Originally released in 1961, The Devil’s Partner is an American horror movie directed by Charles Rondeau (famous mainly for his work in TV including Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Wild, Wild West) and produced by Hugh Hooker (who is best known as a stunt man from films
like Scarface, To Live and Die in LA and Parasite) for Roger and Gene Corman’s Filmgroup distribution agency. The film stars Edgar Buchanan (Shane, The Black Arrow and McLintock!), Jean Allison (Bad Company, Emergency! and 77 Sunset Strip), Ed Nelson (The Boneyard, The Screaming Woman and A
Bucket of Blood) and Richard Crane (Behind Green Lights, House of the Damned and Please Don’t Touch Me).

This new Blu-ray edition from Film Masters is taken from the newly restored 4k print of the movie that is drawn from the original 35mm archival elements and also features a good selection of bonus features, which will be discussed later in this review. The set features a bonus disc containing another Filmgroup movie, The Creature from the Haunted Sea also originally released in 1961, but once again, more on that later. The Devil’s Partner is included in both theatrical and TV versions. For the purpose of this review, I chose the theatrical version as it’s in 16:9 and should therefore look better on a modern widescreen TV.

The movie starts with a pre-credit sequence, an old man, Pete Jensen (Nelson) is seen sacrificing a goat before using his own blood to write a pact on a goat skin offering his soul for another 2 years of life, before a devilish hand appears and signs the skin. The old man appears to die and the credits roll. We next meet a young man Nick Richards (also Nelson) who has rolled into town claiming to be Jensen’s nephew. After learning from the local police that his uncle has died, the young man heads to his uncle’s shack for a look around. Once there he meets, Nell Lucas (Allison) the daughter of the local Doctor who is collecting some milk from Pete’s goats on behalf of another local. Nick instantly falls for Nell; however, she is in a relationship with local gas station owner David (Crane). In an attempt to push David out of the equation, Nick performs a ritual at the shack leading to David being attacked by his pet dog. David’s injuries mean he is unable to work, and Nick offers to run the gas station on his behalf while he recuperates. Nick continues to integrate himself within the local community, particularly with Nell, who has found David to be distant and hateful since the attack. Strange animal-related occurrences continue to take place in the town and the Doctor and the sheriff start to wonder if they have anything to do with Nick and begin to investigate his presence in the town.

The film has probably never looked any better than it does now, it’s crisp and clean with very little noticeable damage to the print, however, it retains a certain amount of grain that looks natural for a movie of this age. The disc is loaded with bonus materials including an audio commentary from the team at the Monster Party Podcast, part 3 of a documentary on the Filmgroup story, an interview with Roger Corman and a recut trailer, made from the remastered elements of film. 

Disc two features two cuts of the movie Creature from the Haunted Sea, as well as an audio commentary, a couple of trailers and a video about the restoration of the movie. Directed by Roger Corman, The Creature from the Haunted Sea stars Antony Carbone (Bucket of Blood, Last Woman on Earth and The Pit and the Pendulum) as gangster Renzo Capetto, Robert Towne (better known for writing Chinatown, Mission: Impossible and The Last Detail) who plays Edward Wain/ Sparks Moran/ Agent XK150, the spy who sets out to stop him and Betsy Jones-Moreland (Last Woman on Earth, Toma and Perry Mason) who plays Capetto’s love interest Mary-Belle Monahan. 

The Creature from the Haunted Sea is an absurd comedy/ crime drama/ monster movie about a criminal gang who are infiltrated by Edward Wain under his pseudonym, Sparks Moran. The gang are smuggling an exiled Cuban General and his entourage out of Cuba with a sizeable chunk of the Cuban treasury, which they plan to use to fund a counter-revolution. Capetto plans to steal the treasure for himself and murder the General and his entourage, and blame the whole thing on the mythical creature of the title, however, when their boat sinks their plans go out the window and the myth becomes a reality.

The Creature from the Haunted Sea is a very likeable caper. It’s obviously a B-movie and it’s very silly, but you can’t help but enjoy it. The cast does a decent job as they usually do in a Corman movie, and the comedy doesn’t always work, but that’s not a massive issue here. The monster when it finally appears is laughably brilliant. Corman’s masterstroke here is making it so utterly ridiculous that it’s brilliant.

Overall, this is an excellent set for an underrated movie. The Devil’s Partner is an enjoyable romp with some creative ideas. The cast are solid with some really good performances from Allison, Crane and Nelson in the lead roles. The mix of small-town 50s America and black magic rituals gives the film a fairly unique feel to it, creating a cool, atmospheric chiller. The film’s finale adds an extra layer of weirdness to the proceedings making this an even more entertaining shocker. Add to this the extra value of The Creature from the Haunted Sea and you’ve got a wonderful set that any self-respecting Corman/ B-movie fan will love.