A demon-spirit of madness and murder holds a California town in the grip of terror.

The Prince Of Darkness Arises From The Bowels Of The Earth!

A Story Of Contemporary Family Witchcraft In California.


Noted character actor L.Q. Jones (who would later direct the cult classic A Boy and His Dog) produced this low-budget horror item about a small Southwestern town torn asunder by the mysterious disappearances of several of its children. Jones plays the town sheriff, who joins forces with some of the locals to find the perpetrators and uncovers a diabolical plot concocted by a coven of elderly devil-worshippers who plan to use the children's bodies as receptacles for their own souls, enabling them to live again in younger bodies. To this end, they use their supernatural abilities to slay any meddling adults by turning the kids' toys into deadly war machines. Creepy opening and closing sequences and a bravado performance from Strother Martin (as the king-daddy Warlock) are the film's strongest assets. ~

Ben (Charles Bateman), his girlfriend Nicky (Ahna Capri), and Ben's young daughter K.T. (Geri Reischl) are driving through the American Southwest to K.T.'s grandmother's house for a birthday celebration. They come upon an automobile accident in the town of Hillsboro, and when they attempt to report it, they meet the local sheriff, (L. Q. Jones), his assistant Tobey (Alvy Moore), Doc Duncan (Strother Martin), and a priest (Charles Robinson). These locals explain the unusual events in the town which involve several murders, the inability of the people to leave the town, and that many of the local children have gone missing.
A local coven of elderly witches have been taking the children and leading them to worship Satan in a plot to use their bodies as receptacles for their own souls. They use their supernatural abilities to kill anyone who interferes by turning the children's toys into instruments of murder.
The priest figures out that the coven is taking the children, and tells people, including Ben and Nicky, because K.T. has gone missing. However, he sees the murder of a man trying to find his son, Joey. He goes crazy, turning into a blubbering mess.
The people searching for the children, Sheriff, Tobey, Nicky and Ben, can't find Doc Duncan, (who is either Satan or the ringleader of the ceremonies. It is never said directly.) and search his house. They find the toy that came to life and killed Joey's father, Mike. It is a knight on horseback, and there is blood on the tiny sword.
They show the priest the toy and he starts to scream. They take the toy away and try to open a locked door.
On the other side of the door, a bloody ceremony, in which the coven members kill themselves to take over the bodies of the now zombie-like children, is taking place. The camera flashes from the searchers struggling to open the door and the covern members killing themselves.
When they finally open the door, they see the children staring back at them. They are in a practically empty room, with the children, a table, dolls that resemble some of the black-cloaked coven members and a music box. The children continue to stare at the people and the camera slowly pans to an empty, black hole in a corner. The screen goes dark, and bright pink gothic words show up, saying, "Come in, children."

Release Date: August 6, 1971

Distrib: Columbia Pictures