The Devil's Nightmare (1971) Horror Satan

The Devil's Nightmare (1971) In doing these old films I have a tendency to be a bit Spoiler filled. Even worse it really is just a summary of the film with my opinions of it at the end. So go watch the film before continuing reading, or You have been WARNED.  The films starts with Baron von Rhonesberg during WWI in heavy bombing by the allies. I am guessing the war is the first since the Baron is not wearing a Nazi uniform. His wife is delivering their child but dies in the attempt. The child a girl is them killed by the Baron (Jean Servais). Quite the scene where he stabs to death a newborn. What could be so horrible that he would kill a child? It stressed is a girl so why would this matter?  Getting closer to the story of the film we need a bit more background. Cut to current time, a reporter talking to Baron von Rhoneberg about writing articles about his family. He is concerned that his family is under a curse. The reporter sneaks around the castle taking pictures even though she was asked not to. Suddenly she is in danger and being chased through the woods. We are pretty sure when she falls she is about to meet her doom. Cut to a bus with seven people on it heading to Arnstadt Germany, the road is blocked we have a contrivance to get the group to the castle of Baron von Rhoneberg. The man that directs them there we later find out is the devil. So all of what comes next was predetermined.
  Ivana Novak) and Regine (Shirley Corrigan), Howard Foster (Lorenzo Terzon) and his wife Nancy (Colette Emmanuelle), Father Sorel (Jacques Monseau), an grumpy older gentleman named Mason (Lucien Raimbourg) and the driver Ducha (Christian Maillet). Right from the time they arrive things are strange, a piece of the facade falls almost hitting Corinne, the door to the castle opens by itself and after they are in closes in turn. They are surprised by the Baron man Hans who welcomes them to the castle but inexplicably knows there names. These films always have lots of back story to get out and in this one we have Hans tell father Sorel how the Mark of the devil ended up on the floor of his room. December 8th 1575 when Erika von Rhonesberg plunged a knife into a monk who was exorcising her. Erika disappeared leaving the mark of the devil in front of the fireplace. He also gets to mention the family curse. And it seems that each room has a story as we learn about the Foster's room where two people were slain while sleeping.

