Satanic Cult Movies (6 Best Films About Devil Cults)
In this article I will suggest a list of 6 best movies about satanic cults
that are stuffed with dark scenes showing occult devil sects with their:
- unholy inventory such as pentagrams, baphomet statues, altars, skulls, daggers, and spellbooks
- ritual sex
- black masses with bloody human sacrifices
- psychological manipulation by means of black magic
- tribal dances,
and all other things you imagine when thinking of sick satanic sects.
Unfortunately, there are not as many movies about devil cults as ones on other standard horror movie topics such as vampires or maniacs (for titles of films on various other subjects you may want to browse my categorized list of 90+ European exploitation B-movies). But here are the ones I’ve seen and can recommend.
And after discussing those 6 best films about satanic cults, I will
separately suggest a ton of related films about witchcraft and devil
cults but in which either satanic sects aren’t shown very explicitly or a film
is about only one sorcerer or it’s not among the best because of other
reasons.
Now, let’s cut to the cheese.
#1 Devil’s Ecstasy (1976, Brandon G. Carter, USA)
It’s the best of all satanic cult films I’ve seen so far. For those who want to learn more about it, I share all I know in a separate article about Devil’s Ecstasy.
Plot Summary
A young student girl is coming into possession of her inheritance that
includes an old mansion where her aunt, whom the girl doesn’t know yet,
currently lives. While being presented with her estate by the Executor of the
will, the girl learns that her aunt has bad fame in the neighborhood. The
locals think she is a witch.
The girl travels to her mansion to
meet her aunt who turns out to be a witch indeed. A bloodthirsty, mean, and
lustful one, who is also a chief of a whole devil cult.
Worried by
not receiving any news from the girl during a few days, her two lovers (a
teacher and a young boyfriend) travel to the mansion one by one and find
themselves involved in bloodthirsty sexual satanic rituals as well.
Film Highlights
“Satanic cult”-wise, the film is full of devil worshiping and witchcraft
imagery. There are scenes of satanic rites involving sex and sacrifices. In
short, everything you are looking for when googling “best satanic cult
movies”. Just look at the pictures below.
Apart from the mystery
horror constituent, Devil’s Ecstasy also includes hardcore pornography
elements. Unlike in most 70’s adult films, sexual scenes in
Devil’s Ecstasy don’t feel boring. Some of them are shot in an
interesting nightmarish surreal style.
#2 Satan's Blood (Escalofrío) (1978, Carlos Puerto, Juan Piquer Simón, Spain)
Plot Summary
A young married couple, while driving, meets another young married couple. The
man from the other young married couple acts like he is an old friend of the
man from the first married couple. He tries to have the first man recall him
by mentioning details from his childhood.
The second couple invites
the main characters to their mansion for dinner. The hosts appear to be
satanists and members of a whole devil cult sect. They bewitch and manipulate
the young people involving them in sexual satanic rituals and preventing them
from leaving the mansion.
Film Highlights
Satan's Blood has a sinister feel and is also full of sweet
“satansploitation” elements such as evil hosts, satanic rituals with group
sex, a nightmare, seduction, conspiracy, and psychological manipulation.
One
detail I found particularly amusing was an unholy prayer to Devil the
antagonist couple is pronouncing during a ritual. Apparently, the scriptwriter
tried hard to gather the most disgusting and perverted things to mention in
the prayer in order to show how evil and crazy these devil worshippers were.
For those who already know and love this film, I made this print T-shirt design. Download it for free (as well as my 50 other b-movie shirt prints) and order a shirt from any print-on-demand service you like.
#3 Black Candles (Los ritos sexuales del diablo) (1982, José Ramón Larraz as Joseph Braunstein, UK)
Plot Summary
A married couple, after the death of the wife’s brother, visits the wife’s sister in law (Helga Liné). Of course, the sister in law lives in a nice English mansion, is a witch, and is part of a satanic sect. She has evil plans for the poor woman, and doesn’t forget about the woman’s husband either.
Film Highlights
Black magic, weird rituals, manipulation, conspiracy, unholy sex — again, all
you are looking for in satanic cult films.
I also liked the spooky
ambiance of English countryside and cloudy autumn weather. Just like the
famous cult classic film Vampyres by the same José Ramón Larraz,
Black Candles feels very English.
There is also an
inexplicit scene of a young woman having a goat make love to her for technical
black magic reasons. The goat doesn’t seem very interested though. I think he
did it mostly for cabbage.
#4 Vampire Ecstasy / The Devil's Plaything / Veil of Blood (Der Fluch der schwarzen Schwestern) (1973, Joseph Sarno, Germany)
Plot Summary
A few women live in a spooky castle. They are the keepers of the spirit of a
vampire baroness who was executed for her crimes a few centuries ago. Before
her death, the baroness managed to pronounce a spell reserving the right for
her spirit to be reborn upon certain circumstances.
With the help
of the lesbian satanic sect worshiping her and regularly conducting their
macabre rituals, the spirit is kept ready to rebirth. The cult only needs the
blood of a descendant of the baroness’ executors.
