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The Touch of Satan

 The Touch of Satan
type
TVTItem
 The Touch of Satan
label
The Touch of Satan
 The Touch of Satan
page
TheTouchOfSatan
 The Touch of Satan
comment
The Touch of Satan is a 1971 horror film. It was directed by Don Henderson, and it starred Michael Berry (in his only film role) and Emby Mellay (in one of two movie appearances). The film was shot in 1970 in the Santa Ynez, California area and featured the early work from makeup artist Joe Blasco. The film was relatively obscure until a 1998 appearance (this episode) on the series Mystery Science Theater 3000, where the film was mocked for its low budget and bad acting.The movie begins with the murder of a farmer by an elderly insane woman with terribly burned facial features. After stabbing the farmer and accidentally setting his barn on fire (yes, it really is accidental), the woman stumbles home to her family. The family, an older couple and a young teenage woman, argue about the best way to handle the situation and make vague references that the elderly woman may have killed people in the past.The scene then switches to the main character, a young man named Jodie who is on an open-ended car trip across America to find himself and discover whether or not he wishes to follow in his father's footsteps as a lawyer. Jodie stops at a small pond to have lunch and meets Melissa, the teenage girl from the previous scene.Decidedly not related to the Orson Welles movie Touch of Evil.
 The Touch of Satan
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2024-02-08T02:46:54Z
 The Touch of Satan
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2024-02-08T02:46:54Z
 The Touch of Satan
processingComment
Dropped link to Fanservice: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 The Touch of Satan
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DBTropes
 The Touch of Satan / int_1f6983f7
type
Ambiguous Situation
 The Touch of Satan / int_1f6983f7
comment
Ambiguous Situation: Who Luther and Molly are in relationship to Melissa and Lucinda is never revealed. It could be speculated that one of them may be the child or grandchild of either Lucinda or Melissa, but it is never confirmed.
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The Touch of Satan / int_1f6983f7
 The Touch of Satan / int_1fc8335e
type
Deal with the Devil
 The Touch of Satan / int_1fc8335e
comment
Deal with the Devil: Melissa made one to save her sister, and Jodie makes one too at the end.
 The Touch of Satan / int_1fc8335e
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The Touch of Satan / int_1fc8335e
 The Touch of Satan / int_21e5b9c7
type
Failed a Spot Check
 The Touch of Satan / int_21e5b9c7
comment
Failed a Spot Check: In the flashback scene, we hear an Angry Mob marching on the house while chanting "Burn the witch!" Melissa actually asks her father "What is it?" multiple times, to which Crow responds "It's a mob chanting 'Burn the witch!' Have you no deductive skills at all?!"
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The Touch of Satan / int_21e5b9c7
 The Touch of Satan / int_234fa9ba
type
May–December Romance
 The Touch of Satan / int_234fa9ba
comment
May–December Romance: Melissa is 127 years old, while Jodie is still a young man.
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The Touch of Satan / int_234fa9ba
 The Touch of Satan / int_2d4fa515
type
Ax-Crazy
 The Touch of Satan / int_2d4fa515
comment
Ax-Crazy: Melissa's "grandma" Lucinda, actually her sister. It's implied she was already evil, but the burns she suffered pushed her over the edge.
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The Touch of Satan / int_2d4fa515
 The Touch of Satan / int_2f36d97
type
Older Than They Look
 The Touch of Satan / int_2f36d97
comment
Older Than They Look: Melissa. Her "parents" are actually her great-grandchildren (maybe, it's not made entirely clear). Lucinda is about 130 years old, and actually looks it
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The Touch of Satan / int_2f36d97
 The Touch of Satan / int_352def2a
type
Burn the Witch!
 The Touch of Satan / int_352def2a
comment
Burn the Witch!: Played straight. In mid-1800s California — about a century-and-a-half after witch trials had largely ceased to be a thing in most of the west, and even longer since burning was generally used to dispose of suspected witches — no less.
 The Touch of Satan / int_352def2a
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The Touch of Satan / int_352def2a
 The Touch of Satan / int_35e077
type
Fourth-Date Marriage
 The Touch of Satan / int_35e077
comment
Fourth-Date Marriage: Not quite marriage, but close enough especially since he didn't even make it to four entire days. He'd known Melissa for all of three days before he declares he loves her in spite of her soul belonging to the Devil, then subsequently sells his own soul to keep her alive.