Back at the village near the castle the villagers see the reporters body has the mark of the devil on it. "The succubus has returned to the castle says one of them. This is starting to shape up to be an amazing film. The group consists of two young lovely women Corinne (
  Before dinner Director Jean Brismée gives us a shot of Corinne and Regine laying about the bedroom in just bra and panties. There is a sexual tension between them and Corinne acts on it. Soft music and hands in closeup touching skin. Gentle kisses and the small bits of clothes come off. Regine takes a bath and Corinne is there to bathe her. "You've got such lovely skin." This scene is then contrasted with Nancy haranguing Howard for flirting with Corinne when they arrived. She also is in half dress but is not being sexy at all instead laying out for the audience how bad their marriage is. Enough of this back to the Corinne and Regine in bed making love, all the way to the classic shot where Corinne head moves down Regine's body and disappears off camera, the focus staying on Regine's face as she enjoys what is happening and then calms to a quiet sleep satisfied.
  At dinner the guests are defined a bit more and we learn of the Baron's curse. In the 12th century his ancestor sold his soul to the Devil and also received the curse that any oldest daughter born to his line would become a succubus. A demon that takes the form of a woman to lead men to their spiritual ruin. Now we know why he killed the child, or did he. The housemaid who was also the midwife in the first scene meets Lisa (Erika Blanc) who has arrived at the house as a storm rages outside. That bit of foreshadowing can mean only one thing. Now the cast is complete and we can get on with the story. This film takes the seven deadly sins and brings death to guests in accordance. Ducha gluttony, Corinne and Howard? lust, Father Sorel Pride, Mason Envy or wrath?, Regine Sloth, Nancy Greed. But who will be the first to die?
  Father Sorel is hallucinating Lisa in his bed. She is a seductress and is disturbing enough to him that he leaves his room. In the library he browses the books but they seem to fall off the shelves on their own. Lisa meets him there and provokes him only to be interrupted by the baron. Shifting from the library to the kitchen she offers Ducha a banquet of foods. Surprisingly giant prawns and the such but we don't yet see him die although his gluttony is primed. Instead we see Nancy insisting that she and Howard could find the baron's gold, her greed priming her to be the first death. Howard now has the chance to meet Corinne under the stairs for some lust action. Cutting between the characters the film does a great job of building our anticipation. Lisa seems set with Ducha offering him a "last" glass of wine which chokes him. She in her succubus makeup is looking over him as he dies. Gluttony!!!
 Lisa then works on Nancy who she leads to a room full of gold dust, she is amazed until she realizes that she is sinking in it  Nancy gone beneath the gold Greed!!!
  Howard and Corinne are getting it on but at the same time are too loud for Mason to sleep.  They decide to change locations and Lisa is fast on their heels. As the two lovers play hide and seek, Lisa finds them forcing Howard into the guillotine we saw earlier. Chop! Corinne forced into the Iron maiden is killed by Lisa also, Lust!!!
  Mason comes out of his room to see Lisa turn a corner down the hall. Following her angry at the noise he searches for her. She though circles behind him, then leads him on to a dead end. Trapped and in her scary make up she pushes him out of a tower window. Wrath!!!
  The ever sleeping Regine lays in bed while a snake conjured by Lisa closes in on her. This is cut with Sorel and Lisa scenes and really is about one last look at the actresses lovely body before she dies. A victim of her own Sloth!!!
  In the library the sleeping Father Sorel is awakened by Lisa. She is making him nervous with her beauty. She closes in on him trying to find his weakness, showing skin. Regine's scream at waking to see the snake brings out the ghoulish Lisa and he sees through her disguise. He finds the dead girl and is confronted by Lisa she tells him who she is. He raises his cross and prays causing her pain. He flees to outside where a hearse drawn by a horse arrives. It is the Devil, the same man that directed the bus to the castle. The Devil (Daniel Emilfork) follows Father Sorel to the chapel but can't end. the Devil says he will get him. Sorel offers his own should for all the souls already taken this night. His pride is showing but he makes the offer anyway. He signs the deal with the Devil.
  Morning Sorel is woken by a shouting Ducha. He joins the group at breakfast and everyone is there including Lisa.  She starts playing the organ as the Baron and hans train with epees in the yard. her sudden playing makes him hesitate and he is wounded by Hans. He wishes to confesses to Sorel that he killed his child all those years ago. The final piece of information we get is that the aid admits Lisa is a bastard child of the von Rhonebergs. She talks to Sorel in the chapel, he will stay behind with her. As they watch from the balcony the bus leaving we see it crash over a cliff and exploding. WTF! Well maybe there souls are saved but not there bodies.
 I saw the Redemption Films version of this movie, which has a  long tacked on introduction with a Vampire Hostess over acting and being way too serious. Some strange topless cannibal women that have absolutely no connection to the film that followed. Advertising it seems that was just added on without thinking about if it matched the film or not. It added 10 minutes of really useless trash. The theme of a succubus killing because of some of the seven deadly sins was pretty cool. Long before the film Se7en (1995) where a serial killer used the same theme for his kills. This is seventies sexploitation and a very mild form of that. The one sex scene between Corinne and Regine was the majority of the sex, some boobs and moaning filled out the rest. The talent is primarily three actresses, Blanc, Novak and Corrigan with Corrigan showing off her impressive body through nightwear most extensively.  Still all of these scenes are through a man's eye always titillating and lingering. That is not to say that women do not have agency in this film. Corinne clearly wants Howard and initiates their tryst. Lisa is the main antagonist of the film and as the succubus relishes hunting her prey. Even Nancy with her greedy desire has the agency to seek the wealth she dreams of only to be punished for her agency. Really the film is a slow paced Gothic horror that is not so great but certainly representative of its era. Not horrible mind you but I think with the change in pacing that movies have taken on in the 40 years since this film was made just makes this unwatchable for a modern audience.

