What is up with that crazy poster for The Devil's Partner? The artist sure took some creative license when designing it, depicting a naked, torch-wielding woman astride a galloping centaur, despite there being nothing like this in the film. It's a little disappointing, if truth be told (can't beat a bit of naked centaur riding), but even so, this obscure B-movie is quite an entertaining little chiller, telling an engaging Faustian tale that delivers a reasonable helping of eerie atmosphere and decent performances all round.
The film opens with town pariah Pete Jensen (Ed Nelson in old-man make-up) performing a ritual in his run-down shack, making a deal with the devil. Days later, a young man (Ed Nelson, sans crazy hair and big beard) arrives in town claiming to be Pete's nephew, Nick Richards, only to be told that his uncle has died in mysterious circumstances. However, in reality, Nick is Pete, having been transformed as part of his Satanic bargain; in his new guise, he proceeds to charm lovely doctor's daughter Nell (Jean Allison), using witchcraft to deal with those who might get in his way.
After causing a savage dog attack on Nell's boyfriend David (Richard Crane) that leaves the guy hideously scarred and acting like a petulant ass, Nick also puts paid to Papers (Byron Foulger), the town drunk, who is trampled to death by a horse, kills plastic surgeon Dr. Marx (who crashes his car into a cow), and attempts to finish off David with the old 'turn into a rattlesnake and slither through the bedroom window' trick. All of this is fairly entertaining nonsense that passes the time painlessly enough, although at a scant 73 minutes there really isn't time for boredom to set in.
Still would have liked to have seen that centaur though.
The film opens with town pariah Pete Jensen (Ed Nelson in old-man make-up) performing a ritual in his run-down shack, making a deal with the devil. Days later, a young man (Ed Nelson, sans crazy hair and big beard) arrives in town claiming to be Pete's nephew, Nick Richards, only to be told that his uncle has died in mysterious circumstances. However, in reality, Nick is Pete, having been transformed as part of his Satanic bargain; in his new guise, he proceeds to charm lovely doctor's daughter Nell (Jean Allison), using witchcraft to deal with those who might get in his way.
After causing a savage dog attack on Nell's boyfriend David (Richard Crane) that leaves the guy hideously scarred and acting like a petulant ass, Nick also puts paid to Papers (Byron Foulger), the town drunk, who is trampled to death by a horse, kills plastic surgeon Dr. Marx (who crashes his car into a cow), and attempts to finish off David with the old 'turn into a rattlesnake and slither through the bedroom window' trick. All of this is fairly entertaining nonsense that passes the time painlessly enough, although at a scant 73 minutes there really isn't time for boredom to set in.
Still would have liked to have seen that centaur though.