Il plenilunio delle vergini

Mark Damon and his twin brother Mark Damon are academic types out to find the ancient ring of Nibelungen for reasons that passed me by. The two are quite different - one is a bookish, academic type who has an amulet to protect him and the other is a hunky type who steals the amulet and heads off to a creepy castle, stopping on the way to bed a local innkeeper's daughter. He gets her in the sack when she tells him that the local creepy castle calls five virgins from the village every year who fall into a trance and walk up to the castle. Hunky Mark effectively says he'll save her life by popping her cherry - looks like another Italian film with a feminist agenda is well underway.

He gets to the castle and finds a dozy-looking maid who tells him that the sexy countess isn't around and he might as well have a trippy walk around the castle. After finding the tombs, and hearing strange screaming,he finds the maid dead in one of the coffins, and heads back to the castle to find sexy Rosalba Neri who is definitely not an evil vampire. Rosalba hits it off with Hunky Mark when she introduces the alive again maid, but to keep your mind off of why nothing up to this point makes any sense, Rosalba gets Hunky Mark in the sack for some filthy squeezy, then turns into a giant bat and bites him.

By this time Nerd Mark arrives at the castle and doesn't believe Rosalba when she says his brother wasn't there. Just when you think the last scene is going to repeat itself Rosalba gives Nerd Mark some drugs and while he's rolling about laughing gets the maid in the sack instead and has her pour blood all over her naked body. Up periscope!

This is all leading to the big virgin sacrificing scene where one brother has to rescue the other brother from a sexy vampire and although Luigi Betzella is associated with bottom of the barrel trash like the Beast in Heat, this is a decent film with a lot of effective scenes, and one particularly hilarious one of someone superimposed in front of a giant real bat. I'm not the hugest vampire film fan in the world so if I like it then it must have something good going for it.

There are also a huge amount of nude scenes in this one too, most of them by Rosalba Neri. There's a rat staring at me. Not much else to say, except that the image of Roslba emerging from a crypt nude and covered in blood is one you won't forget in a hurry,

Il Plenlunio delle vergini (THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT) is probably only interesting as a late example of Italian Gothic horror. By 1973 most Italian horror films were following in the footsteps of Alfred Hitchcock and Argento's giallos (eg. THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE, 1970), including those of the original gothic filmmakers, Riccardo Freda (THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE, 1971) and Mario Bava (HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON, 1970 and BAY OF BLOOD, 1971). Also of interest to cult and horror film buffs, the film was photographed by Italy's (probably inferior) equivalent of Jess Franco, Joe D'Amato. Other than that, this film has little to recommend for it. The photography is a mediocre homage to NOSFERATU, the sets pale in comparison to those of earlier gothic horror films (for example, Bava's BLACK SUNDAY), the story is dull and inconsistent, the nude scenes are neither necessary nor particularly erotic, and the atmosphere is less-than-spooky when it isn't unintentional comical. They don't make 'em like this anymore, and we should be thankful for it.

Unlike the only other reviewer of this title, I thought this was quite terrific. Actually I was amazed at how good it is.

My overall impression was of a film that had a Hammer vibe, with a couple twists - the twists being more blood (though there's not a tremendous amount), and more overt nudity (several topless shots).

Other than that it is as good - and silly - as Hammer vampire flicks of the day. Sure the plot is a bit daft, the whole thing turns on possession of an ancient ring, but what do you expect from a vampire film of this era? It didn't matter to me at all.

The copy I saw was from tape, so the quality wasn't great. Never mind though, seeing it was better than missing out.

As for the previously mentioned "lesbian" sequences, they're tame, and along the lines of the classic Hammer film "The Vampire Lovers".

So, if you're a Hammer fan who doesn't mind a slight Euro influence on the ambiance, then this is a film you simply must seek out. I think it's terrific and would buy a remastered edition in a heart beat.

This movie has as much life as the Countess's zombie housekeeper. Even Rosalba Neri's hot body couldn't get things exciting. But. then the housekeeper (Rosalba Neri) bathes the Countess in hot blood, and it gets a little steamier.

But, the real deal in this Italian classic is Dracula's ring. With it, the Countess summons young maidens from the village to fulfill her needs. She is a real hero to me in that she doesn't seek power or glory or riches, just young maidens to frolic with before she drinks and bathes in their blood. Bwa ha ha ha. And it's not just a single serving for the Countess, she orders in a five-pack, then does the funky chicken, and, voilà, 10 perfect breasts, extra spicy Italian-style. Yum.

Now, she must just avoid the evil Herr Schiller (Mark Damon), who wants to take her hand for his own purposes.

They don't make them like this anymore.

There are roughly 18,262 days in a 50-year period. Thus, I would have to say that the odds of twin brothers Karl and Franz Schiller, in the 1978 Eurosleaze horror flick "The Devil's Wedding Night," arriving at the castle of Countess Dolingen de Vries in Transylvania on the one night in 50 years when village virgins are sacrificed is, well, 18,262 to 1. Still, the viewer can well imagine on which night they DO arrive: that's right, the Night of the Virgin Moon! In their quest for Wagner's legendary Ring of the Nibelungen, which gives its owner almost limitless powers, the brothers (well played, I suppose, by Mark Damon) run afoul of not only the beautiful vampiric countess, but her castleful of zombie retainers, as well. In the role of the countess we have the perfect 10 Eurobabe Rosalba Neri (here called Sara Bay, for some reason), an actress who I only recently became enamored of after admiring her performance as the doomed nymphomaniac in 1971's "Slaughter Hotel." Rosalba, though a talented thespian (and, in this film, lesbian) and much more than just a gorgeous face, nonetheless still looks incredible here, especially when streaked with blood and rising out of a steaming vat. She easily flaps away with the film. But there are still other, modest pleasures to be had here, in a film that ultimately comes off as sleazy shlock. Like another Italian film that I recently saw, 1960's "Mill of the Stone Women," "The Devil's Wedding Night" features a disorienting, drug-induced, psychedelic freakout sequence that comes roughly halfway in. Director Luigi Batzella and composer Vasili Kojucharov's contributions do create a film with some creepy atmosphere, and for all you hound dogs out there, the five virgins that are called to the castle, stripped and butchered are quite a toothsome lot. In all, certainly not a classic or even very good film, but still fun. Unfortunately, this DVD from Shout Factory showcases a very damaged-looking print that is only just barely watchable, and with no extras to speak of other than some snide comments from Elvira. Even this sleazy piece of Eurohorror deserves a better treatment!