User Reviews

This film begins with a man named "Ozzie Perkins" (Happy Shahan) driving through an isolated part of Brewster County, Texas when his tire is shot by an unidentified man with a high-powered rifle which causes the car to veer off the road. Not realizing what exactly happened Ozzie gets out of the car and believing it was a simple blowout decides to walk along the deserted road in search of a gas station. It's during this time that he is offered a ride by a man in a pickup truck. What Ozzie doesn't count on is the fact that this man belongs to a Satanic cult and that he is about to be sacrificed that very night. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a solid, no-frills horror film which managed to keep the mystery going up until the very end. On the flip side, however, it could have used a bit more suspence or horror but that's just my opinion. In any case, while definitely not a great horror film by any means it was good enough for the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

The title of this film is incorrect. The devil has little to do with the story. It is, in fact, about an extreme Christian Religion. As stated in the film, some local cultures adapted their beliefs and religions with those of the Christian missionaries. We all know how nasty those Christians could be. "Exorcise The Devil" would have been a more apt title as that's what the disciples were trying to do.

Writer and director Frank Q. Dobbs and David S. Cass Sr would have done better if they had expanded on the religion itself. I liked the concept of the religious mix. The missing people were a good hook to keep the story moving at a nice pace and to bring in the police. Missing from the story are the devotee's reasons. Most religions have specific punishments for specific crimes. It would have strengthened the story had we been told what crime received which punishment. We also needed more of the religious element,

At least Dobbs was better at directing than he was at writing. Though his shooting style is pedestrian, and he keeps the storytelling to a steady trot it works well for the film. Though there are a few scenes, such as the rape sequence, the runaway mine car, and all the killings and religious segments that would have become enhanced with a change in pace and a few varied angles and imaginative lighting. This would have lifted the film out of the ordinary.

The acting was okay. Nobody stank too much or tried to steal the show. On the whole, they are believable in their portrayal of their characters. Though I have to say the only actor I recognised, Joshua Bryant, who I've regarded as a steady and solid actor, is out of sorts in the film. It's like he just turned up on set, said his lines, and waited in his trailer for his next scene. This doesn't deter from the film as he's not the main character. He needed to be a tad more forceful, especially at the revelation.

This average chiller could have been better... Way better. As it stands I wouldn't recommend you rush out and buy it. But should it appear on telly, cable, satellite, or streaming service (but don't pay-per-view it) then check it out. It'll pass some time away.

Ratings: Story 0.75 : Direction 1 : Pace 1 : Acting 1 : Enjoyment 1 : Total 4.75

Come, take a pilgrimage over to my Killer Thriller Chillers list and see where this religious flick ranked in my chart.

Take Care and Stay Well.

Back in the early 70's when Charlie Manson and chums had just killed the hippie era cultist horror was in vogue. Race With The Devil was probably the artistic high point of the genre,but obscurities like Enter The Devil and Blood Sabbath are arguably of more generic interest to geeks like myself, dwelling more on the aesthetic aspects of crazy cults. There's a lot of aesthetic and thematic potential in the whole cult set up, hoods and robes, chanting, obscure rituals and fires, then there's the whole issue of singularity of purpose and the subsumed individual, someone can be just about anything on the outside but when it comes to their cult affiliation they become just a piece of the one persona. Other films delve deeper into the themes, but Enter The Devil gets good mileage out of the aesthetic and smartly sets things in the eerie isolation of the New Mexico desert for greater effect. It's simple slow burning stuff for the most part, Deputy Sheriff Ozzie Perkins investigating a disappearance and finding that the plot thickens as he goes, there's a good dusty atmosphere and sense of nagging unease punctuated by short sharp shocks, then things rev up with a nail biting two punch driving the film into its final block. There are clichés at hand, like Mexicans being either goofy or feisty, white guys being mostly horny and bigoted and the female lead being largely ineffectual, but somehow the character interactions work nicely, building up a solid feel of place and time both compelling and gently unsettling. The generally likable acting helps, beautiful Leslie Culver is charming enough as the research professor on hand to explain things, Joshua Bryant a helpful and friendly motel owner and Happy Shahan gruff and decent as the Deputy Sheriff. They all gel pretty well, as do the other players, making the slower moments pretty pleasing and producing a quiet, mundane feel that renders the climax all the more effective. I don't know whether the print I saw was the cut US release that got a PG certificate and re-released on Something Weird DVDR or full length (I think it was a S. African VHS but the run time falls between the two listed on IMDb) but the big shock scene in this is marvellous stuff, not graphic but real mean spirited and unsettling, really blows you out of the comfort zone prior established. The actual climax has its problems, but its short and sweet and shouldn't deter anyone who has managed the rest. Little in the way of bloodshed or action but definitely a good 'un, well worth a look for 70's horror fans.

