The Devil’s Nightmare Review from Redemption!
I know I’ve had a joke and such in the past about Troma and their extras when we see some bloke wearing a cheap Toxie mask whilst Lloyd stuffs his head between a mammoth pair of breasts as he speaks in fast nonsense tongues, but at least their extras aren’t intruding on the actual film presented! Unlike Redemption and their old DVD release ofThe Devil’s Nightmare .
“How are you all this dark night? Vaguely disorientated? Electro-therapy getting you down?” asks some stupid crow woman in cheap makeup and gear for a pointless intro. No, I’m just pissed off at you and want to pour salt on you to melt you like a slug! Advertising Redemption as a label with cheap girls dressed in cheap garments, why? I am watching a Redemption DVD! I know about you! Apparently her curvy (???!!!) cannibal babes will eat you. “You’ll just be an after-dinner burp.” she says. Fuck you, bitch!
Anyway, this goes on a very unwelcome seven and a half minutes and it’s not an option to select on the menu, it is tattooed to the start of your movie. She talks about cannibals in movies, okay, but The Devil’s Nightmare has nothing to do with cannibals! Oh my God! Go the fuck away and exist on some flimsy tacky internet site for newbie Goths and Emos to discover.
On with the actual film, finally. We’re in Berlin, 1945 and are witness to stock footage and cruddy explosions. We meet our main character, Baron Von Rhoneberg, a nasty nazi whom, upon hearing his partner has given birth to a baby girl, kills the said baby with remorse. We could assume then he’s a vile evil man, but later in the film we discover the reason for his action was far more complicated.
Years pass by and the Baron sits at home in his castle discussing a family curse to a reporter who afterwards sneaks about the grounds taking pictures against his wishes. Naturally she is chased by an unseen assailant and dies. Soon a minibus of tourists is driving through the hill-laden region. They are lost so they ask for directions via a creepy man dressed like a mime. He directs them to the Baron’s castle. Meanwhile the reporter’s body is discovered by a local villager and it is decided he died of fright by a doctor. Ahh, but then they notice the “mark of the Devil” on her arm. As one pipe-smoking man states, “The succubus has come back!”
Our merry band of tourists arrive at the huge gothic estate (which is in fact the superbly gorgeous, Antoing Castle in Belgium) just before a storm begins. Finding the door ajar and nobody about, they all trudge in anyhow. Not long after a butler, Hans, confronts them. “Welcome.” he says, and we see he was another German officer from back in 1945. He says he has prepared everything for them since receiving a telephone call about their arrival. The tourists look understandably bewildered. “She even gave me your names.” he adds.
Taking trainee priest, Alvin, to his room the butler explains about a hoof mark on the fireplace. Many centuries ago, a woman whom was being exorcised by a monk plunged a knife into the man. Thus, was left with this mark of the devil. He briefly mentions the horrific family curse was the reason for the exorcism. Mr. and Mrs. Foster find a live pigeon in their room. To plus point their comfy stay, the butler explains that in that very room, a prince and his wife had their throats cut. This is becoming almost a comedy. Grumpy always angry old chap, Mason, finds his window is bricked up. This is due to the fact someone fell to their death from it long ago.
Chubby unhealthy looking, Matt, settles down in his room to eat. This is something he has done since we first set eyes upon him. And then it dawns on you, he’s a glutton, and Mason is angry so he’s Wrath. These seven tourists will represent the deadly sins somehow. Cool.
Over dinner, the Baron explains the terrible curse which hangs over his family. Back in the 12th century, a man sold his soul to the Devil, and Satan threw down that the eldest daughter of each generation automatically allies to him, become a succubus – a demon of feminine appearance that will seduce and kill. It is the anniversary of the night the Baron’s ancestor sold his soul, by the way. As they eat, a lady, Lisa Muller, arrives at the castle seeking shelter. She strolls cat like around the long table and all eyes are upon her. She sits beside Alvin. One lady, Nancy, picks up on conversation about his works in alchemy in a laboratory under the castle. She questions him about gold. Aha, so here’s our Greed then.
