The Devil's Hand

Rick Turner (Robert Alda), an ordinary man, becomes bewitched by Bianca Milan (Linda Christian), the beautiful high priestess of a voodoo cult; but when the cult kidnaps his fiancé, Donna Trent (Ariadna Welter), and prepares to offer her as human sacrifice, he engages in a battle with the all-powerful supernatural forces in a horrifying life-or-death struggle.

Ariadna Welter (best known for starring in Luis Buñuel's 1955 film "The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz") delivers her lines in a terrible monotone and with some unidentifiable accent (though she was a Mexican national, so that should narrow the oddness down). Interestingly, she was Linda Christian's real life sister.

This would make a good episode of "Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits", sort of weak as its own film, though short enough that the movie held my attention surprisingly well. That is the film's downfall, though: it is a good film, but not enough meat to warrant ninety minutes, thus turning what could be memorable into something forgettable.

Milan is a witch for Gamba, "the devil god of evil" (which, as others have pointed out, is sort of redundant). It is interesting to see how easily good-natured people devote themselves to Gamba, who openly claims to be evil.

I enjoyed this film, and of the "gorehouse greats" that I have watched so far from Mill Creek, this is one of the better ones. For those who are curious, it is available for free download at the Internet Archive.