A little bit of modern western flavoring, a little bit of murder and ritual sacrifice, and locals that ride the line between friendly and creepy with their behavior: by the time 'Enter the devil' is more than half over, that's effectively all we've gotten. It's not that these qualities are insufficient to keep us watching, but the digital timer has advanced considerably, especially relative to the fairly small runtime, and the plot has emphatically not. A scene at about the forty-five minute mark gives us pretty much half the plot (the explanation for the goings-on), just in case we'd missed earlier clues, and all that's left is more toeing of the line between friendly and creepy, and resolution of that plot in one way or another. 'Enter the devil' is decent, but it doesn't do much, it does it rather lackadaisically, and it's not without specific problems that further limit what entertainment there is to be had here.

The writing, shared between director Frank Q. Dobbs and star David S. Cass Sr., is rather variable. Mostly it's very soft in its pacing and storytelling; once we cross the halfway mark in the runtime we get moments that are, in turn, sloppy and haphazard, forthright, and scattered. We also suddenly switch protagonists with a fraction of the runtime left, because sure, why not. The root story has potential, and the scene writing, too - though on the other hand, the thrust of the narrative basically comes across as tiresome xenophobia made flesh. Were the violence and sexuality more explicit then this could be marked as an exploitation flick, the bent of which would be "Mexicans are bad." That's dubious enough, but as we can readily suspect given the weak plot development generally, in the last stretch a would-be hero stumbles onto the evildoers pretty much by sheer happenstance, and the remaining length to follow isn't particularly any more convincing.

Everyone involved gives an earnest effort, I believe, from Dobbs with his direction (which nevertheless is marked with much the same traits as the writing), to the cast (whose acting is fine, but unremarkable), to composer Sam Douglas, whose music is sometimes quite good and sometimes rather curious. The filming locations are great, and the art direction, costume design, hair, and makeup are nice. The stunts and effects come off quite well. For as meekly as 'Enter the devil' moves forward, however, even those moments that should carry the most vibrancy - violence, intended manifestation of atmosphere - just don't hold any meaningful power. Sadly, the climax might actually be the worst part of all, for it is characterized by bad dialogue, questionable character and scene writing, and a burst of action so over the top that it's like we suddenly found ourselves in a James Bond film (the Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan eras, in particular). Despite that, I don't doubt the sincerity of anyone involved, only their skills, and that goes for the writing and direction above all.

There are worse ways to spend one's time, but the whole is so thin and kind of unconvincing - some with bits notably more suspect than others - that one's favor gradually diminishes over the runtime before sliding another point at the very end. The fact of the matter is that unless one has a major impetus of some sort for checking this out, there's just not much reason to, least of all in light of everything else one could be watching instead. I'm glad for those who get more out of 'Enter the devil' than I do, but I won't be revisiting this.

The action of "Enter the Devil" takes place on a barren Texas wasteland dotted with dirty little towns and mercury mines.A red-robed Satanic cult is kidnapping unlucky victims and sacrificing them in the name of the Devil.Meanwhile a beautiful doctor Leslie Culver is researching the book about devilish cults."Enter the Devil" is a slow-moving and wonderfully dry horror movie set on the desert.There is a brilliantly conveyed aura of utter isolation that kept me intrigued.If you like strange horror/western hybrids give "Enter the Devil" a look.An obscurity that deserves to be seen and appreciated by countless fans of 70's horror.Enjoy your stay in Dry Lake.8 out of 10.

The story is set in some Southwest town. There have been some accidents and the sheriff has been investigating them. When one dies, it's chalked up as just another accident...even though the coroner says this first one was murder. The sheriff didn't believe him but begins to when more are discovered dead due to various 'accidents'. At the same time, a professor from El Paso has arrived in town to look into cult activity. What's really going on here?