Once upon a time,
one, a young virgin girl, stays at the castle. As well as a few other people,
including a couple of siblings in which the woman is in love with her brother.
Or maybe they were cousins.
The girl who is the descendant of the
baroness’ executors becomes a victim of the witches’ manipulation. The
vampires bewitch her causing uncontrollable sexual desire. They use this as
leverage to complete the final ritual that is supposed to bring their mistress
back to life.
Film Highlights
While the witch coven in this film worships a dead witch rather than the devil
directly, I think it’s still relevant to movies about satanic cults. All in
all, it’s a religious cult that serves the forces of hell, just a particular
department of it. And they look exactly like a devil worshipers’ sect.
There
is a lot of sexploitaition in Vampire Ecstasy. Even despite being a
softcore film, it has much nudity, really dirty moments, and is completely
lust-soaked.
The Devil’s Plaything also has a good portion
of sleaze. Particularly a strong German accent of the actresses which sounds
funny. And a scene with fake bats attacking one of the characters.
For those who already know and love this film, I created this print T-shirt design. Download it for free (as well as my 50 other b-movie shirt prints) and order a shirt from any print-on-demand service you like.
#5 A Woman Possessed (La Papesse) (1974, Mario Mercier, France)
For more information about this film, read my detailed article about
La Papesse (A Woman Possessed).
Plot Summary
A young married couple lives in the woods. The wife feels mistreated by her
husband who is more interested in his spiritual activities with a sect of
satanists living nearby than caring about his wife.
After being
officially accepted to the satanic cult, the husband brings his wife to the
sect members. The poor woman accepts to follow her husband in his new life,
being scared of otherwise staying in the woods alone. In the sect, she becomes
subject to atrocious rituals and is humiliated emotionally and physically,
especially sexually.
Film Highlights
A Woman Possessed involves weird occult rituals and eroticism,
similarly to the other films discussed in this article. However, it isn’t as
funny. The movies described above feel more like an entertaining fairy tale
next to La Papesse, as this film focuses mostly on savoring humiliation
scenes. Honestly, I find them difficult to watch and often upsetting. But I
like the witchcraft imagery used in the film. And there is even a scene with a
fantastic creature.
Interestingly, one of the main roles — Papesse,
the chief of the satanic cult — was played by a woman who was a member of a
real sect. In the film she is credited as Geziale. According to rumors, she
then went to the U.S. where she became a medium.
Mario Mercier, the
director, had an occult consultant for this film — Claude Déplace, a chief of
a real sect in the 70’s. Later, in the early 2000’s, he became a famous radio
personality hosting a show Clairvoyance Live (Voyance en direct)
on SkyRock, a famous French radio for teenagers. In this show, adolescents
called him to ask for advice to resolve their ordinary teenager problems. And
one can still find his books for sale online and old online ads for psychic
services. But now Claude Déplace seems to be inactive, at least on the web.
Claude
Déplace was also the occult consultant for another film by Mario Mercier —
La Goulve (Erotic Witchcraft). It’s one of my most favorite films, and
I love it much better than La Papesse. It’s not included in this list
of 6 best satanic cult movies, however. Because it’s not about an entire devil
worshiping sect — just about a single magician. The film is mysterious as at
the time of writing this article, it has never been released on home video
(neither on cassettes nor on discs). And upon its completion, it didn’t get a
proper theatrical release due to censorship problems. Today, only a low
quality bootleg rip exists which is very hard to find (but
you can do it with my help). Learn almost everything I know about this film from my article about
La Goulve (Erotic Witchcraft).
#6 Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973, Ted V. Mikels, USA)
Plot Summary
Mara, a cruel, greedy, and beautiful witch and a head of an entire sect, runs
her dirty occult business that includes ordered assassinations through black
magic, ritual human sacrifices, and necromancy.
A young couple
curious about the supernatural attends her seances trying to find out whether
black magic is real or a hoax. Little do they know that their curiosity can
turn out to be fatal.
Film Highlights
In this film, you will see human sacrifices, black magic spells, black masses
with ritual tribal dances, voodoo magic, a medium (necromancy) session,
medieval witch tortures and executions, and things like that.
Blood Orgy of the She-Devils is literally stuffed with exploitation
scenes showing juicy imagery pertaining to witchcraft, as well as cheap and
sweet special effects.
In this film you will not see a sexual orgy,
despite the title makes you think about one (such a misleading title is a
regular thing for
exploitation cinema). But there are non-sexual orgies with black magic and human sacrifices.
There
are no naked boobs or too much blood or a hint at lesbianism. Just ordinary
normal violence. So you can even watch this movie with your parents without
feeling awkward and, moreover, without missing the ending because at some
erotic moment your parents would send you to your room to better watch
cartoons or play LEGO because “it’s not a film for children” (at least that’s
what used to happen with me in my childhood and was very annoying).
Other Related Films
Below are films I either have a vague memory of or they don’t directly belong
to the category of satanic cults. But they are close to the topic.
Erotic Witchcraft (La Goulve) (1972, Mario Mercier, France)
I’ve already talked a bit about this wonderful and mysterious film in the
section about La Papesse in this article, but here is some more
information.
