mark.waltz So would say Dana Carvey's "Church Lady" if he were to meet Belinda J. Montgomery's Diane in this over-the-top macabre horror drama from the golden age of the TV movie: 90 minutes (with commercials) and little to no frills. The frills here are saved for the superb cast which is headed by the mysterious Shelley Winters as Lilith, the friendly old pal of Montgomery's recently deceased mother who had a pact with the devil himself to raise their daughter and turn her over to him after 21 years. That time has passed, and while they haven't seen much of each other, Montgomery is beside herself with grief with the old woman suddenly dies in a horrific accident. The overly friendly Winters (think of her as an over caffeinated Ruth Gordon of "Rosemary's Baby") immediately offers Montgomery a room, but soon, Montgomery wants to find her own independence, something the hot tempered Winters will not hear of. Calming down briefly, Winters decides that these things must be done delicately as to not hurt the spell, and sets into motion her plan of action that indeed will turn Montgomery into the living, breathing, earthbound daughter of the prince of darkness and future empress of the underworld.The cast is filled with some great veteran actors, with Joseph Cotten as the attorney for Montgomery's mothers estate, Robert Foxworth as the man of Montgomery's dreams (whom she intends to marry to get away from crazy Shelley), Martha Scott as Foxworth's sophisticated mother, Abe Vigoda as one of the members of Winters' circle of friends, Lucille Benson (taking over where Patsy Kelly left off as Gordon's knitting pal in "Rosemary's Baby") as a nosy neighbor, Thelma Carpenter as another pal of Winters (who makes a great apple strudel), and Ian Wolfe as the Catholic priest who tries to steer Montgomery to making the right choices. Winters eats these types of parts for breakfast, so all eyes are on her when she is on screen. Poor Jonathan Frid, aka Barnabas Collins, is completely wasted as Winters' mute chauffer, having no purpose here other than keeping an eye on Montgomery when Winters is busy stirring her cauldron elsewhere. Coming out just as the supernatural craze of films was taking off with "The Exorcist" (and "The Omen" yet to come), this leaves the story open for a sequel, just as "Rosemary's Baby" had done five years before. Even if this could be considered disturbing for its view of seemingly kindly neighbors being involved in such an evil cult, it is best viewed from a camp perspective.

Leofwine_draca THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER is one of those atmospheric US TV movies that were churned out in the early to mid 1970s across the Atlantic. These films have invariably held up well for modern audiences, making up for their lack of budget and explicitness with a ton of spooky atmosphere and interesting stories. THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER is no exception, exploring the fate of a beautiful young woman who gradually comes to learn that her soul was sold to Satan at birth.Much of the film consists of the girl being tormented and haunted by a group of very sinister neighbours, led by the expert ham Shelley Winters whose larger-than-life personality dominates every scene in which she appears. Belinda J. Montgomery is an acceptable heroine, but it's the weird characters in support who really stick out here: Jonathan Frid (DARK SHADOWS) as a mute, Abe Vigoda and Rozelle Gayle as a sinister double act. It's also great fun to see Joseph Cotten in his minor role as a kindly friend of the family, and Diane Ladd has a cameo at the start.THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER is a slow moving movie that gradually builds up its tension to be unleashed at a low key but surprisingly impressive climax that manages to reach the pinnacle of true horror in just a few brief scenes. Special effects here are kept to a minimum, but that spooky atmosphere just doesn't let up.

Spikeopath Little known and under seen, this is an efficient "Devil's Spawn" movie that admittedly features stars working for food. Shelley Winters, Joseph Cotten and Diane Ladd head the cast list as a young woman comes to realise that her guardians are devil worshipping nutters!It's all a bit "Rosemary's Baby" lite, but there's a splendid array of off-kilter characters and bizarro abodes. Director Jeannot Szwarc (Jaws 2) is clever enough to use canted angles to enhance the trippy black arts undercurrents, while Winters is having a grand old time of it. The big telegraph pole pointing the way to the finale is hard to miss, but surprisingly the denouement still packs a worthwhile punch. You would be very angry if you based your Halloween night around this viewing, but as TV Satan Worship movies go, it's not half bad. 6/10

cerebral-3 Although the "devil's gonna get you" plot may have been an over-kill of the 1970's horror flicks, this film deserves merit for a memorable surprise ending and a seasoned cast including: Shelley Winters, Joseph Cotton, Robert Foxworth, Jonathan Frid and Martha Scott. It would have been a worthy film to make into video!