"Enter the Devil" is a super low budgeted picture. It was filmed in the middle of nowhere in the Texas desert and stars a cast of unknown actors with little experience. Oddly, however, despite this terrible pedigree, the film manages to be pretty good for what it is. It has some devent chills and manages to entertain despite all its deficits. And, the ending, while NOT subtle or completely believable IS entertaining!

A woman doing research for her in-progress reference book on cults of the world ends up in a rural Southwestern U.S. dust-bowl where, ironically enough, an extremist offshoot of the Christian faith has been busy with their human-sacrificing rituals.

ENTER THE DEVIL, believe it or not, is an immeasurably more professional item than you will generally find within the ambit of early 70s drive-in horror. The Something Weird video release I viewed is sourced from a terribly worn print...it looks like snow flurries on the screen through nearly the entire movie. Still, that may well be the only way we can currently enjoy this suspenseful little rarity, which sort of plays like a mixture of RACE WITH THE DEVIL and THE LAST PICTURE SHOW.

The arid desert location filming brings a unique, lost and lonely atmosphere to the proceedings which are, at times, rather uneventful...still, this is a surprisingly well-made lower-berth picture which deserves a look(and, hopefully, a better looking print).

5.5/10

Here is a movie that deserves to be seen again, an ultra low budget independently produced regional horror effort made out in the dusty hills of New Mexico about a coven of migrant workers who worship Satan. Contemporary social commentary aside this is a surprisingly gritty and grim little film made all the more authentic, convincing and haunting by it's low rent, jury-rigged feel. With a cast made up of stock actors, stunt performers, non-professional local color types and a couple name brand character actors, ENTER THE DEVIL has the feel of a very personal effort by someone who had a specific vision in mind. By limiting what it tries to accomplish the film succeeds where many others of a similar vein feel silly. Check out THE DEVIL'S RAIN for an example of what I mean.

Half of the film concerns a youngish state trooper's efforts to track down a missing person. His investigation leads him to an area hunting lodge & silver mine operation where the local bigots gather to drink beer, shoot things, and pat the Latina serving wench on the fanny. Meanwhile a pretty state employed anthropologist stops by to continue her studies into the somewhat pagan customs of the local Mexican workforce. Bodies are found, ominous accidents + close-calls befall the interloping Caucasian types, and the serving wench earns the wrath of her own people by apparently just being present to be manhandled & groped at by the bigoted hunters. It isn't easy being pretty some days.

All of it is actually rather unremarkable up until a segment about halfway through the film when the inquisitive trooper follows reports of lights out in the desert & the sound of chanting voices by the area loon, who as usual is the only person who really has a grasp of what's at hand. The trooper (David Cass, a former Burt Lancaster stunt double who co-wrote the film & served as 2nd unit director) eventually stumbles upon the horrible secret of this migrant cult in a scene that stops the film cold -- A fetching young lady being dragged into the desert by the coven who lash her to a post with barbed wire and proceed to burn her alive in the most stomach wrenching witch burning scene since CONQUEROR WORM.

It's not that it's unduly graphic, but like CONQUEROR WORM's burning the implied suffering and sadism of the incident is out of proportion with anything the film shows viewers up until that point. It is gruesome, horrifying, grimly realistic and concludes with the sight of the trooper gagging and coughing his way out of a billowing cloud of smoke from the burning body, which in itself will leave viewers feeling queasy for hours. The film also eschews any kind of erotic angle to the incident: There is no Sadean fantasy at work here, only stinging barbed wire, hammered nails and burning, cracking flesh. Try to find an uncensored imported print with gibberish subtitles, the domestic North American prints were all trimmed to secure a PG rating for a good time at the drive in. Yee haw.

After that the film settles back into the routine as the pretty anthropologist starts to get that sinking feeling that the disappearances, deaths, mysterious lights and Gregorian chanting hooded ominous figures out in the evil cave of Satan may be related. Gee, do you think? We get further police procedural footage including medical examination lingo, local political intrigue and an annoyingly predictable twist ending that anybody familiar with this kind of stuff will be able to dial in before the 3rd reel is loaded. The film then proceeds to climax with a bizarre display of xenophobia as the state trooper brigade closes in with their M-16 automatic rifles blazing as they gun down the coven en-masse. Pretty twisted idea of fun: no wonder this one generated cult interest.

