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The Mayor of Casterbridge

Sky Bandits

Crucible of Terror


            Julia [Marguerite Hardiman] and Ralph [Stephen Bradley] are in love and want to marry, but Julia's father [George Belbin],
the village squire, believes Ralph to be below her station and disapproves
of their relationship, so the lovers take to meeting secretly in the
gardens of the abandoned Old Hall. Although Ralph has plans to buy more
land in order to expand his farm and eventually convince the Squire to
approve of him, Julia doesn't want to wait the five years it might take,
so Ralph suggests that they mark their betrothal by mixing their blood.
They each cut a thumb and press them together. Unfortunately, a drop of
Julia's blood spills onto the gravestone on which they are seated. Because
the grave is one of a suicide, Julia's blood is all it takes to open the
gates of hell and allow one of Satan's disciples to incarnate.Almost immediately, things start happening in the formerly quiet
little village. That very night, Julia is awakened by a face at her
window, but her parents tell her it was just a nightmare. The next day,
when Julia goes to meet Ralph at the Old Hall, she runs into a Stranger [Mike Raven]
who claims to be the newly-returned owner of Old Hall. Fortunately, the
Stranger is sympathetic to Julia and Ralph's predicament and assures them
that they can use the gardens freely. When he later calls at the Squire's
house, however, the Squire likes the tall, dark, and rich Stranger and
gets the idea that he would be a worthy match for Julia. That night, the
village gypsy and the Squire's manservant Mathew [Joe Dunlop] are found dead, and
Mathews' girlfriend Betty [Louise Jameson] is missing. The next day, at Mathew's funeral,
the Parson [Ronald Lacey] warns the villagers that there is evil abroad and points out
that the advent of this evil coincides with the arrival of the Stranger.
When the Parson begins to choke on his own words and the Stranger is seen
laughing at the church door, it appears that the Parson was right.Ralph is worried because he must go to town the next day on the
business of purchasing land, so he attempts to visit Julia, but her mother
informs Ralph that Julia is taking a basket of food to Mathew's mother.
Meanwhile, the Parson is snooping around Old Hall and comes face to face
with the Stranger, who denies knowing anything about Betty's
disappearance. Noticing the big inverted pentagram painted on the
Stranger's door, the Parson decides to seek advice from the Bishop. As the
Parson heads down the path from Old Hall, he meets Julia. The Parson warns
Julia not to go near Old Hall, but she doesn't listen. She runs into the
Stranger who once again assures her that she may have free rein of his
gardens. Continuing on to Mathew's mother's house, Julia runs into Ralph
and is downright rude to him when he asks where she's been. "You've no
right to cross-question me," she scolds and then runs away.While Ralph is away, his twin sister Ruth [Virginia Wetherell] is kidnapped by the
Stranger and strapped to an unholy altar by the missing Betty, now a
zombie, while the Stranger, now looking grey and ashen, prepares to make
Ruth a sacrifice to his master...Satan. "My task on earth is to supply my
master Satan with an endless line of virgin sacrifices," he intones while
holding a knife over Ruth's chest, "unless I find a maiden willing to
accept her death and spend eternity with me in my dark palace in the
depths of hell. Will you accept and share my destiny?" When Ruth refuses,
the Stranger plunges the knife into her chest. "Then die and be my slave!"
he shouts, then cuts out her heart. Her blood is then collected in a
chalice, and the Stranger drinks it.When Ralph returns from town and finds his sister missing, he informs
the Squire who promises to raise the parish to search for her in the
morning. Ralph goes home to sleep but he is awaken by Ruth, now a ghost,
scratching at his window. Ruth leads him to Old Hall where he is surprised
to find Julia with the Stranger. Ralph forces Julia to choose between him
and the Stranger, and she chooses the Stranger. Ralph runs to the Parson
who informs him that the Bishop has recommended they talk with an old
cabbalist named Melchisidech. Together, the Parson and Ralph pay a visit
to Melchisidech [Nicholas Amer], who assures Ralph that Ruth's sisterly love for him has survived her death. To help them combat the Stranger, Melchisidech gives
them a golden talisman and two potions -- holy water and magic sand. He
also warns that they must destroy the jewel that the Stranger wears around
his neck for it contains the drop of blood spilled by Julia as she and
Ralph pledged their troth. Only then will the Stranger's power be broken
and the spirits of his victims be able to rest in peace.Meanwhile, the Stranger has evoked a vampire dwarf [Rusty Goffe] whom he sends out
to stop Ralph and the Parson from returning to the village before he can
conduct the ceremony that will make Julia his bride forever and free him
from his duty to Satan. When the dwarf tries to trap Ralph and the Parson
with a ring of fire, they toss the holy water on the fire, putting it out
completely. When the dwarf increases the flow of a stream into a raging
river, they toss the magic sand into it, and the stream returns to a
trickle. The dwarf continues to pursue them, so the Parson sends Ralph
ahead and stays behind to combat the dwarf. Unfortunately, the dwarf
overpowers the Parson and takes a bite out of his neck.Meanwhile, the Squire has caught Julia packing her nightgown and,
thinking she intends to run away with Ralph, locks her in her bedroom.
When the Stranger figures out that Julia is late for the ceremony, he goes
to fetch her himself. Ralph finds Julia gone and the Squire and his wife
murdered, so he rushes to Old Hall where the ceremony that will tie Julia
to the Stranger's destiny is already underway. Ralph arrives to find Julia
tied to the altar and the Stranger about to plunge the knife into her
chest. Ralph shines the talisman on the Stranger's face, grabs the jewel
from around his neck, and tosses it into the fire. Julia is released and
leaps into Ralph's arms. The Stranger uses the moment to snatch the
talisman from Ralph's hand.P.O.ed that Ralph has destroyed his chance at eternal peace, the
Stranger chains both Ralph and Julia to some contraption that, powered by
Ruth's footsteps, will eventually tear off their arms and legs. Left alone
to their deaths, Ralph cries out to Ruth for help. Ruth's love for her
brother overpowers her zombiness, and she knocks over a candle, which
burns the ropes that bind them. Ralph and Julia escape, but Ruth is burned
to a crisp. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]
    

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