Lisa and the Devil (1974) Horror Devil

Lisa and the Devil (1974) -"Lisa e il diavolo"
Having seen this film and the other cut of it The House of Exorcism I was excited to here that the fine folks at Deadlantern.com's The World Famous Splattercast were going to cover it. So excited in fact that I re-watched both version and listened to the audio commentary while doing so. Of course I had to avoid hearing the podcast until I finished this writing which for me is a task. I really wanted to listed but like to have formed my own opinions before being influence by the the fine commentary provided by the crew at deadLantern.  Lisa and the Devil had excellent commentary by Tim Lucas who wrote the book Mario Bava : All the Colors of the Dark as well as other genre books. Probably one of the more expensive coffee table books I have seen, and will not own. Again you want to watch the film prior to watching it with the commentary.  When sharing that commentary in this write up I will make the text whether quote or paraphrasing I will put the text in italics instead of making a separate citation each time. There was so much interesting commentary in this film that I would recommend you take a listen. Whether sharing the origins of the fresco that Lisa (Elke Sommer) looks at at the beginning of the film or the musical piece accompanying the music box or giving background on the actors, Lucas is knowledgeable and detailed adding to the depth of the film.
  Lisa is a tourist visiting an unnamed town, the first stop off the bus is a fresco of the devil carrying away souls. Bava had the fresco made for the film with the likeness of Telly Savalas who plays Leandro in this film as the devil character. It was also common for Bava to use the idea of an image of someone becoming real in his films. She is about to take a journey on the strange side and does not know it. Drawn by music in the distance she walks off on her own, finding her way to a small shop where the music,  Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto Dara Weiss is playing. It's a turning point as she is seen by Leandro (Telly Savalas) as he who she sees in flash to be the spitting image of the devil from the fresco. Frightened she hurriedly leaves the store and we can hear Leandro saying "How strange, how strange,  you'd think she'd seen the devil."
 Espartaco Santoni) and in a neat bit of editing he appears to be real. Again this calls back the image of the fresco with the devil carrying away the dead. Lisa is ready to be out of this scary situation and takes the directions from Leandro that should get her out of the back allies. Would you trust his directions? She seems a bit ensnared at this point. Coming up some stairs there is at least a view of the city but in front of her is a man coming her way. She sees it is Carlo the spitting image of the dummy Leandro was carrying. He thinks she is a woman called Elena and this makes her even more panicked. Bava has both a sister and a daughter named Elena and important name to him. When he touches her like he knows her her reaction is to push him away with dire consequences. Really this is a transition in the film where Lisa leave one world and enters another. She is a pawn in the devils diabolical plans and just does not know it yet. She is still looking for a way out but the possibly dead man at the bottom of the stairs means she is stuck. We see her shout for help and in the next instant she is still wandering in the dark. Has a lot of time passed so the sun has gone down, or is it a supernatural darkness? It really is never explained but can be an indication that she is in some kind of other worldly situation. There is a time shift that starts at the fall of carlo probably signified by the shot of his watch with its broken hands across each other. Have two time crossed and now we are in a dream world where normal rules do not apply?  Are the lights she sees her salvation or will they bring her more trouble?
   This is the beginning of a strange journey for Lisa, a surreal journey into darkness where reality seems warped. Outside the store it takes the form of a maze like city, of winding streets. She searches for the way back to the fresco but can't find it. She seeks help but can't find any. Her anxiety increases when she runs into Leandro again in a back ally square. He is carrying a dummy of Carlo (
  Here I go again writing a summary of the film instead of a review of it. It is so easy to be caught up in the details and there are so many details. I will try to be better, really I will. This first part of the film is a way of showing that the devil has ensnared Lisa. If I were to pick out reasons why it works I would say the sense of confusion that Lisa experiences is well relayed through the scenes of her wandering the narrow allies of the town and her fear captured with low angled camera shot. What I think does not work so well here is that there is really no reason for her to be caught up in the story. If you pay attention in the shop where she sees the music box you will see that the characters on the box are driven around in a circle by death. So much of this film is about death, so if we take the box as symbolic then maybe the film itself is a circle that repeats, but I am getting ahead of the film here.
When she runs into Carlo on the stairs and he recognizes her as someone else we can surmise that maybe at the beginning of the devil's cycle with these characters she does not remember who she is? Is she actually Elena? Is this Elena's private hell where she is transported into this place to feel the confusion of being lost? At any rate Lisa is a very underdeveloped character, we really don't know anything about her or the woman Elena she was mistaken for. A weakness of the film has to be that she never becomes a fully developed character and it is left for interpretation whether she actually is Elena. It may be that because Lisa is not real, she could never have depth, she is a shell that Elena is using to try to escape the devil's influence. Never does she do anything to improve or hinder her situation, she just has these events happen to her. Much like the dummy's of the characters in the film Lisa is a mannequin of the film itself she is moved place to place but it really is never of her own doing.
The second act has Lisa getting a ride in a car owned by a couple Frances (Eduardo Fajardo) and Sophia Lehar (Sylva Koscina). It is a cool scene where we see from the stares between the people in the car that Sophia is having an affair with the chauffeur George (Gabriele Tinti) and that Mr. Lehar knows of it. It is an added dynamic to what is going on in their world. The car is having problems with its hoses and sputtering and overheating. The four of them are forced to stop at a local villa so repairs can be made. This sets up the primary story of ghosts and love lost and death and rebirth. The house is owned by the blind Countess (Alida Valli) and she lives there with her son Max (Alessio Orano) with butler Leandro. Naturally they are offered the hospitality of the house and here is the rub. Lisa seeing Leandro, tries to hide in the background but is seen.  He presses her about whether she recognizes him. A telling statement of Very Little escapes me if you know what I mean." lends to the idea that he is the devil. So if all the players are in a hell world the story of the house is the horror they must relive. The story in the house is of Carlo is the husband of the Countess. Elena is engaged to Max and then has an affair with Carlo. Max being a psycho kills both Elena and Carlo for their act of betrayal. They are brought back together into this house to rediscover the horrors of their sins by the devil again and again. The betrayal of infidelity is represented not only in the back story of the occupants but in the relationship between George and the Lehers. Each time the outcome will be murder.  Another symbol of this manipulation could be the music box, a circular disc spins the six figures watched over by the death character, The Queen, King, Bride, Groom, Male outside and death representing the Countess, Max, Lehers George and Leandro they are driven in circles. There is actually a point in the movie where the group is being lead by Leandro through the grounds in the same order as the figures on the music box.
  Primarily it is Max who is seen as the psychopath of the film but he is not the only sinner here. When it all plays out we think Lisa finds a way to escape and comes out of what is now a ruined house. Years of decay showing the rubble signifying she is back in the real world. Little kids playing there call her a ghost and say that everyone knows the ruins are haunted. Lisa thinking that she has survived heads out of town, a second chance? The plane she is on seems deserted and the music lets us know that the ending will not be good for her. When she finds the rest of the cast, dead looking in the plane and runs for the cockpit we see that very little actually does escape Leandro as he turns the pilot of the plain. Ultimately the story is about the power of the spirit world to control the fate of us humans. We are the pawns in the games run by Gods or monsters and our actions condemn us but we in the end have little power in changing a fate that has been casts. Lisa when she falls against the plane wall appears to be another body dummy to be played with by the devil. As he said, very little escapes him.
  No there are a lot of things to like about this film, some interesting camera shots, like the POV of the car pulling up to the villa. Not from the point of view of the driver though but from Lisa in the passengers seat. The already mentioned low angle shots in the town. There are a number of reflection shots in a spilled bottle of wine or in any other reflective glass where the focus changes fore to background or visa versa.. On top of the camerawork by cinematographer Cecilio Paniagua is the just excellent soundtrack by Carlo Savina. Overall the pacing was relaxed but being a child of the seventies I have to say really not too slow. Its no Phase IV or Vanishing Point. Still for a younger audience the first part of this film will seem slow. Bava is one of my favorite directors and I was pleased to be able to see what he wanted to be his defining work, Still there are others I love more , The Girl Who Knew Too Much and the classic Black Sunday to name a couple. Having watched it I can listen to @rachiepants on the Splattercast podcast and see what she thought. I was equally displeased with the strange disjointed money grab this film became in the form of The House of Exorcism, a horrible trashing of this film for the sake of money.

