The Devil's Nightmare (1971)

   
Directed by: Jean Brismee

Written by: Jean Brismee & Pierre-Claud Garnier

Starring:


Jacques Monseau .... Father Alvin Sorel
Erica Blanc .... Lisa Muller
Jean Servais .... Baron von Rhoneberg
Lucien Raimbourg .... Mason
Christian Maillet .... Ducha
Lorenzo Terzon .... Howard
.... Corinne
Shirley Corrigan .... Regine
Colette Emmanuelle .... Nancy
Daniel Emilfork .... Satan

Release Dates: Theatrical: 1971 (Belgium); 1972 (U.K.); April 3, 1973 (Italy); December 21, 1973 (France); April, 1974 (USA)

*Images courtesy at: www.badmovieplanet.com




 

 

Rating:

 

 

During a world war a troubled man named Baron von Rhoneberg (Jean Servais) experiences his wife giving birth to their baby and dies from it. After finding out that his child is a girl and kills her in her cradle as his family has a curse.
Years later on a stormy night 7 travellers hide from shelter by a storm in Baron's gothic mansion that is cursed by a succubus or so they're told as they don't feel right at home there plus finding the place creepy.
A lusty succubus at the mansion named Lisa Muller (Erika Blanc) tempts the guests weaknesses for one of their seven deadly sins and then kills them one by one by their mortal sins by wine poisoning, decapitation, sharp metal objects and snakes as Lisa leaves a marking on each of the victims.
A preacher there named Alfred (Lucien Raimbourg) however, doesn't seem to give in to her so easily and tries to find a way to survive the seven deadly sins at the mansion.
But apparently Lisa is not alone at the mansion as she is working for Satan (Daniel Emilfork) who owns the mansion and controls Lisa to do his evil deeds and Alfred is forced to make a deal with him to bring his friends back to life.

 

We spot a strange beginning with WWII taking place and some people in shelter as well as a lady looking sick and going into labour as well as dying while giving birth to the child and the father asking if it's a boy which leaves a clue thinking that the antichrist has been born by how he questions the nurse. Then we spot something on what he does later on which makes you cringe a great deal and shocking too plus this scene is in a gloomy black and white footage which works in well for a prologue.
We spot a moment with a woman suddenly being terrorised by what we don't spot with a weapong stabbing at her wheel tires of her vehicle as this for sure looked strange and cheesy but yet effective too. Also a sound of a thunderstorm is occuring as it's sunny outside which the makers didn't seem to show effort to cover this scene up. However some off camera shots closing in on this woman with her freaked out expressions which makes the story truly mysterious to watch.
Real effective moment when someone asks for directions and we spot a skinny and creepy looking man staring at them strangely and giving them directions as this makes you wonder who he is in this picture and waiting to find out later on.
We spot a moment with a big guy approaching the travellers in which this was supposed to looked creepy but it doesn't do the trick at all.
We spot many perfect moments on a lesbian couple caressing one another as well as taking a bath or getting lustful which looked artsy and very calm to watch. At times it was too much though but this seems to be common for an exploited italian flick such as this one.
A nice setting at a dinner table when we spot the title character Lisa Muller arriving and the owners not happy upon her arrival as well as her introducing herself to the guests as this comes in a creepily charming fashion and this leaves an impression that there's something wicked about her.
There's a moment when Lisa suddenly disappears and reappers towards Father Alvin Sorel in which the effects looked terribly trashy since you could tell for the most part that the camera was shut off and on for the character to look like she did this instead of using much special effects. Also you'd expect him to look shocked for when he spots this and he doesn't as you think to yourself "What gives???" Also there's a moment when she seems to nearly try to seduce him with good shots on all of this and it draws you in a great deal too.
Another well focused moment when Lisa is tempting Ducha to a feast as there's many great close up shots on him stuffing his face with food and drinking wine as you think to yourself that he's a real glut by doing all of this and it draws you in more by having a feeling that something deadly is going to happen to him.
Also we spot terrific effective changes with Lisa showing her dark and demonic looks as the make up looked terrifically done when she is about to do something deadly towards someone else.
A great camera shot on someone sleeping and a serpeant slithering near her arm.
Then the final showdown happens involving Alvin as to what he has to do and involving Satan himself and their discussions together as well as the moments that Alvin tries to keep himself safe from him and a deal that the two makes which looked incredibly effective. Then we spot on what happens later on which is a real brainteaser wondering if this all really happened but at the end we see on what goes down too which also worked in cleverly.
Bottom line: Ahh yes. A good old classic Italian horror film. During the beginning of this film I had a very difficult time understanding the plot but then it makes sense afterwards. I've taken an interest to Italian horror films since I saw Demons (Although that one was Americanised) as they seem to be very different and unique about them. The film is very artsy like with the surroundings on it and can be adored by others who enjoy foreign horror flicks.

