Devil's Nightmare [DVD] [1972] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Devil's Nightmare is a pretty impressive Belgian gothic horror film from 1971. The movie begins with a Nazi officer's wife giving birth during the collapse of the Third Reich; when he finds out the child is a girl, the officer, Baron von Rhoneberg, is rather displeased and shows his unhappiness in a pretty compelling way. Then we jump to the present day to find seven tourists forced to seek a night's shelter at the castle of von Rhoneberg (apparently Belgium had no hotels in 1971). Personally, the sight of the castle door opening all by itself would be enough to convince me to just sleep on the bus, but the seven tourists all rush inside to escape a sudden rainstorm. Along with the melancholy and mysterious Baron, the guests are welcomed by a sour puss of a serving lady and a rather grim butler type who has served the Baron since World War II. This guy delights in telling the guests just who died in what way and in what year in each of the bedrooms he assigns them. The tourists are not exactly rays of sunshine themselves. There is a greedy woman and her cheating husband, an ornery old man, a seminarian studying to become a priest, a pretty disgusting tour guide, a lazy blonde lady, and an especially lovely flirt whose hobby is collecting men. The castle is a perfectly gothic little setting, featuring an attic with a good selection of implements of torture, dark and intricate hallways, gloomy towers and balustrades, an alchemist's lab, etc.-basically everything a spooky old castle needs to have. Later that night, a sultry redhead arrives in the form of Erika Blanc, whose character turns out to be a little unusual. Before all the guests turn in for the night, they are naturally told the story of the ancient von Rhoneberg curse, a large part of which deals with each family member's eldest daughter being a succubus. After a good hour crafting the proper atmosphere for the film, characters finally start dying, each death patterned on one of the seven deadly sins. This succubus doesn't do the things a succubus is supposed to do, never going farther than a little flirting with the priest in training, but I suppose the results are what really count. Having a priest in the way presents something of a challenge, but Satan is more than read to step in if problems arise.

I wouldn't call this film scary at all, nor is it too graphic (except for the disgusting scene wherein we have to watch the tour guide eat). The succubus' facial expressions when she is exerting her power are overdone to the point of being sort of silly, but Satan knows how to play his hand close to the vest. There is some light nudity and just a little female hanky-panky, which I was a little surprised to find in a movie from 1971. Erika Blanc is a strikingly sultry lady who lights up the screen, thanks in large part to the film's costume designer, but I find Ivana Novak even easier on these eyes of mine. The atmosphere of the movie is quite dramatic, with the story of the curse working in hand in hand with the great and properly gothic look of the mysterious old castle, and the distinctive organ music that is forever playing in the background really helps establish the proper mood for infernal goings-on here. The ending seemed as if it would leave me a little disappointed, but a nice touch at the last minute won me over. All told, this is an excellent example of foreign, campy gothic horror that I for one quite enjoyed.

Although Italian directors like Bava are credited with being the firestarters of the European horror movie boom from 1963, this is proof there was another spark at work. This isn't to say director Brismee should be recognized as a fountainhead of the genre. In output, there are better exponents of the movement (such as Franco or Ossorio).

'The Devil's Nightmare' is a brilliant one-off. Tightly strung around the theme of death by the Seven Deadly Sins, it begins with the origin's of the von Rohmberg family curse - daughters become succubuses - at the tail end of WWII with the titular Baron suffering the dual misfortune of being a Nazi officer, his wife dying in giving birth to a ... you guessed it.

Track forward twenty-five years to a busload of tourists missing a ferry and having to take shelter in the Baron's creepy castle. After a creepier welcome from his butler, they find they have been expected.

What follows is a series of deaths, each one according to that individual's weakness a-la the Deadly Sins. Big on atmosphere, this film is highly rewatchable - a virtual Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre ride with every run of the tape / DVD.

The succubus is played by Euro Sex Symbol Erika Blanc who provides far more than window dressing to this picture. The killings are gory in some cases (thus being true to the EuroHorror canon) but never repulsive. Brismee's picture is a gem to own in any format. Get it for your collection alongside other such genre essentials as: 'Tombs of the Blind Dead', 'Black Sabbath', 'Suspiria', 'Cannibal Holocaust', and 'New York Ripper'.

I have often wondered why Belgium has an absence of Oscar nominated films. I think I now know the answer..........I am a tremendous fan of the horror genre when it comes to film making but the Devil's Nightmare has as much fear factor in it as Bambi!

When a number of people stay at a European castle complete with strange people, thunderclaps and candelabra's you know something dreadful is in store. And it is. If Avatar is the most expensive production ever then what you are looking at is undoubtedly the cheapest.

The acting in this film is straight off the auto-queue and resembles a Scandinavian porn flick as opposed to anything credible backed by a bunch of actors have never heard of and a plot so poor I think it must have been penned by a 12-year old during his lunch break.

The only redeeming feature of this film is the women who star in it would not look out of place adorning the stage in a Miss World Pageant. Erika Blanc, the main actress, parades around the castle in a delectable slick, black dress which accentuates her delicious curves to perfection. She is a gorgeous, classical beauty and underneath the exterior lies the DNA of a Ferrari. If that's what a succubus looks like then I am getting one for Christmas despite the warning on the box!!

Having said that the reason the people who made the film put in such good-looking babes showing some flesh was to keep the viewer with an IQ of more remedial intelligence from hitting the off button. The man I feel sorry for most in the film is the Priest. He does not drink, smoke and the sheer frustration of having a bevy of beauties running around semi-naked must surely test his allegiance to God!

I have read reviews not only on Amazon but on the internet from people using such terms as "Classical Horror", "rare and underrated" etc. My own experience has shown that such labels are given to films lacking any originality of talent. In other words they are commercial flops and third rate.

I feel sorry for the poor souls (if you'll forgive the pun!) who actually have bought this film. I have given it a 1-star rating because unfortunately I could not give it a lower rating!