The Entrance (2006) Horror Demon

The Entrance (2006) - "In the year 1612, renowned exorcist Father Sebastian Michaelis wrote about a possessed nun, Sister Madeleine at Aix-en Province, France. The demon possessing Sister Madeleine revealed itself as a fallen Angel." These premise certainly has something to do with the plot of this movie but only to explain the cause of the events. The protagonist is caught up in the craziness of the demon is Detective Porhowski (Sarah-Jane Redmond) a female cop working the night shift. Dragging her into the events is antagonist Ryan (Michael Eklund) a drug dealer who has a life full of sin and a survival instinct to rival any final girl. Unfortunately for him he was neither a girl or the last one alive in this subpar effort.
   Writer / director Damon Vignale makes an effort here with a promising idea but without the execution nor the budget to follow through in a satisfying way. Drug dealer Ryan brings our detective heroine Porhowski into a freaky world when he shows up at her police station and tells her a wild tale of being kidnapped and then forced to play games of chance for his life. She is not buying what he is selling so when he skips out she goes on with her life until he shows up in the back seat of her car and forces her into the isolated parking garage where she will be tested.

  It is less straight forward than this linear description. For what appear to be reasons of holding back information for twists and turns in the plot, the director and editor Daryl Bennet cut this film up into pieces and mixed them around so the over arching plot is really hidden until the last act.  Ryan's story is that he was kidnapped and wakes in a room with several other men, it plays like a supernatural game of Russian roulette. If you lose a game some unseen force removes you from the room and somehow you die a horrible death. The character names in the credits show these sinner are in a sick game to punish their sins. The Pedophile (C. Ernst Harth), 1st Sinner (Zoltan Barabas), The Rapist (Jerry Wasserman), The Devil (Frank Cassini). Oh and of course there was the janitor Joe (Ron Suave) who helps Ryan get out after he loses but with a condition.

