Night of the Devils
Night of the Devils
NR | 10 April 1973 (USA)
Night of the Devils Trailers

In this adaptation of Tolstoy's story the Wurdulak, a mentally ill patient known as Nicola flashes back to horrifying experiences that he encountered while driving through the country. Upon damaging his car, Nicola sets out for help, only to meet a mysterious family that lives in total fear of someone or something. This evil force slowly penetrates the household and thrusts each of its members into a frenzy of absolute terror!

Reviews
trishaade

I much prefer Bava's version of this tale. This one is okay, but a bit of a slow mover. It is, however, atmospheric and claustrophobic throughout. It is very much so towards the end and the last 15 minutes alone is worth the watch of the whole movie.The film is a vampire movie, but not in the classic sense. These vampires prefer to keep things in the family or with their lovers. It adds an interesting twist - what do you do when a family member or loved one has turned? You'll find through the movie that people react differently and reap the benefits or pay the consequences of their actions.Nicola, an innocent bystander of sorts, has the misfortune of breaking down in the middle of nowhere and ends up sheltering with the family. He knows that something is amiss when they lock up their house tight every night and won't let anyone go out after dark. He also finds out that they are the only family left in the town. He overhears cryptic conversations between family members. After his car is repaired and he witnesses a murder, he decides to go to the police who aren't much help. He goes back to the house to pursue a romantic relationship with the daughter which results in some unpleasantness :).Overall, it is a pretty good film, but one of the things that bugs me about old euro horror is that often the soundtrack contains operatic voices singing part of it. This one is not an exception. A minor point, but it can really run my nerves.And just in case you didn't know, this film was originally done in Italian - it is dubbed which some people can't manage. For me, as long as the movie is good, I don't really care (BLACK Sunday, anyone?)Also, be aware that this movie was made in the 70's, so the special effects and gore are going to be appropriate for that time. I've never understood reviewers who say a movie looks dated when it was made decades ago. Of course it is going to look dated.And finally, there is some nudity - quite common in older euro films. If you are into older euro horror, and don't mind slow paces, give it a watch!

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Rueiro

I first saw it on Spanish TV centuries ago. Back then I got into the film during its second half, not knowing what it was about, and at the end I thought it was worth watching. Then many years later I found it in YouTube -the image quality was dreadful, and -as I now can tell- it was a truncated Italian dubbed version. And finally recently I found in the internet a Spanish-speaking version with scenes cut from the one I saw before and with a superb quality image, and I downloaded it. I love the film, and I've been looking for the DVD here in London for months. I couldn't find it anywhere. So I'm keeping my downloaded copy for the time being. The ideal treat for a late rainy Saturday night: I alone in my home, a bottle of Scotch to keep me company for a couple of hours, and this atmospheric chiller.

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ElijahCSkuggs

Story about a man who breaks down and seeks shelter with a less than ordinary family with an extraordinary dilemma. Let's just say things do go bump in the night for this family of the woods.Night of the Devils unfortunately is vastly unseen. It has lots of things going for it, like a cast that is truly gung-ho and some pretty good writing. The atmosphere is dark and ominous which gives the film a really great feel.The film does drag in parts where some scenes will go on for a tad too long, but sometimes this becomes a good thing, because it will strengthen the mood of the film. Also the film struggles with its music at times. The music itself is good, and fitting, but at the same time the timing wasn't used very well. Instead of letting the scene play out and remain questionable they'd throw in music where it'd make you realize what would take place. Minor issues that barely damage the viewing experience as a whole.Overall the movie was a really good slow-burn flick with pretty strong performances, an eerie vibe and awesome fx work. Though plagued by a decent amount of predictability it still ended up being a very recommendable movie to horror fans who can dig slower films.

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ster2001

It's always nice to find an obscure gem like this. This film is VERY good. Don't let the other reviews here fool you. An intelligent viewer who actually WATCHES and takes in all the atmosphere built up will find a lot to reward them. One should not go into this with the typical 2 second attention span so prevalent today. The film is intelligently made and builds slowly but surely. You have to take this as an Italian horror movie from the 70's to appreciate. All the conventions of this style of film-making are present. The weird dubbing zooms and creepy vocal music are all their and are very effective in creating the proper Euro Horror feel. The director Ferroni was very competent in this genre. It starts off with a bang of weird gore and settles into a slowly building story with a Wizz bang finale, with some of the most off the wall goofines I have ever seen in one of these types of films. It is Definitely worth the wait for the gore and mayhem at the end. The Vurdalak(witch/Vampire) theme is an underdone sub genre and is quite different than the usual Vampire conventions. The very foreign Yugoslavian setting is also a plus.Gianni Garko is quite effective as the lead and has the requisite chemistry to pull off his central role. He also creates sympathy which helps make this better than the average Italian gore movie. The children are also REALLY creepy and effective. Special kudos to Carlo Rambaldi(ET) for his effective 70's gore effects. This is available form Midnight Video in a Good quality widescreen transfer with slightly annoying Japanese subs. If you are a fan of atmospheric Euro horror this is a must have. A proper DVD release in the Future? I hope so.

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