They were a product of their time. The counterculture of the 1960s had soured with the brutal actions of the Manson Family sparking fears of cults and hippie mysticism. Christian fundamentalism was on the rise and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was just around the corner. But, for the 1970s, the devil stalked the screens as a figure to be feared, invoked, exorcised and worshiped. He possessed young girls, demanded blood sacrifice and caused nuns to cast off their habits and indulge their most blasphemous and erotic desires.
From the heavy hitters like The Exorcist and The Omen to the drive-in favorites like Race with the Devil and The Brotherhood of Satan to foreign entries like Suspiria and The Wicker Man, this book takes a deep dive into the demonic movies that thrilled and terrified audiences of the 1970s.