  The myth surrounding the plot and what is hinted with the quote at the start of the film is that the demon Baal-Berith likes to take sinner and force them just into this situation. The corrupted are toyed with and killed by this fallen angel. Why? Well who the fuck knows just to entertain himself is the most likely reason. Still if there is one thing better than killing a sinner for his sins, it is corrupting someone pure of heart. Unfortunately for Porhowski she is that pure heart and the price for Ryan's freedom. Although without being a heavy sinner she is one of the poorest cops I have ever seen. Ryan easily gets the drop on her and thus she ends up mixed up with the demon just like all the sinners.
  Ultimately she is presented with a choice, brought together with the man who dragged her into a car and raped her when she was a teenager. She is given the opportunity for vengeance. Will she break her oath to serve and protect and cross the line to get revenge. Will she in fact fall from grace kill her rapist joining him as a sinner in Baal-Berith's game? Still getting to that point means a lot of edits of the games and back into following the cop and back and forth. Each cut revealing a bit more of the overall story. The problem is it really lacks a narrative flow.
  Worse yet because the story of the demon is the backstory that the plot hinges on there is no good was to get that information to the audience. So Vignale uses a cop researching the interview with Ryan to figure out that whole story. It feels clumsy and doesn't really fit with the film. Every now and get we break from the main story to listen to the young cop explain to the older cop what he has learned about the demon and how it fits with Ryans recorded story. The exposition is needed to fill out the story but how it was does just does not work.

  Then to further the supernatural periodically we see black and white scenes of Father Sebastian writing of the possessed nun and her tied to the bed acting all demon like. This really is not needed as it adds absolutely nothing to the story while only serving to remind us of the quote at the beginning of the film. When all is said and done we get know real answers about Porhowski and whether she can extradite herself from the situation. Ultimately the film did not work on too many level for a recommendation so this one may be better to skip.

Babysitter Wanted (2008) - Horror Satanic

Babysitter Wanted (2008) - Lets start by saying I thought this film was decent but there were a few things that leave that nagging feeling it could have been better. The pre-credits scene showing the tied up girl with markings on her like you would see on a pig showing the different cuts of meat really blew a lot of what could have been revelation in this film. Instead of letting the audience grow to learn what is to come for characters we get this, then we are suppose to anticipate that fate coming back to the main character. Afraid though it should have been left unsaid and then when we saw it for the first time it would have more impact. That opening scene in which the music was a big driver was disappointing too much mood music and too much reveal all for a tone setting scene that really is not necessary and probably works against the film making everything that happened in that scene have to be explained later in a monologue that then too seems out of place.
The very first scene in the protagonists home we establish that the main character Angie Albright (Sarah Thompson) is a very good girl, she and her mother kneel in front of the home alter praying for her safety as she prepares to head off to school. Community College is such a scary place and she the good Christian girl meets her druggie roommate to set her out of place, to make the character uncomfortable and to establish she is not a girl of means and will have to find some kind of work to make this whole college thing happen. It also gives her a reason to meet her love interest in the film, Rick (Matt Dallas) who scares her by accident while she is on the payphone outside calling home to pretend everything is alright. I guess all that praying and good girl stuff goes out the window when you want to not have your Mom worry so you lie to her. Kids today! The fact that both of these actors are way past their college years is not so strange in Hollywood where often the teens in teen movies are late into their twenties. Here though they are in the early thirties playing 18 and 19 there is something not really right about that. Sarah Thompson I remember as Eve on the television show Angel how she ended up in this role must be a story. Not that she is not young looking but she is like 32 years old.
When she takes a number from the babysitter wanted sign on the school billboard there is a strange scarred guy (Monty Bane)watching her from the distance, we know this because besides seeing him the music gets very menacing queuing us that we should worry for poor Angie. In fact the music by Kurt Oldman is one of the larger problems with this film, it is too overstated, more like you would get on a video game to create mood than on a film where is should be an accompaniment. I got the feeling that Kurt didn't trust the film he was seeing to have the tension and shock it needed so he created a score to compensate for it. Unfortunately it is so over bearing at times, often giving away the action or creating its own moments instead of trusting the film that it was a distraction. It is also a dark movie, meaning the lighting is purposefully set low, it ads to the mood I suppose but make sure you watch this on a large decent quality television to really be able to see what is going on.
Angie is followed by scarred guy for a good deal of time while she heads out to the isolated farm to meet the Stanton Family, Jim Stanton (Bruce Thomas) doing his best Bruce Campbell, its strange I said it out loud and then on researching the actor I see that he played in Army of Darkness as one of the mini Ash characters. He was a fine enough actor but I kept thinking of the Bruce Campbell whenever he was on the screen. Violet Stanton (Kristin Dalton) and son Sam (Kai Caster) who always wears that cute little cowboy outfit and does not say much. They seem like a nice enough family and Angie takes the babysitting job. Thus the setup is done and the film actually starts and we learn that all the religious crap from the beginning actually plays a role in the outcome although a tangential one. Violet shows Angie that little Sam is on a special diet so if he wants a snack it should come from the marked containers. Since we were bludgeoned by the opening scene we can guess what the special diet is can't we? So is the point since we know and Angie doesn't that it should create a negative feeling in us, or anticipation that OOH Boy when she find out she is going to be appalled. No because when she finds out she is watching a young woman being quartered and sliced and diced and that trumps the feeling she may have had about Sam's dietary uniqueness.
The recap on the Netflix envelope gives away the part of the movie plot as the night of baby sitting goes horribly wrong. The scarred guy plays "When a Stranger Calls" and eventually gets into the house. This part of the film Angie does a lot of things right, she has been in contact with her boyfriend and he is on the way. She has been in touch with the police and the chief is coming out to have a look around. She just is too far out there in farm country for them to arrive in time to help with the scarred guy. When Angie gets the drop on him she quickly discovers that her nightmare has just begun. Paraphrasing but that is the idea and what takes place. I don't know what the message of this film is other than hey be careful taking baby sitting jobs they can be at the devils house and then all kinds of bad shit can happen. People aren't who they seem to be and the story ramps up big time with some gruesome violence and a less than satisfying ending. Overall this film sort of works although this viewer would prefer the much better and slow burn "House of the Devil" these kind of opinions though are really about style preferences, this one could be just what you are looking for. There are some plot points in that I am not sharing here, so that anyone who wishes to see this won't have it spoiled by me. It has more action and gore and really if you are a lazy viewer the music will tell you every emotion that is required for each scene, you really won't have to decide for yourself if you are scared. Its that what we all really want?
Rating (4.9) So close! in the Zombiegrrlz system Rent it! but be warned.