Well.... The acting was spoken in French and overdubbed by American actors so it's hard to tell how the acting is but I will try and gives the characters that stood out a whirl.... Jacques Monseau (Father Alvin Sorel) looked fairly strong and stable as the preacher of the film and seemed to offer a nice courageous attitude too. He was good with his calm and patient reactions to the temptations surrounding him. Also does well by his discussion acting confident on his safety towards Satan himself and his deal he does which he was powerful by being this way.
Erica Blanc
(Lisa Muller) seemed to do her stuff terrifically as a succubus offering a perfect temptation towards the other cast members and studied this part marvellously. She was good with her slick speaking and lustful behavior. Plus was great in her blocking as well as showing her evil attitude too. You could tell that she was a convincing character actress. She brought it all togehter nicely and had the perfect looks and appeal to all of this too.
Jean Servais (Baron von Rhoneberg) had the perfect middle aged looks as the owner of his resort and seemed to offer in a perfect seriousness to whatever he did. Also reacts well to things by showing shocked expressions and a nice aggressive attitude too along with his bluntness. Shows off some nice enthusiasm.
Lucien Raimbourg (Mason) seemed to do an okay job as someone whom is irritable and having a no nonsense attitude but you could really tell his voice was overly dubbed. Yet seems to be on the ball with his performance by what we see him do and showing off some good hyped up energy.
Christian Maillet (Ducha) certainly showed it off as a fruit cake type of personality who loves his food and wine in which he really has a high paced energy into what he does in the film and coming across as perfectly annoying and a typical naive idiot too. Knew his stuff well for his supporting role here.
(Corinne) seemed to show off a nice outgoing behavior as someone whom is bisexual and is sharp within what she does and has the perfect looks for all of this too. She shows some nice movements during her lustful moments and got into this a great deal too.
Colette Emmanuelle (Nancy) does a nice job by acting prickly and someone who's an unhappy person as well as getting grouchy towards others. She was sharp within her presence and got into her part as you could tell she perfoms as someone whom is unlikeable by everything that she did here. Had the perfect looks for this too.
Who really stood out though is supporting actor Daniel Emilfork (Satan) who has the thin structure and creepy looks and is obviously an evil character.
He had the perfect thin like features as well as his freaky looks who lived to play this role and does well with his wicked charm and temptations too.

A blonde is taking a bath and her breasts are exposed but then they are fully exposed during a lesbian lust scene.
Erika Blanc
shows brief breast showings during her tempting moments.

A head is chopped off.
A woman is stabbed through the heart.
An old man is stabbed by sharp objects.

Allesandro Allesandroni shows a totally different composition for this film than what you see in an every day horror film as some of it is lacking and some of it really fits in the film altogether. There's alot of effective sharp screechy and buzzsaw types of sounds which is quite unique for a horror flick. Also there's the odd ghostly type of windy and whistly types of playing too which is catchy. There's also some harp plucking too but at times doesn't sound too effective in my personal opinion. There's a great songtrack by a female Italian composer too giving the film a great feel to it.