Later, after the Baron has headed to bed, Matt finds the doors are locked when he tries to collect some things from the minibus. Mason angrily attempts to turn the key. Then they hear a cry, so Mason leads the way. Blimey, there’s blood dripping through the ceiling. Upstairs they find a dead cat laid out. Cute though, the cat is clearly breathing whilst Alvin says, “Someone tortured it to death.” Returning to their rooms, Alvin settles down to read and suddenly sees that Lisa keeps appearing and vanishing at various moments around place. She tries to seduce him, but his solid pride and faith compels him to resist her. Instead she turns her attention to Matt and wins him with food – a lot of food. His glorious banquet ends with him choking to death. As he does so, she reveals her true face.
Next in line is, Nancy, who is off exploring and looking for gold. Lisa works her way through almost the whole cast but cannot budge Alvin. It is the revelation of who the skinny mime bloke is from the start that turns Alvin’s head and he makes a bargain with the Devil for the souls of those he has taken.
The Devil’s Nightmare is the ultimate gothic Euro horror. It has charm, it has eerie corridors, gratuitous gory deaths (in ‘70s bright coloured blood) weird characters, a castle, alchemy, a curse, organs, and sex between male and female, plus girl on girl. It’s all here and because of everything involved it has found a home in my own personal top 20 films of all time. Let’s not forget there’s a standard grim conclusion, and there’s also a sweet twist as to who Lisa’s parents are chucked into the dark formula as well. There are no loose ends left dangling in the script – apart from the dangling rubber bat seen at one point.
One or two reviews ofThe Devil’s Nightmare mistake the conclusion as one of those “It was all a dream” cheat finales. Nope, it isn’t. Watch carefully and you’ll totally dig how excellent the concept is, but I can figure how some may think it so.
Erika (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, A Dragonfly for Each Corpse) Blanc puts in a mighty performance as Lisa. Many people say she’s stunning and beautiful. Well, she isn’t my kind of lady, but I can see why she was chosen, and when she is the face of the succubus, she is actually quite scary. I wonder what happened to Jacques Monseau, unless he continued under a different name. As Alvin the trainee priest, he is great, stone faced against such temptations and the Devil himself. Of course, we must give a huge round of applause to actor, Daniel (Pirates, The City of Lost Children) Emilfork. His depiction of Satan is very memorable and even the way he walks sticks in your mind. None of this would be as powerful as it is without the music of the legendary, Alessandro Alessandroni and the direction of, Jean Brismee.
Alessandro had such a prolific career, supplying compositions for The Mad Butcher, The Killer Nun, Women’s Camp 119, and he also added instruments and so on to Sabata, the ‘Dollars‘ trilogy, All the Colours of the Dark, Hell Ride, and just before he passed, whistles for The Lego Movie. Yes indeed. His score for
The Devil’s Nightmare totally captures the moods shown throughout the movie. Jean moved on after this film into the world of TV movies (Ernest Solvay or the Creation of an Empire, Images and Reality) which was exactly where he was from. Jean’s style suits gothic chillers almost as perfect as the style of Mario Bava. There is a strict attention to angles and lighting seldom seen in many films of this genre.
Aside from Redemption (who have put on a trailer then nothing else with it), the U.K’s own Darkside Magazine put The Devil’s Nightmare out on a triple feature DVD, whilst Mondo Macabro, and Blackhouse labels have popped it out as a Blu-ray. However you get hold of it, make sure it’s the uncut version, and hope you don’t end up with silly Redemption vampire/cannibal girls acting foolish.
AKA: Pesadilla demoniaca, Vampire Playgirls, O Demonio Sai a Meia-Noite, Au Service du Diable, Nightmare of Terror, Succubus, The Devil Walks at Midnight, The Devil’s Longest Night, Castle of Death
Directed by: Jean Brismee | Written by: Pierre-Claude Garnier, Patrice Rhomm | Produced by: Pierre-Claude Garnier, Zeljko Kunkera | Cinematography by: Andre Goeffers | Editing by: P. Panos | Music by: Alessandro Alessandroni | Special Effects by: Paul De Fru | Cast: Erika Blanc, Jean Servais, Lucien Raimbourg, Jacques Monseau, Daniel Emilfork, Colette Emmanuelle, Christian Maillet, Shirley Corrigan | Year: 1971 | Country: Belgium | Language: English (Dubbed) | Color: Color & Sepia |
Runtime: 1h 35min
Distributor: Redemption Films
DVD SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Region: NTSC R1
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
– Trailer
– Stupid Redemption vampires/cannibals