This film is about a young sorcerer who is frustrated
by two girls he tries to build relationships with. When he gets enough, he
evokes a magical creature from the other world — La Goulve whom he uses to
bewitch the girls turning them into sexual zombies. This doesn’t end well for
any characters of the film, which makes the story feel particularly macabre
and supernatural.
Erotic Witchcraft has a strong mysterious, spooky
black magic atmosphere and is full of witchcraft imagery.
To learn
more, read my detailed article all about
La Goulve.
Nude for Satan (Nuda per Satana) (1974, Luigi Batzella as Paolo Solvay, Italy)
A very good film that I’ve watched twice. It’s about a woman and a man trapped
into a mysterious mansion whose owner is the devil himself. There is a
mystery, an intrigue, a beautiful ambiance, and a lot of weird things are
going on.
There is also much funny sleaze. The most memorable
example is the scene with a giant fake spider attacking the main female
character.
Nude for Satan is not about an entire devil cult, but
it’s definitely worth watching.
The Curse of the Alpha Stone (1972, Stewart Malleon, USA)
An obscure sleazy loose interpretation of the story about Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hide. I loved it. The Curse of the Alpha Stone is about a young
alchemist who manages to create the legendary Philosopher’s Stone. Among other
fantastic features, the Stone gives the young scientist the total power over
women — everyone is attracted to him to death. But the problem is that the
genius becomes violent and cannot control himself.
The film is not
about a sect, but there are a couple of nice scenes showing the
magician-scientist in his laboratory conducting his mysterious ritual.
I
wrote about this film in more detail in my article about
The Curse of the Alpha Stone.
The Reincarnation of Isabel / Black Magic Rites (Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento...) (1973, Renato Polselli, Italy)
I vaguely remember this film, though I know that I liked it and even included
it in my list of
European exploitation films
in the category “Devil Worshiping Sects”, so it must be relevant.
Just like The Devil’s Plaything, it’s about a witch
executed in the Middle Ages and a cult trying to give her rebirth. I don’t
remember, however, how much detail is given to showing a normal satanic cult
in it.
The thing I remember best is that the DVD edition I watched
contained an introduction by Eileen Daly, the main model of the label
Redemption Films. Eileen was dressed as a demonic witch herself and presented
the film sharing historical facts about it. That’s how the label Redemption
Films caught my attention for the first time and stayed in my memory. By the
way, you may want to watch my
video interview with Nigel Wingrove
— the Founder of Redemption Films.
Satan's Slave / Evil Heritage (1976, Norman J. Warren, UK)
I have very vague memories about this film. There is a girl coming to live in
a castle with a rich man after her parents’ death in an accident. The man is a
devil worshiper. He manipulates the girl bewitching her. The girl is a
descendant of a witch whom this man wants to resurrect.
Looking at
the trailer, I see that there should be enough scenes involving devil
worshiping imagery.
The Witches Mountain (El monte de las brujas) (1975, Raúl Artigot, Spain)
A young couple goes to the mountains and finds themselves watched by a witch
coven. When they decide to run away, it’s too late.
A nice film,
but not among the best ones.
The Devil's Nightmare (La plus longue nuit du diable) (1971, Jean Brismée,
Belgium)
This film is not really about a sect. But it’s a nice classic exploitation film involving an agreement with the devil (who is one of the secondary characters) and a group of people captured in a castle and being seduced and killed one by one by a sexy vampire.
All the Colors of the Dark (Tutti i colori del buio) (1972, (Sergio Martino, Italy)
As far as I remember, this Italian classic film starring Edwige Fenech is about a woman being manipulated by a chief of a devil worshiping sect. But the film doesn’t involve many scenes with satanic rites and is more of a thriller than a fantasy film about something supernatural.
Devil’s Due (1973, Ernest Danna, USA)
A pornographic film about a girl who enters a devil worshiping cult. For the
most part, the rituals of this cult consist of group sex.
The film
is not macabre. It feels like a regular 70’s porn film (which it is). There
are a few regular hardcore sex scenes and a couple or a few hardcore group sex
scenes in the satanists’ ritual room.
Only one scene is really
interesting and funny — when the High Priest of this cult, before a sex scene,
pronounces a speech trying to look as a very important and authoritative
occult chief.
The Devil's Men (1976, Kostas Karagiannis as Costas Carayiannis, Greece, USA, UK)
A pretty bad film. But it is about an evil Greek cult that worships Minotaur.
Under the ground, in a cave. The evil atmosphere isn’t strong. It feels mostly
like a regular Hollywood movie. More of an adventure movie than a horror.
The
only thing I like in this film is a phrase pronounced by Minotaur (a talking
statue): “Those who enter the forbidden chamber of the Minotaur… must die!”.
The voice and intonation are memorable.
I created this blog for like-minded people with weird taste for unpopular, obscure, and sleazy films and music. If you feel our tastes are similar, let's be email friends. You can also reach out to me if you need help in finding any rare film or music mentioned in by blog.
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