Demon Rage

I saw this at a drive-in (shock!), but it was called "Fury of the Succubus". Its only real redeeming value, to me, is nostalgic: it's among the last of the drive-in second features ever put into wide release. From the late 40s, until they were effectively replaced by the direct to video market in the early 80s, countless of these gems at once horrified and amused the teenage clientèle after the families had pulled out of the lot to get the kiddies to bed. This was also the perfect example of the movies you stayed to NOT watch when you were there on a date. If not for "films" like this, a lot of us guys would have graduated high school as virgins!

Anyone who had not seen this film, but had heard about its various titles, may expect something interesting and worthwhile. The reality is that this is a turgid, slow moving, load of nonsense! First of all, the soundtrack is quite abysmal, and the background sounds tend to drown out the dialogue, which is no great shakes anyway. The editing is quite appalling, and the film lurches from scene to scene without any great pattern to it. The ending is quite ludicrous, although after sitting through 90 minutes of dross, it is a welcome relief to the viewer. In all in, a sad effort which only merits two points courtesy of the lead, Lana Wood!!

Satan's Mistress (1982)

** (out of 4)

Lisa (Lana Wood) is a bored housewife who has become sexually unsatisfied in her relationship. Before long she begins to have dreams of a sexual encounter with a mysterious man who might be much more sinister than she realizes.

SATAN'S MISTRESS has been released under a number of titles including DEMON SEED, DEMON RAGE, FURY OF THE SUCCUBUS and DARK EYES. No matter what you want to call it, this here is pretty much a show for fans of Wood. If you were disappointed that she didn't pop out of her suit in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER then you'll be happy to know that she's fully nude throughout this picture. Obviously with the plot and all the sex and nudity, this here is pretty much a sleazy horror picture and on that level it works.

We've seen countless possession movies but I will give this one credit in that it at least tries to be good. I say that because a lot of low-budget horror movies know there will be an audience out there for them so they can deliver crap if they want to and usually fans will except it. This film really wants to try and scare the viewer by delivering some psychological elements with the story. The film never wants us to know if the lead character is crazy or if she's normal. It's never clear if she's really having this sexual relationship or if it's all in her head. Is this man Satan himself or some sort of ghost?

Director James Polakof doesn't really succeed in what he tried for but, again, I give him credit for trying. The film is never suspenseful and it's also fair to say that the movie doesn't quite grab you like it should. What makes the film work is the fact that it is rather sleazy with there being several sex scenes and of course there's Wood willing to take it all off. There's full frontal nudity throughout the film and for the most part I thought she delivered a fine performance. Britt Ekland plays her psychic friend and John Carradine shows up as a Priest.

SATAN'S MISTRESS is a mildly entertaining film that at least tried to be something more than a low-budget exploitation movie. Again, I give it credit for at least trying but even in its failure it still remains an entertaining picture for what it is.

A lonely and neglected housewife (Lana Wood) living in a deserted house on the beach takes a lover. Unfortunately, that lover turns out to be Satan! Her husband and teenage daughter are naturally upset by this turn of events and enlist a family friend (Britt Ekland) who is a spiritual medium and the latter's obnoxious husband to help them out, with disastrous results for everyone involved.

This movie kind of resembles both the mainstream film "The Entity" and the X-rated classic "Through the Looking Glass", but it is not as good as either. It is surprisingly low-budget and obscure movie considering that it features two former Bond girls--Lana "Plenty O'Toole" Wood and Britt "Holly Goodnight" Ekland. (okay, not two of the most talented former Bond girls, but still--). A cadaverous John Carradine also makes an appearance (but then he showed up pretty much every time he sensed the distant whir of a film camera). Ekland, very uncharacteristically, keeps her clothes on for the whole movie, but the busty Woods more than makes up for this as she repeatedly scromps naked with the horny demon, moaning ecstatically. The film is not bad, at least before the completely confounding ending, but there are few too many supposedly meaningful shots of the waves crashing onto the beach.

Not a good film perhaps, but not deserving of its current obscurity either.

The movie is not a classic horror film by any means. I saw it when I was about 11 or 12 years old and one part that really did scare me is when the main character played by Lana Wood (yes that is Natalie Wood's sister) is running on the beach at night from this creepy looking guy with a weird outfit and even weirder looking mask. She constantly dreams about him and he eventually catches up to her and rips off her clothes and has his way with her. It's been several years since I saw it.