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The Touch of Satan / int_35e077
 The Touch of Satan / int_3d455888
type
Then Let Me Be Evil
 The Touch of Satan / int_3d455888
comment
Then Let Me Be Evil: Melissa and her sister are accused of being witches. In the process of burning them, Melissa's call is answered by Satan, and she becomes an actual witch who curses all the people who would burn her.
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The Touch of Satan / int_3d455888
 The Touch of Satan / int_4192763e
type
Malaproper
 The Touch of Satan / int_4192763e
comment
Malaproper
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The Touch of Satan / int_4192763e
 The Touch of Satan / int_47bb1101
type
Amazing Freaking Grace
 The Touch of Satan / int_47bb1101
comment
Amazing Freaking Grace: A perfectly appropriate witch-burning song and note that it's used four times in total.
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The Touch of Satan / int_47bb1101
 The Touch of Satan / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 The Touch of Satan / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: Melissa is finally freed from her enslavement to Satan after using the last of her magic to kill her murderous sister, but without the magic to keep her young she rapidly returns to her real age and nearly dies. Jodie sells his own soul in order to save her, thereby starting the whole thing over again.
 The Touch of Satan / int_4e3d253b
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The Touch of Satan / int_4e3d253b
 The Touch of Satan / int_59fe174d
type
Devil, but No God
 The Touch of Satan / int_59fe174d
comment
Devil, but No God: At the very least, the Devil is a lot more active. He speaks out loud to people, makes deals with them, and grants them incredible magical powers and immortality. God, on the other hand, doesn't do much of anything, not even to save His people from the witches and their curse.
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The Touch of Satan / int_59fe174d
 The Touch of Satan / int_5f70322e
type
Public Domain Soundtrack
 The Touch of Satan / int_5f70322e
comment
Public Domain Soundtrack: Amazing Grace is re-used a lot.
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The Touch of Satan / int_5f70322e
 The Touch of Satan / int_7315fd38
type
Covers Always Lie
 The Touch of Satan / int_7315fd38
comment
Covers Always Lie: Despite the poster art shown as this page's image, the movie does not contain an exorcism. The ending does technically feature Jodie releasing Melissa from Satan's influence, but this is done via the two having sex rather than an exorcism ritual.
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The Touch of Satan / int_7315fd38
 The Touch of Satan / int_8183248
type
Never Mess with Granny
 The Touch of Satan / int_8183248
comment
Never Mess with Granny: By Jodie's math (which places Melissa at 127 years old), Lucinda may be the oldest woman alive, or indeed to ever live. She commits two murders over the course of the movie, and is implied to have killed several times before.
 The Touch of Satan / int_8183248
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The Touch of Satan / int_8183248
 The Touch of Satan / int_8a295a46
type
Cool Car
 The Touch of Satan / int_8a295a46
comment
Cool Car: Jodie's 1971 Ford Maverick with the Grabber package is pretty cool.
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 The Touch of Satan / int_a4c37cbe
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Mood Whiplash
 The Touch of Satan / int_a4c37cbe
comment
Mood Whiplash: Farmer gets stabbed in the throat with a pitch fork, cut to Luther, Molly, and Melissa sitting around the table, laughing.
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The Touch of Satan / int_a4c37cbe
 The Touch of Satan / int_a536f3a3
type
Gender-Blender Name
 The Touch of Satan / int_a536f3a3
comment
Gender-Blender Name: Jodie prefers his first name over his more normally masculine middle name, Lee.
 The Touch of Satan / int_a536f3a3
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 The Touch of Satan / int_aa9fcfed
type
Embarrassing Middle Name
 The Touch of Satan / int_aa9fcfed
comment
Embarrassing Middle Name: Jodie doesn't care for his middle name, Lee, very much, if the one time he talks about it is any indication. For some reason he's okay with his girly first name, but doesn't like his perfectly normal middle name.
 The Touch of Satan / int_aa9fcfed
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 The Touch of Satan / int_ba3b41d6
type
Ironic Echo Cut
 The Touch of Satan / int_ba3b41d6
comment
Ironic Echo Cut: At the start of the movie, a farmer being killed transitions to Melissa and her family laughing pleasantly. Presumably, inverting the trope was the intent.
