This is a landmark as the first mainstream horror movie to feature full frontal nudity. It was originally conceived as a portmanteau film but the stories were then stitched together resulting in a rather bumpy script with characters not being introduced properly or not having their fates resolved. It's a shame because the look of the film is absolutely beautiful and some of the individual scenes are very powerful.
Patrick Wymark is a judge and local magnate in eighteenth century England who goes away to investigate witchcraft after a number of strange and macabre events in a house in which he is staying. While he's away, the teenagers in the village start rebelling against the local vicar ( Anthony Ainley ) and worshipping a beast uncovered by ploughman Ralph ( Barry Andrews ).
Linda Hayden ( as Angel Blake )
Sex : Angel strips naked to tempt the vicar
Death : Shot by crossbow and then skewered
Linda had already courted controversy in the film Baby Love in 1968 and quickly became typecast as a lustful nymphet in horror films and sex comedies with then-boyfriend Robin Askwith. She was moderately successful in breaking away from these roles on TV but appeared less often after getting married in 1987. She is now 64.
Michele Dotrice ( as Margaret )
Sex : Margaret comes while watching the rape
Death : Uncertain-she's not killed on screen but the judge implies she'll be executed
This is the third unsympathetic role in a row for Michele.
Wendy Padbury ( as Cathy Vespers )
Sex : Cathy is raped in a Satanic ceremony
Death : Angel stabs her with a two-pronged dagger
This was Wendy's only substantial film role and came after the stint in Dr Who for which she is best remembered. She then had a three year stint in Freewheelers before marrying Melvyn Hayes and semi-retiring in the mid-seventies. In the nineties she became a theatrical agent and for a time didn't want to be associated with Dr Who any more but after finding Matt Smith for the programme she has embraced the legacy once more. She is now 69.
Tamara Ustinov ( as Rosalind Barton )
Sex : No ( not in the final cut anyway )
Death : Survives
This was the film debut of Peter Ustinov's daughter and it's obvious that a lot of her work ended up on the cutting room floor . Her career never really took off but she continues to make sporadic appearances to this day. She is now 72.
Roberta Tovey ( as Village girl )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
Roberta was a busy child actress in the sixties appearing in both the Dr Who films with Peter Cushing. She appears to have retired after her role in the late eighties comedy My Husband And I. She is now 64.
Yvonne Paul ( as Dancing Girl )
Sex : She dances nude in front of Ralph
Death : Survives
The buxom actress was a bit part player who started her own glamour agency Blondes. She retired at the end of the seventies.
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