Mark of the Devil (1970) - Horror Gore Historical

Mark of the Devil (1970) - As a Yut I can remember being at the Drive-In movies a couple times, I have a very strong memory of watching "5 fingers of Death" and I have a memory of this film "Mark of the Devil", in my head they were a double feature but I really doubt that since they came out a couple years apart. In an effort to revisit the movies of my youth I recently watched Mark of the Devil. It opens with this strange camera effect like they were shooting through the bottom of a clear bottle. We see the local witch hunter, Albino (Reggie Nalder) sending his thugs after a caravan of priests and nuns, they capture rape and in general do bad to them. The next scene is a results scene as 2 women and a man are publicly tortured. Albino accuses them of witchcraft and doing sinful things and requires them to confess. They cut the fingers off one woman and then tar and feather the man. They then burn the other woman at the stake and of course she curses them all. It really is to establish the place and time as somewhere between the 15 and 18th century during the witch hunts. We get a scroll narration talking about just this and how 8 million people were executed during the period. Then setting up the movie we are to see.
We follow Vanessa (Olivera Katarina) from the crowd scene back to the tavern she works at. As we pass people in the streets we hear bits and pieces of the soon to arrive Lord Cumberland (Herbert Lom) the big wig witch hunter who is coming to check out the town. Already at the Tavern are sitting Christian(the great Udo Kier) and Jeff Wilkins (Herbert Fux) the assistant to Cumberland and his executioner respectively. When Albino comes into the tavern there is a bit of a confrontation with the new comers. He does not want to give up the power he has to Cumberland when he arrives. There is a multi level conflict here, Christian sees Albino as a backwards thug abusing his power. He is training with Cumberland who he sees as a noble man doing the work of God to remove the evil from the world. The power he has over Albino is to demand the paperwork for all the executions that have taken place and he exercises this power. It leaves the illiterate Albino on the ropes, his assistant has to work to create the falsified paperwork quickly. In this Christian acting for Cumberland can attempt to set this backwoods thug straight.
Albino hits on Vanessa and when she spurns his ugly assface he accuses her of being a witch. Christian stops him and then in the time from when Cumberland arrives and the accusation there are scenes of Christian and Vanessa spending time together and him falling for her. He can not be near her all the time though and it is not long before Albino gets his hands on Vanessa, he whips her good and arrests her.
When Cumberland arrives he takes Albino's side against Vanessa, basically saying that the accusation of the local witch finder is sufficient to hold her. Later she will be tortured for a confession. In another case a young blond, Deidre von Bergenstein (Gaby Fuchs) who is also accused says she was raped and impregnated by the Lord Bishop of the area. Cumberlands insists she should admit being a witch but she refuses having been wronged by this Bishop. She will be tortured for confession. What this scene did was to create doubt to in Christian about his mentor Cumberland, he sees the elder purposely not accept the story from Deidre because it would make the church he works for look bad. Christian thought they were seeking truth and is thrown off by the callus approach of Cumberland.
This is the message of this film. It is a history lesson about the witch hunts while expressing that so much of what was going on was either personal, as in the case of Albino. Or personal for Cumberland when we learn he is impotent and at one point can only get off by raping a noble women. That a lot was done to benefit the church as in the case of Deidre who must be a witch because the alternative is that she was raped by the Bishop and that is seen as unacceptable. There is also a story line about Baron Daumer (Michael Maien) a young man who should inherit his fathers fortunes, but since he was too young the church has been holding them. Now of legal age and requesting his inheritance the church has accused him of being possessed by a demon. The torture to remove the demon will probably kill him. Christian again sees the flaws in his mentor when it is obvious the church just does not want to loose the income and power of the holdings. Cumberland says he could free himself of the demon by signing everything over to the church.
Through the story Christian struggles with the morality of what they are doing, will he save Vanessa his love? Will he turn against his Lord Cumberland? Can he save Baron Daumer? When the film gets to a climax it is so anticlimactic that I was amazed. After sitting through this really boring if somewhat gory film, I could not believe who got killed who got away and why they bothered to make the movie in the first place.
Back in the day when you went to see this movie they gave you a vomit bag because the scenes of torture were so graphic. In these times of torture porn this movie is almost PG-13, there are a couple of boobs of Gaby Fuch on the rack, there is the rape scene that is not graphic at all and you see quite a few tortures and people burnings but they are not close to what you see in Hostel or the Saw movies. Boy were times different back in the early 1970's. Like many movies from that era this movie takes a long time for the character, in this case Christian to get from point A to B. The movie is long and somewhat boring with lots of torture scenes, he is really slow to give up on Lord Cumberland though. When he finally does for the love of a woman, it ends up being a tragic decision.
Rating (3.2) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz rating system I would say Skip It!

