoul (1975), a Tyburn Films production directed by Freddie Francis starring Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson, and John Hurt. Gotta be good, right?

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