The fellow has me back in his clutches and he’s evil (5)
I believe the answer is:
demon
'evil' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the fellow has me back' is the wordplay.
'the fellow' becomes 'don' (I've seen this before**).
'has' is an insertion indicator.
'back' is a reversal indicator.
'me' backwards is 'em'.
'don' enclosing 'em' is 'DEMON'.
'in his clutches and he's' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for demon that I've seen before include "Fiend, devil" , "Wizard" , "Familiar" , "Expert" , "Ghoul" .)