So here is a sleeper of a movie that has been left behind by the sands of time -- the only way to find it are on expensive & rarely found prior rental tapes or dubiously sourced public domain releases by underground companies. Nobody seems interested in trying to revive this one which is a shame, it's a startling little bit of regional horror and one of the least silly examples of the Satanic Coven fad that was so popular during the early - mid 1970s. Watch it as a double bill with the excellent RACE WITH THE DEVIL, which remains the watershed effort from the idiom. The two will serve to compliment each other even though the low budget and seemingly aimless pacing of the first 3rd of ENTER THE DEVIL may annoy those easily bored. But once you get to that burning scene this film is perhaps even more unsettling, and nobody ever said that art had to be pretty.

7/10

This is actually not as bad and absurd as it may seem. The story makes sense, and sects are a phenomenon that humanity has suffered from through all ages, for good and for worse, adding constantly a touch of mystery and terror to history, as life would be too commonplace without it. Here the mysterious sect is a band out in the wilderness of the Texas deserts close to Mexico, and there are quite a few Mexicans involved. Things get serious as a professional lady anthropologist is connected in the case, they try to save her by sending her away in time, but it is too late, and she is too curious.

These films and stories of satanism always end in the same way, Dennis Wheatley wrote a number of novels about it, and they never depart from the same pattern. Neither does this film. It is intriguing, fascinating and partly exciting, but afterwards you just brush it off your clothes.

Interesting, if only sporadically effective, low-budget chiller set in a barren West Texas town near the Mexican border. People are disappearing in the desert and a sheriff's deputy (Dave Cass, the film's co-writer) is sent to investigate...but do the culprits really belong to a satanic cult, or to an altogether different kind of organization? "Enter the Devil" doesn't always make sense, and at times it looks more like a TV crime drama (or industrial training film) than a drive-in horror flick, but it packs the occasional punch. The scenes of human sacrifice, in particular, have a raw, nerve-jangling quality, and a sense of eerie foreboding hangs over the desert shooting location even during the film's quieter moments. Able character actor Josh Bryant heads up the cast, Irene Kelly provides the eye candy, and John Martin and Carle Bensen make a suitably crusty pair as the sheriff and the town doctor, respectively.

Flawed, but worth a look.

Enter the Devil (1972)

** (out of 4)

This low-budget horror film was shot in New Mexico where it is also set. The film tells the story of a bunch of people who disappear without a trace and a local state trooper's attempt to track them down. It turns out that a Satanic cult are behind the kidnappings.

ENTER THE DEVIL is a film that doesn't have much of a cult following but the title puts it along side countless other "devil" or "Satanic" movies that were released after the success of Roman Polanski's ROSEMARY'S BABY. Is the film a masterpiece or something that everyone should check out? Absolutely not but at the same time there are some interesting things that make it worth viewing.

To me the best thing about the film was its music score by Sam Douglas. There's honestly nothing to the score that I would call original but at the same time it does help build up an atmosphere and it just feels dirty like the setting of the picture. I also thought there were some effective shots of the Satanic group walking through the night with their torches lighting up the blackness of night. These two things mixed together were quite good and I'd say much better than some of the other things that we saw in countless pictures like it.

As far as the story goes, it's certainly not that original and in fact it really runs out of gas around hte hour mark. There isn't enough going on in the picture to completely hold your attention but I will say the ending came as a shock and especially considering how blunt it was. Performances are what you'd expect from a film like this but for the most part I'd say the direction by Fred Q. Dobbs was good.

ENTER THE DEVIL isn't going to win any major awards but it's an interesting little film that horror fans should check out.

Old Ivan plays a good satanic beast. Who couldn't love his striking eyes and veiny paw paws. Was, good and memorable. I mean I hadn't watched it in years. Could have done more Ivan and less chick.

The best of this low-budget film is its scenery : the desert is an unusual place to celebrate some kind of (black) sabbaths which resemble a Christian procession of penitents that still takes place in Spain ; filmed at night ,holding their torches against a starless black sky ,it's rather impressive in an unpretentious small production ;so are the scenes with the sidewinders.

The female character ,a professor who studies ancient satanic rites on the Mexican border, is in it to provide the movie with a decorative victim;the sheriff is obsessed with the elections and his deputy has a crush on Mexican babes.The screenplay is basic ,to put it mildly.