L'anticristo (1974) The Anticrist - Horror

The Antichrist (1974) - The movie starts with scenes of an Italian religious holiday, maybe the Feast of the Assumption. People are praying to an statue of the Mary the virgin mother. In the temple are many pilgrims including our lead character Ippolita Oderisi (Carla Gravina) a crippled young woman looking for a cure. She fails to be healed but instead is witness to a crazy looking man breaking away from his retainers and climbing the ruins outside, then jumping to his death.

We then learn that Ippolita is crippled in the accident her Father Massimo (Mel Ferrer) caused that also killed her mother. She is disturbed to see that her father is now romantic with someone working for the family. In her room she finds a picture similar to one worn by our earlier suicide, but instead of a gentle Jesus image the image is an angry looking demon Jesus with a large erect penis coming from under his robes. Disgusted she throws it into the fire only to see the fire vanish and a strong breeze to blow into the house. Was that the sounds of demons entering the house? Her brother Fillipo sure thinks so and immediately goes to her room and agrees to take her out to see Bishop Ascanio Oderisi (Arthur Kennedy). He does not believe her about the blasphemous image but resolves her of her sins. Good to have an uncle as a Bishop I suppose. Ippolita angry claims the devil has been clear to her that if she accepts the devil he will give her everything she has been denied by God. This with her losing the love of her father is truly disturbing her.

While performing a mass for her the Bishop sees the sacrilege of a sacrifice in the holy vestments. In discussing it with Massimo we are given the idea that faith is the key to having a relationship with God. that Ippolita is weak and they have concern that she is mentally unstable. They arrange for her to "run into" a psychiatrist and parapsychiatrist. Dr Marcello Sinibaldi (Umberto Orsini) comes to a party they put on and meets her. She is onto him from the beginning but she still agrees to spend time with him. She has no physical damage to her legs, so he suggest regressive hypnosis as a way to get to some trauma in her past lives that may be stopping her from walking now.

She agrees and we see the scenes of her present life when her father causes the accident that killed her Mother. We see a flash of another one of those sacrifices like in the Mass. Then her former life when she was a witch who burned at the stake. Sinibaldi interested in the past life wants to explore, and the Bishop shows him the papers that talk about the past life woman. She was a Nun with the same name who ran away and joined a sect of devil worshippers. He also tells the men that the past life personality could possess Ippolita.

