Director: Filippo Walter Ratti (as Peter Rush)
Year: 1971
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: La note dei dannati; Night of the Sexual Demons
Genre: Witchcraft
Plot:
After receiving a strange letter, a couple decides to visit a friend of theirs at their Gothic castle, where they learn that he’s been stricken by a family curse that has affected others like him, but they soon realize it’s a ploy by a malicious witch to steal their vitality and must stop her.
Review:
This was a fairly fun if somewhat problematic Gothic horror outing. Among the better elements here come from the immensely fun setup that allows the film to mix the Gothic sensibilities of the past with a modern presentation. The central starting point here, focusing on the couple arriving at the mansion home of a friend of theirs to speak with him after a mysterious letter, and finding that his belief in a family curse that’s affecting other members of his family and bringing them into the mix, allows this one to get together with a solid old-school Gothic starting point. The idea of the past coming back to haunt the living is a great starting point, much like the actual reveal about the whole affair being done by a vengeful witch to carry out justice from several centuries earlier, which ties into everything even better. That this is in the modern day and allows it to dalliance into police investigations or other forms of conveniences not normally associated with the older films to give this a generally great touch.
With this established, the film’s journey into sleazy exploitation realms makes for a fun time here. The couple being at their friends house means there’s an excuse for a never-ending series of temptations and seduction sequences that take place either among fog-enshrouded outdoor crypts or inside Satanic altar rooms filled with ornate paraphernalia that allow for the perfect follow-up to the Gothic setup earlier only now it’s providing the setting for a series of explicit, sexually-charged couplings between pretty much everyone involved. The difference between the locations is rendered moot when they’re both utilized for taking on seductions for the couple that contains a series of stylish sequences involving the psychedelic camera-work and colors to work out their erotic content as the witch seduces her targets in these scenarios. It’s all done in such close-up that there’s a much more in-depth look at the sexual shenanigans than expected, with everyone taken to bed and focused on these bizarre features, which adds a lot of depth to the storyline presented here involving the purpose behind the seduction.
Outside of these factors, there are some big problems here with the film’s sluggish and outright bland pacing. The majority of this tends to focus on the exploits of the witch going around seducing the other female members of the family at the castle, while no one is aware of what’s going on, something that renders the film a mindless repetition of scenes that meander along at the same general format the entire time. So little of the setup beyond that makes for a dull experience, as it all tends to meander around this bizarre series of setpieces, trying to make sense of everything, but it doesn’t do much to keep the excitement level going, so long as the seduction scenes are taking place instead of genre content, which might hold this down for some. As a whole, this is the main factor against the film, as there’s not much else holding this back.
Overview: ****/5
An incredibly fun and sleazy European Gothic effort, there’s a lot more to like here than expected, which comes together to hold this up over the genuine flaws here, keeping this one down. Those with an appreciation for this style of genre fare, appreciate the attempt featured here, and viewers who enjoy sleazy European genre efforts will have the most to appreciate, while most others might heed caution.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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