Genre: Horror

Rating: NR

Synopsis:
When Julia (Marguerite Hardiman) agrees to mark her betrothal to Ralph (Stephen Bradley) with the mixing of their blood, she accidentally spills a drop on the grave of 'one who died by his own hand'. That night, as she sleeps, she hears a voice calling her name and awakes to see a man in her room. Her parents (George Belbin and Betty Alberge) come running when they hear her screaming but there's no one there when they arrive. The next day, Julia meets a charming stranger (Mike Raven) who says he's come to town to claim his family's estate. When night falls, one of the servants (Joe Dunlop) is brutally murdered and his girlfriend (Louise Jameson) disappears. At the servant's funeral, the parson (Ronald Lacey) tries to warn the townsfolk that evil is abroad but he is choked into silence by an unseen force. Taking a basket to the servant's grieving mother, Julia again meets the charming stranger and promises to pay him a visit. Then, when she runs into Ralph she is short-tempered and rude to him. That night, Ralph's twin sister, Ruth (Virginia Wetherell), is abducted by the stranger and brought to a satanic altar. The stranger tells Ruth that he must provide Satan with the blood of virgins until he finds a maiden who is willing to spend eternity with him. When Ruth refuses his offer, he cuts out her heart and places it in a box, transforming her into one of his undead slaves. Fortunately, Ruth's love for Ralph is strong enough to let her lead Ralph to the stranger's estate, where an entranced Julia tells him she's staying with the stranger forever. Ralph tells the parson what happened and the two of them visit an old cabalist (Nick Amer). The cabalist tells them that the stranger wears Julia's drop of blood around his neck as a jewel and that he's using it to control Julia. He gives them some magic weapons and sends them to rescue Julia but the stranger has summoned an elemental demon (Rusty Goffe) to delay them. Fortunately, Julia's father has bought them more time by locking Julia in her room, at the cost of his life. The parson is killed by the demon but Ralph arrives in time to use a talisman to destroy the jewel around the stranger's neck and free Julia from his control. Unfortunately, both Ralph and Julia are captured by the stranger and tortured for condemning him to continued torment in hell. Yet, once again, Ruth's love for her brother proves too powerful for the stranger and she is able to free Ralph and Julia, before being consumed by flame as the stranger's estate burns to the ground.

Type of mind control: Magic

Mind control scenes:
The mind control begins slowly with Julia hearing the stranger's voice and seeing him in her room. The stranger's control of Ruth and his other undead slaves may be considered mind control or simply transformation depending on your point of view. The obvious mind control begins when Julia rejects Ralph and agrees to spend eternity with the stranger. It continues when the stranger comes for Julia, taking her back to his estate and preparing to make her his bride.

Subjective Rating: 3 out of 5
The mind control in this movie seems to be written fairly well but I don't think Marguerite Hardiman portrays it very well. I often found it hard to tell whether she was being controlled or not. I personally don't consider the stranger's control of his slaves to be mind control because they're transformed into undead vampire-like creatures and I feel they obey him simply because of what they've become. If you consider the stranger's control of his undead slaves to be mind control, then this movie probably has a rating of 4 instead of 3 because there's a few scenes of the stranger commanding his slaves that are very good.