Devil's Nightmare

Movies such as "The Devil's Nightmare" are exactly the type of cinematic smut I live for! It's got everything to magically conjure a gigantic smile on the face of every slightly deranged horror/cult/exploitation fanatic. There's bad & incoherent plotting, macabre set-pieces, a mild Gothic atmosphere, demented characters, shocking themes, lousy gore effects and – not to forget – authentically gratuitous lesbian sex! This Belgian/Italian co-production (love the combination since I myself am Belgian and Italy is my favorite movie-making country) is messed up beyond proportions and describing the essence of the plot would take up at least a couple of pages, so I won't go too much into detail. Let's just say the main storyline revolves on an ancient family curse that turns every first born daughter of the Von Rhoneberg generation into a succubus (= female servant of the devil), and a group of tourists stranded at the family castle are just in time to "celebrate" the devilish pact's 700th anniversary. Furthermore, the baron practices alchemy in his basement, there are Nazi child-executions, a gruesome murder story for every room in the castle, the random torture of cats in the attic, negotiations between a priest and the devil himself and a wide variety of shlocky massacres. A lot of the on screen events don't make sense, and there's no building up suspense whatsoever, but it has to be said that the screenplay does also feature a couple of ingenious and rather clever elements. For example, the Succubus (a luscious Erica Blanc) makes sure that every tourist's death symbolizes his or her biggest sin, whether it's greed, unfaithfulness, curiosity … The killings are very nasty, though hardly scary, and follow each other at an incredible pace, barely allowing you the time to wipe the sinister grin off your face. And if all that isn't enough just yet, wait till you witness the far out climax sequence. Oh yes, "The Devil's Nightmare" is pretty bad… So bad it's freaking brilliant! Easily one of the most entertaining European exploitation movies ever made. It's ten times more exciting than all Jess Franco's movies combined, sleazier that Jean Rollin's horribly dull vampire movies and more demented than … well, anything you've ever seen. It's a damn shame Belgians and Italians didn't collaborate more often back in the 70's, because this crazy puppy is a real keeper.

Horror at its best!!!!!! This movie is definitely one that earns the designation of HORROR!!!!! The atmosphere is chilling and the characters are zany and unpredictable. At first glance I thought that this movie would be another Italian slasher fest, but instead I was amazed to discover this eerie piece of cinema had a lot to deliver, most of all a frightening tale of sin and temptation. The devil in this movie is one that instills fear and curiosity, just as the devil should be portrayed. I recommend this film to horror fans and movie fans that don't like watching a typical film. Just a note of caution, this movie is not for the faint of heart. As is with many euro horrors of its day, the Devil's Nightmare pulls no punches when it comes to murder and mayhem. Enjoy!

'The Devil's Nightmare' starts of well with a flashback sequence involving a Nazi, a knife, and a new born baby. You guess what happens. Then we flash forward to the Seventies with a coach load of tourists turning up at a spooky castle. Pretty quickly we work out that they represent the seven deadly sins (the chubby bus driver constantly munching on chicken wings and sausages was a big help!), though they all seem to moonlight as lust, which is not too surprising in this kinda Euroschlock. Erika Blanc mysteriously turns up, flaunts her cleavage, gets a priest all hot and bothered, and may or may not be a succubus. Soon enough we get a groovy fuzz guitar soundtrack, some hot lesbo action, and a series of bizarre murders which are almost Argento lite. Not too bad at all, and Daniel Emilfork makes a pretty hip Satan.

I saw this as one of 10 horror films on a collection from brentwood DVD called;fright night,its an awesome collection of fright films.anyway the devils nightmare is a Belgium/Italian made shocker about a group of tourists(each one represents one of the 7 deadly sins)they get stranded at the castle of an ex Nazi officer.there's a family curse,gruesome murders,lots of nudity(surprising for 1971)and a very good soundtrack. I'm usually a sucker for good European horror movies especially with the sexy beautiful Erika blanc,who starred in many Italian horror films.sort of like a rival of Barbara Steele.the murders are very gruesome.the dubbing is sloppy but thats expected.i saw this years ago on the USA cable network,of course it was chopped up by the censors. it was hosted by commander USA.who used to show very strange movies. watch the uncut version for the full effect.ignore the critics because most of them dismissed this film as junk.you be the judge.believe me its kind of scary.8 out of 10,Erika blanc gets 10 out of 10 because she was hot.

A neat little Belgian-Italian horror flick brimming with atmosphere. Complete with a kinky wardrobe, Erika Blanc is perfect as Lisa Miller, the succubus. She displays supreme sensuality in her "normal" guise, then transforms into a murderous demon with such face-pulling, over-the-top relish that your skin will crawl. If she's not enough, Daniel Emilfork is on hand to complete things as a corpselike vision of the devil. The deaths are creative and brutal, the Gothic castle is very creepy, and the ending has a shock-twist that you'll never see coming. Julie sings the haunting theme song, which will stick with you long after the picture is over. The only debit is the moralizing angle, which is faintly offensive, but can be overlooked in light of everything else. Very well done on a small budget and beautifully photographed in wonderfully cheap, grainy color.

I saw this movie on videotape under the title Succubus. This tape is an absolute mess--videoburned title, scenes trimmed, scenes out of order toward the end--and should be avoided. It turns a fun, entertaining Euro-horror into a throughly frustrating experience.

Trivia: Though it was released in Europe in 1971, this film did not hit the U.S. until 1974, when Hemisphere released it as Devil's Nightmare to coattail The Exorcist.