Massimo is doubtful of curing Ippolita and discusses that with his fiancee Greta (Anita Strindberg). They choose not to tell Ippolita who is being cut in suffering having psychic visions of her father making love to Greta. Ippolita strips and there seems to be a stylish possession scene where the woman from the past life walks through a field of ritual sex by satanic cultist to an altar to have sex with a horned masked priest. This cut with Ippolita saying everything that the woman said. thus she pledges herself to Satan, again with the toad head sacrifice. I don't really understand why she needed to lick the goats ass but hey I guess that is how satanist do it. Then the priest mounts her and consummates the marriage to Satan. This scene so similar to the Satan rape scene in Rosemary's Baby. The cuts of Ippolita show her moving her legs while an invisible force fucks her.

Again Fillipo senses something is wrong in the house Is that the organ playing? He rushes to it as it plays itself, checking on his sister and finds she won't let him in. Now possessed she lays nude in the bed with full use of her legs.

Now she is out cruising the countryside looking to get full use of her newly animated body. She follows a tour of what appear to be students and seduces a young man. She awakes in a field and can't walk so we learn that the possession is not always on. Flash back to the student who is dead with his head turned backwards.

The family continues to hypnotize her and we learn more about the past life witch. We learn she begs for her soul to be saved as she burns but the priest do not appear to help her. Ippolita suffers through this in front of her family until brought back by Sinibaldi. He claims she is cured and can walk and so it is when she walks across the room. The family is happy with the results but she starts to act strangely. Suddenly she seems very possessed. Lights and wind and strange voices, moving things around the room, the demon shows its power only controlled by hearing church bells ring.

Massimo goes to the Bishop to try to get help, but he seems afraid to do anything. Ippolita continues to act out. She tries to seduce her brother showing her body to him and putting his hands on her body. Manipulating him she pretend to need his comfort but really tries to get some incest. The maid sees this and goes out to a man who can do an exorcism.

He agrees to come and confront the demon. He tries his tricks but is scared of the possession included are her floating in the air, out the window and back in another. He sees he is way out of his league and when the Demon allows it he flees for his life.

Again the father goes for help from the church. Until then he feels he must break up with Greta and send her away. Confronting his daughter, the demon, he tells her he will only be there for her. The Demon attacks him with furniture and verbally abuses him.Then using his own ascot chokes him close to death. Saved by Fillipo and Sinibaldi. The demon tells dad that she fucked Fillipo and is pregnant with his baby. WOW!

Finally Bishop arrives to do his part, bible in hand he plunges in. She shows her pussy to him and abuses him with his celibacy. She flings her legs wide to her uncle and says "Here is the devil." The praying starts and we have some things similar to The Exorcist. The battle continues with temptation and bravado on the Demon's part. The Bishop holds fast. Very similar to The Exorcist in its approach, and trying to create a counter argument with Dr. Sinibaldi the film creates a poorly executed dynamic of science versus religion. Because the science end was always pseudoscience the argument that opposed the ideas against each other never really holds.

Father Mittner (George Coulouris) the priest arrives to do the formal exorcism, it is such a rip off, with vomiting and wind and demon mischief. It is well done and the scenes are shot in closeup and with interesting angles that heighten the effect of the exorcism. When the demon flees out into the rain, the priest stays behind to finish his prayers. Followed by Fillipo and her Father, Ipposita runs to the The coliseum, inter cut with the scene of the crazy man who committed suicide. Massimo catches her and holds her to a large cross until the demon is finally vanquished. This includes Father Mittner announcing that the Antichrist will not be born.

This is film complex enough trying to tie the family dynamic, the science versus religion and demon vs girl storylines together and it mostly succeeds. The cinematography by Joe D' Amato uses red and blue throughout the supernatural and scenes but I can't say I saw a pattern of use that made any real sense. Still there were a lot of 1970's style effects that although are now dated were decent for the time in a foreign film. The music by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai is excellent with lots of strings and themes that run through the scenes. Particularly in the exorcism the music soars with the chaos. Director Alberto De Martino created a solid if derivative possession movie that is definitely worth the viewing.

Rating (6.1) Any rating over a 5 is worth a viewing, in the Zombiegrrlz rating I went and bought this film.

Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) - Horror

Omen IV: The Awakening - Delia York (Asia Vieira) the adopted daughter of Gene (Michael Woods) and Karen (Faye Grant) is not quite the nicest child in the world. She has a mean streak and her mother is worried. As the story progresses Karen begins to have doubts that the girl is as sweet as she appears in front of her father. Karen digs for answers about the girl attempting to find the story behind her. Her P.I. Earl Knight (Michael Lerner) and others in the girls life have deadly accidents. Karen though is getting information and it is leading to the conclusion that Delia is an omen for the end of times. There is a nice twist in this movie concerning Karen's second child that I will not reveal here. Still most of this movie was a big build up to an anticlimax, and in the end although watchable, many in modern audiences will find the movie a bit dragging.

Rating (4.3)