The Touch of Satan: Tom Laughlin, Don Henderson

Here's a lesson for everyone who worked on The Touch of Satan: just because you can put dramatic pauses in between every single line doesn't mean that you should. The Touch of Satan is a film so horrifically tepid that it is amazing that the creators managed to keep their actors awake during takes. It follows a young man nonchalantly cruising through the States (as teens in the 70s were apparently wont to do) who comes across a family of farmers with a terrible secret: they have been possessed by Satan! Well, more accurately, their two daughters who were almost lynched 100+ years ago became vessels for the Dark One in exchange for protection. However, one has been "blessed" with eternal "youth" while the other has been cursed to wither away seemingly indefinitely. There could be an interesting film made of such a story. Think Rosemary's Baby (1968) meets The Crucible (1996). But The Touch of Satan is painfully dull, dry, and boring. There are extended sequences where we watch characters drive down empty streets, walk through fields, put on their shoes, etc, etc. And none of these sequences add anything to the plot! They are merely filler to try and make the film reach a 90 minute run time. If there isn't enough story to make a feature-length movie, then maybe you shouldn't make a movie!!

4/10