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 The Touch of Satan / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 The Touch of Satan / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: The I Have Many Names speech above is a reference to H. P. Lovecraft's "The Horror at the Red Hook". The speech is paraphrased from an incantation used by Red Hook cult.
 The Touch of Satan / int_c75df49a
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 The Touch of Satan / int_ca22ca46
type
Madwoman in the Attic
 The Touch of Satan / int_ca22ca46
comment
Madwoman in the Attic: A literal example, nearly. Lucinda doesn't live in the attic, but she is a madwoman usually shut up in her room.
 The Touch of Satan / int_ca22ca46
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The Touch of Satan / int_ca22ca46
 The Touch of Satan / int_cdd835ce
type
Dude, Not Funny!
 The Touch of Satan / int_cdd835ce
comment
Dude, Not Funny!: When discussing what type of witch Melissa is, Jodie offhandedly says "You know, the kind they burn." The acting is just good enough for it to be obvious from the look on Melissa's face that this hit a raw nerve, but she changes the subject before things can get more awkward.
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 The Touch of Satan / int_cf92fea8
type
Cassandra Truth
 The Touch of Satan / int_cf92fea8
comment
Cassandra Truth: Even when she tells him point blank, even when she gives him a dream of the past, even when the people Melissa's living with agree with her, Jodie refuses to believe Melissa's a witch. This may have something to do with the fact that Jodie isn't very bright.
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 The Touch of Satan / int_d5d976dd
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I Have Many Names
 The Touch of Satan / int_d5d976dd
comment
I Have Many Names: I Have Many Voices, too. Satan speaks to people using their own voice.
 The Touch of Satan / int_d5d976dd
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 The Touch of Satan / int_e16d7741
type
No Immortal Inertia
 The Touch of Satan / int_e16d7741
comment
No Immortal Inertia: Melissa, after gaining salvation at the end of the movie, rapidly ages to her real age.
 The Touch of Satan / int_e16d7741
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 The Touch of Satan / int_e529d5c3
type
Torches and Pitchforks
 The Touch of Satan / int_e529d5c3
comment
Torches and Pitchforks: A mob like this is what sets off the whole generations-spanning curse, as Lucinda is nearly burned as a witch and Melissa sells her soul to save her. The mob is made out to be a bunch of unintelligent, superstitious boobs (by both the movie and Mike & the Bots)...even though Lucinda really is a witch, and the curses people are falling to were actually caused by her. So they're really not as irrational as they're made out to be.
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 The Touch of Satan / int_e57c714d
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Insane Equals Violent
 The Touch of Satan / int_e57c714d
comment
Insane Equals Violent: The "great grandmother" of Melissa really has no reason for murdering other than this.
 The Touch of Satan / int_e57c714d
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 The Touch of Satan / int_f511ea9b
type
Product Placement
 The Touch of Satan / int_f511ea9b
comment
Product Placement: It's almost certainly incidental, given the film's tiny budget, but when Jodie and Melissa visit the store, there's a large "Carnation Ice Cream" sign in the middle of the shot for a long time.
 The Touch of Satan / int_f511ea9b
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 The Touch of Satan / int_fb724048
type
Real After All
 The Touch of Satan / int_fb724048
comment
Real After All: The whole movie is spent making it out as if the family is just insanely religious and aren't able to realize that Lucinda is just mentally unstable. Then it's abruptly revealed that Melissa and Lucinda really are witches and the Devil gets involved out of nowhere as Lucinda is being burned at the stake.
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 The Touch of Satan / int_ff5a74c8
type
Talking Is a Free Action
 The Touch of Satan / int_ff5a74c8
comment
Talking Is a Free Action: When Melissa makes her deal, the witch-hunting mob is right there listening to her conversation with the Devil, and don't do anything to stop it.
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ItemName
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The Touch of Satan

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Touch of Satan
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Public Domain Soundtrack / int_f6f0cf14
 The Touch of Satan
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Supernaturally Young Parent / int_f6f0cf14
 The Touch of Satan
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Witch with a Capital "B" / int_f6f0cf14