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The Devil's Plaything

Original title: Der Fluch der schwarzen Schwestern
  • 1973
  • X
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
4.8/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
The Devil's Plaything (1973)
Trailer for Vampire Ecstasy
Play trailer2:01
1 Video
23 Photos
DramaHorror

A lesbian vampire's soul is kept on in the bodies of her descendants.A lesbian vampire's soul is kept on in the bodies of her descendants.A lesbian vampire's soul is kept on in the bodies of her descendants.

  • Director
    • Joseph W. Sarno
  • Writer
    • Joseph W. Sarno
  • Stars
    • Nadia Henkowa
    • Anke Syring
    • Ulrike Butz
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.8/10
    1.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Joseph W. Sarno
    • Writer
      • Joseph W. Sarno
    • Stars
      • Nadia Henkowa
      • Anke Syring
      • Ulrike Butz
    • 29User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Vampire Ecstasy
    Trailer 2:01
    Vampire Ecstasy

    Photos23

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    Top cast12

    Edit
    Nadia Henkowa
    • Wanda
    Anke Syring
    • Julia Malenkow
    Ulrike Butz
    Ulrike Butz
    • Monika
    Nico Wolferstetter
    • Peter Malenkow
    • (as Nico Wolf)
    Flavia Keyt
    Alon D'Armand
    Claudia Fielers
    • Samana
    • (as Irina Kant)
    Natasha Michnowa
    Eric Mancy
    Christa Jaeger
    Heidrun Hankammer
    Heidrun Hankammer
    Marie Forså
    Marie Forså
    • Helga
    • Director
      • Joseph W. Sarno
    • Writer
      • Joseph W. Sarno
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews29

    4.81K
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    Featured reviews

    9HumanoidOfFlesh

    One of the most erotic and sensual horror movies ever made.

    This masterpiece of lesbian horror comes from exploitation master Joseph W.Sarno.It features plenty of soft core sex,really hot lesbian sequences plus a lot of naked women.The acting is pretty good and the film is quite atmospheric and well-made.Marie Forsa is one of the hottest chicks I have ever seen in a horror movie-it's a visual pleasure to see her wonderful body.Sarno really knows how to pick up hot looking ladies.A must see for fans of sexploitation!
    7VideoMonkey

    '70's tittie grind vampire flick at its best

    Well the story is a little hard to follow the first time, but that's only because of all the bare breasted '70s painted-up vampire/witches dancing to the bongo drums. This of course interrupted by a few vampiric orgies. And there are some very interesting candles and uses for them. And for girl on girl action, vampiric or not...this movie just rocks!!!
    5Stevieboy666

    Vampire Ecstasy but sadly it didn't make me feel ecstatic

    I bought "The Devil's Plaything" under the alternative title "Vampire Ecstasy" uncut on British DVD release, set in a German castle it is a tale of vampires, rituals and lots of sex. I won't beat about the bush (pun intended, ha, ha!) but this is a soft core skin flick dressed up as a horror movie. Erotic horror if you like, director Joseph Sarno was apparently one of the pioneers of this sub genre. The Gothic castle is set amongst beautiful German mountain scenery, impressive but the female vampires seem immune to sunlight (though not garlic or crosses), and there's not a set of fangs in sight. Barely any blood either. The cast consists of European actors who appear to have been speaking in English. If this were the case then credit to them for doing this, however their performances do come across as very wooden and would probably have been better filmed in German with English subtitles or dubbed into English. Apart from a disfigured, creepy male servant all of the cast get naked and this probably makes up about half of the move's running time. The sexy female vampires perform rituals in the castle's dungeon, gyrating to a repetitive drumbeat and doing suggestive things with phallic shaped candles! There are also several sex scenes though nothing of the hardcore variety. My problem is that after a while this just became very repetitive and lost its eroticism, not helped by a running time of 103 minutes. As a horror movie this is lame, as a European sexploitation flick then it's worth a look.
    7melvelvit-1

    Not much horror here (but lots of lesbians, at least)

    Yet another sapphic blood cult's on the loose in an old castle as the female descendants of a sixteenth-century vampire get together to receive their sanguine inheritance. There's also a brother & sister whose car break down, a Mrs. Danvers-type housekeeper, garlic crosses, puncture wounds on the neck, and other familiar horror trope in this CARMILLA-esque yarn that's short on hetero coupling and long on lesbianism and incest. Sarno borrowed Mario Bava's colored lights as well as the plot of BLACK Sunday (more-or-less) to spotlight a castle full of T&A, mostly from a naked coven, and even has a woman getting her clothes torn off by bats. From an American director who filmed in Germany to make the very essence of Eurotrash.
    3kosmasp

    If nudity equals horror ...

    ... than this has a lot of Horror in it! Like almost way too much of it. Full frontal and everything. There is no explicit intercourse being shown, but other than that it feels like at least 50% of the movie plays in the nude. A lot of women who may not be able to convince you of their characters motivation, but seem to be able to convince others to obey them (through singing as is suggested and their bare bodies).

    I wonder if some thought: who needs Viagra, when you can chant and make people horny just like that. Of course Viagra was not a thing back then. But Horror movies were. Not that there is much evidence of that here. I mean it get eerie from time to time, but this puts the Horror mantle on to let you watch a soft-core movie and not feel bad about it. Here's the thing: you can have fun with this, because it's so bad it gets entertaining. You can't be prude (I think I thoroughly established that) and don't expect too much Horror out of it ... Fancy an ... old castle with hot women dying to get into your pants? (on a serious note: the best thing is the location itself, really puts value to the whole thing)

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    Horror

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The low lying mountain seen from 7:14 to 7:21 is the "Schlafende Hexe" (Sleeping Witch), a well-known landmark of the Bavarian Alps along highway B20 in Berchtesgadener Land, Germany.
    • Goofs
      When Wanda tells Julia that her ancestor was unfaithful to the Baroness, she says: she "betraded her" instead of "betrayed".
    • Quotes

      Wanda: Donoshova who, out of jealousy, betraded her mistress and cast her lot with the fratricidal rebel Ulla Borisov.

    • Connections
      Featured in Joe Sarno: A Touch of Horror (2005)

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    FAQ14

    • How long is The Devil's Plaything?Powered by Alexa
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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 14, 1974 (Sweden)
    • Countries of origin
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • West Germany
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Veil of Blood
    • Filming locations
      • Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, Germany(main filming location)
    • Production companies
      • Monarex
      • Saga Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 43m(103 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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