This film is one of the best to trade on the hysteria and insanity of a religious cult that I've seen. From the cheesy opening which has scenes of a woman singing a hymn to the lord inter cut with a woman being stalked by a murderer, you know you're in for one hell of a ride. This is a low budget British production which concentrates on characters and their relationships which make it a stronger film than it might otherwise have been had a higher budget been available.Patrick Magee hams for all he's worth as a psychotic preacher who will stop at nothing to recruit prospective followers and then control them with a grip of iron. You take drugs or medication? You'll be cast out. Magee gives an absolutely frenzied performance and is a hoot whenever he's on screen. A few other actors like LUST FOR A VAMPIRE's Suzanna Leigh pop up here and there but this is a film mainly populated by unknowns who acquit themselves well with the material - especially the actor playing the tormented Kenny, Tony Beckley.The real horror comes from a series of violent murders being committed by an pervert. These pre-date and yet are remarkably similar to the later stalk-and-slash sequences in slasher epics which would swamp video shelves throughout the '80s. Each murder involves a woman who usually ends up minus most of her clothes, yes there's plenty of gratuitous nudity stirred into the brew. The killer is a man whose upbringing by the cult has left him mentally scarred and unable to have a normal relationship with a woman. So instead he goes out and slays anybody in the least bit sexual or attractive. THE FIEND is a totally demented film from start to finish and one that uncannily accesses human insanity and brings it to the screen in a believable way. Quite disturbing, quite rare, and well worth your time.

This has a very poor average rating from IMDb but don't let that put you off this forgotten gem of 1970s British exploitation cinema . It's certainly one of the most deranged movies I've seen in a long time and it'll take me a long time to forget it . It's interesting the screenwriter is called Brian Comport but one can't help thinking it's a word play on " Brain Compost " and is in fact a pen name for either Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens and the film sets out its amusingly tasteless stall right from the very start The film opens in a small church hall where we see a congregation listening to a fire and hell preacher whilst he carries out a baptism and you won't confuse this sequence with The God Channel " Sing my brethren sing " And indeed a miracle does indeed take place . Despite there only being a solitary church organ in the hall, trumpets , percussion instruments and electric guitars are heard as the lead singer mouths words to an entirely different song while the congregation have epileptic fits and terminal attacks of Tourette's syndrome . Tne momentum is kept up as after the title sequence we're treated to a British version of BATMAN where a security guard gets in to a punch up with a couple of villains . Just a pity the director forgot to put in the ZAP ! POW ! OUCH ! captions onto the screen . Luckily the security guard is rescued by the rozzers who tell him he's lucky the villains were only carrying screwdrivers ! Let me get this straight - if you're mugged by a couple of bad guys armed with screwdrivers you should be thankful that they're not carrying dangerous weapons ? well that's put my mind at rest Some people might claim it's offensive the way this film portrays Christians but I disagree . It's religion itself that's the target of THE FIEND . To quote Professor Steven Weinberg " In a secular world good people would do good things and bad people would do bad things but in order for good people to do bad things only religion must be involved . THE FIEND being rabid exploitation cinema doesn't concern itself with such cerebral philosophy but still rightly portrays religion as the worst thing ever invented by the human species and if anyone feels offended by its portrayal of Christianity would the same person feel offended if the story was set in Pakistan or Afghanistan where a student of a Madrasa school goes around killing infidels ?That said 1971 was a different world when this film was produced and religion did in fact find a new window of bad opportunity with new age thinking . Christianity was simply an old , boring dying religion and people handing out pamphlets and preaching damnation if sinners didn't repent would still have found a politely indifferent audience . Imagine how this modified scene from the film would look today in the present moral zietgeist as Kenny knocks on the door of a teenage schoolgirl " Is your mother in " " No . Why ? " I'm from the BBC "

Having recently bought a copy of the 2010 release of this lost gem, finally available fully uncut and beautifully presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 - Odeon Entertainmant ODNF162 - I can't recommend it enough. Taking into consideration the very strict censorship laws and general climate the time of it's production, it's easy to see why it was butchered and suppressed at the time of it's initial release in 1972, the Mary Whitehouse brigade would have soiled themselves collectively at the subject matter alone. And the murder scenes, whilst fairly tame compared to some in todays more enlightened times, were way out there for early 70's Britain.It's not the most polished of films, but the directing is pretty good and the acting pretty solid throughout - with a convincing enough ratio of ham, menace and believability - with the script and storyline excellent. Overall the results, particularly when taking the fairly small budget into consideration, really are very, very good indeed. Which is why I honestly think this film was years ahead of it's time.An essential addition to any Brit Horror collection - it's a proto-slasher of sorts, imo - and also to anyone with an interest in looking at the darker and less positive sides of religion and it's very strong tendencies towards brainwashing, mind control and even abuse. I'd also recommend it to anyone who just loves a good well made and sincere film, however if you're just a cannibals & zombies or shoot 'em ups only freak, don't bother, it's definitely not for you.

The main character of Robert Hartford-Davis "The Fiend" is an emotionally disturbed religious nut.He loses grip on his sanity and sets off on a killing spree murdering prostitutes and other sexually active women."The Fiend" is a mildly interesting British serial killer flick with sleazy atmosphere and the background of religious fanaticism.The script is quite warped with religious rituals and misogynistic murders.The gospel songs are fantastic and the killings are nasty.One victim is found skewered on a meathook.I haven't seen Robert Hartford-Davis "Corruption",but I'd like too.If you are a fan of sleazy British horror give "The Fiend" a look.6 gospels out of 10.