Tony’s feeling
devilish.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
(Sigh). Thank you. Just
needed to get that out of my system.
I used to be a horror fan.
These days, I’m older and less fearless, and so it’s quite possible that horror
stories will just give me the screaming heebie-jeebies.
Spoiler alert: Get some
heebie-jeebie insurance before you listen to Blood On Satan’s Claw, adapted
from the 1971 movie by horror writer, and on the basis of this, scary git, Mark
Morris, and released by Bafflegab. Get as much heebie-jeebie insurance as you
can afford, frankly, because this thing gets you coming and going.
The weird thing is it absolutely shouldn’t work.
It’s a story of 17th
century rural folk, and it’s pretty black and white in its worldview: God is
good, and represented by the forces of the Establishment. Satan is evil, and
real, and represented by sex and violence that slip their bounds and infect
society. It’s more or less The Archers meets Hellraiser.
There’s no real way that
should scare the pants off us in the 21st century. We’re a
relatively secular society these days, all grown-up and cynical and sneering at
the nature of ‘the Devil.’
This audio works. It works
jussssst fine, thank you very much.
It works because it
strikes enough modern notes and balances them against the classical to deliver
a taut drama of the edge of things – 17th century good and evil
might be its primary colours, but there’s a modern sensibility in evidence
here: teenage sexuality, innocence and experience are all on display as part of
the fight for the soul of the village, along with peer pressure, the
unrestrained ambition of the young, the potential effect of grief as a portal
to ‘dark forces.’
That’s the thing. If
you’re scared of devils and demons, this’ll scare the pants off you. If you
prefer your horror modern and rich, vivid and psychological – this’ll scare the
pants off you. Either way, the chances are, you’re going to finish this one
shivering and pantless.
Where Blood On Satan’s
Claw is most successful is in its atmosphere – from early in the story, Angel
and Margaret, (the two leaders of the revolution of the young which forms the
backbone of the story here), flaunt their sexuality to Mark (one of a few
avatars of corruptible and incorruptible youth), and you’re constantly waiting
for the other shoe to drop, for the tease of terror embodied by their ‘worldly’
knowledge to materialise into the actual, outright horror of action. It doesn’t
under-deliver either – there are a handful of sequences which are truly
gruesome or sickening to contemplate, including at least a couple of killings,
and a whispery children’s demon-summoning ceremony. But it’s in the self-assurance
of ‘devilish’ characters, chiefly Angel and Margaret, that the tension is
stoked – their knowledge of ‘worldly’ things, the easy scorn they pour on the
strictures of 17th century society and establishment, and the
resonances of that power with the sexualised youth of our own day and age, make
them very compelling devils to follow.
Mark Morris’ Blood On
Satan’s Claw delivers more than two hours of a world going mad from the bottom
up, in a production that bristles with fear both ancient and modern, and keeps
you constantly on edge, waiting for the next episode of ghastly, demonic
bullying to come and put you through the wringer.
On the strength of this
release, we can only look forward to further upcoming dabbles with classic
horror – watch out soon, as Bafflegab brings Clive Barker’s The Hellbound Heart
to audio life. After this adventure into the heart of youthful darkness, we say
bring it on! Just let us invest in some heebie-jeebie insurance first.
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