The Devil's Daughter

The Devil’s Daughter (1973)

Belinda arrives in town for the funeral of her estranged mother and is greeted by a very strange group of people that claim to be old friends of her deceased mother. After finding out that Belinda intends on staying in town after the funeral one of the friends, Lilith, insists that she stay with her. While initially Belinda is happy to accept she eventually moves out to live with a young woman her age. Lilith becomes very upset with this and reacts with veiled threats. After attending a party that is thrown in her honor Belinda realizes that they are Devil worshipers and that they say her soul was sold to Satan. Not only that but she has been promised in marriage to another Demon! Belinda flees the group and with the help of a young man, whom she falls in love with, escapes their grasp. Will Belinda be able to live a normal life, or will the Devil get his due? You will just have to watch this nifty 70s made for TV movie to find out.

If you have the hankering for some 70s cheese then this is the movie for you. The plot follows a familiar formula, with the Devil worshippers and the pretty young woman in danger. The story has an ending that is predictable but really fun and entertaining. Most of the cast will be familiar to anyone who is a fan of 70s television, including Belinda Montgomery and Robert Foxworth. Throw in Shelly Winters and you have a great cast that does a bang up job. Now don’t expect a miracle here, because the material lends itself to over the top performances and melodramatic situations. But this is a movie of the week from the 70s and the silly predictable story and overacting is exactly what I expect.

The Devil’s Daughter has the look of a film made for television. This is back in the day when they still filmed television shows and these movies of the week on actual film, and it shows. The only way that you would really notice that this was a television product and not a theatrical movie is the presence of commercial breaks and the movie is fairly tame, even by the standards of mainstream 70s cinema. Some of the interiors are obviously sets and it is pretty noticeable that there aren’t many locations shoots. But the film is light well, which makes good use of the vibrant colors of the wardrobe and furniture (this was the 70s after all!). Of course because this is a made for television product there isn’t any gore, language, or nudity.

The Devil’s Daughter isn’t a great movie, but still has a lot going for it. If you are in the mood for a nostalgic trip down memory lane, or if you are just a fan of the 70s movie of the week format you need to check this one out. To check out this and other great products from Wild Eye Releasing go to http://www.wildeyereleasing.com/

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer