A bus load of tourists spend the night at an impressive Gothic castle, the home to Baron von Rhoneberg who has a family curse due to an ancestor making a pact with the Devil centuries before. The Baron also dabbles in alchemy, which doesn't add much to the plot but is a good excuse to have a laboratory complete with human skeleton, etc. Not long in and two young sexy members of the group indulge in some lesbian love making. This isn't particularly graphic. This is by no means a classic of European Gothic horror but it's still an enjoyable watch. There's plenty of creepy atmosphere, some gory deaths and a few beautiful young women in the cast, including the stunning Erika Blanc. Daniel Emilfork gives a great performance as Satan in human form, very creepy.

Gathering up Horror DVDs to list on Ebay,I spotted a Gothic Horror title starring Erica Blanc that my dad had recently picked up,which led to me getting ready to experience some devilish nightmares.Berlin 1945:As bombs fall around them,the wife of Baron von Rhoneberg dies in childbirth.Shortly after his wife dies,Rhoneberg kills their new born baby girl (talk about taking things easy for the viewer!)Years later:Planning to visit an erotic island,a group of tourists discover that they have missed the last cruise ship for the day.Searching round for a place to stay,the tourists run into a stranger on the road,who tells them that Rhoneberg may allow them to stay at his castle for the night.Met by Rhoneberg's butler Hans,they are invited in and shown to their bedrooms. Settling down,the tourists meet Rhoneberg over dinner,who decides to treat the guests to some folk tales involving his family,one of which claims that the family have made a deal with the devil,who turns the first Rhoneberg daughters into a Succubus.View on the film:Filmed in a real castle,director Jean Brismée and cinematographer André Goeffers lock the group in with tight winding shots,which along with displaying long corridors in the castle,also creates a smooth atmosphere of impending Gothic Horror doom.Whilst the camera goes a bit jumpy for the ghost/demon effects, Brismée makes up for it by treating the Succubus in a lavish manner,by matching the rotting special facial effects with a keen eye to show ever section of the Succubus naked flesh.Based around the 7 deadly sins,the screenplay by Pierre-Claude Garnier & Patrice Rhomm attempts to make each of the tourist a various sin.Whilst this idea does lead to some nice vicious deaths and a wonderfully jet-black comedic ending,the writers fail to connect any of the tourists to their particular sins,which leads to a long dry build up before the exposure of their original sins. Slithering across the screen, Erika Blanc gives a sizzling performance as Lisa Müller/the Succubus,thanks to Blanc making Lisa's nakedness being a powerful tool for dominance,as Lisa entwines herself around the tourists,and gives them all a devilish night.

THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE (1971; 93 minutes; Belgium/Italy) THE PLOT: Seven people are forced to spend the night in some eerie castle. The devil sends a succubus to kill each one that indulges in one or more of the seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy/jealousy and pride).COMMENTARY: Wow, this is a real hidden gem of Gothic horror. It has a great cast & story and was filmed in a real castle. The people and the sins they indulge in are as follows: Pride - Alvin, the Seminarian Envy - Corinne (the hot brunette), the collector of men Gluttony - Mr. Ducha, the Tour Driver Lust - Howard Foster, Corinne's last addition to her collection Anger - Mr. Mason, the constant complainer Greed - Nancy Foster, the gold seeking angry wife Sloth - Regine, the (hot) sleepy blonde Some, of course, are guilty of more than one main sin, such as: Nancy Foster, the angry wife: jealousy (although her husband gives her good reason to be jealous), envy (of the beauty of the other women) and anger (I don't think she smiles once, except when she's literally swimming in gold).Corinne: lust (lesbianism & adultery).Regine: lust (lesbianism).A handful of observations: If the bus driver was really THAT gluttonous wouldn't he be a lot heavier? (Like Fat Bast*** from Austin Powers).If Regine (the blond) were really THAT lazy how could she possibly have that ultra-hot body? Although the priest-in-training flirts with pride (listen to him during the chess match) and lust (for the redhead) he evidently never commits a mortal sin (or, if he does, he humbly & quickly repents rather than revel in it like the others).*** MINOR SPOILER ALERT *** Note that the seminarian willingly sacrifices himself to perdition to prevent the other six from being damned. This is an example of agape love and displays a Christ-like heart. Paul the apostle had the same spirit as evidenced in Romans 9:3. *** END SPOILER *** But doesn't Alvin know you can't make honest deals with the "father of lies"? No one can argue that the film glorifies the various negative behaviors because *** SPOILER ALERT *** they all end up dying for their sins. *** END SPOILER ***HIGHLIGHTS: As noted, the film features three incredibly gorgeous women -- a blond, brunette and redhead, no less. The succubus is the redhead, played by Erika Blanc. All three are voluptuous; each possessing a very distinctive beauty. (Their NATURAL curvy-ness is refreshing in comparison to too many modern American actresses who often appear nigh anorexic and artificial, if you know what I mean). It goes without saying that, if you have a lust problem, you might want to skip this one, especially in light of a fairly overt lesbian scene.Another highlight is Erika Blanc's subtle make-up as the succubus combined with her amazing ability to contort her face from stunningly sharp to utterly hideous. I almost never get frightened by horror films, but when Erika morphs into the succubus and hideously contorts her face, it's pretty chilling.TECHNICAL INFO: Some versions of the film have a tasteless porno-horror "intro" tacked on. This lengthy "intro" is not part of the original picture and simply has no business being there; in fact, it horribly mars it. No doubt it was tacked on by some latter-day producer in order to excite pre-pubescent boys ("Oooh, that's cooooool!"). The version featured with "Messiah of Evil" doesn't have this silly intro, but the sound quality isn't very good. I saw another version that has the intro but the sound quality was fine.FYI: The original title translated to English is "The Long Night of the Devil" or "The Devil's Longest Night." I feel the title "The Devil's Nightmare" is weak and much prefer another alternative title (used on the VHS): "The Devil Walks at Midnight." FINAL WORD: Since this is a European film from the early 70s it's understandably dated, dubbed and slow-paced. The viewer must keep this in mind to appreciate it. Many themes are touched upon: Does God exist? What about the devil and his demonic servants? Can he be trusted to make a deal with? (Yeah, right). Is there such a thing as sin? And, if so, what are its consequences? Another fascinating theme is human nature and the continual conflict between spiritual and carnal qualities with which we can all relate. The film also powerfully addresses the self-sacrificial nature of agape love.Make no mistake, this is a powerful piece of Gothic-horror cinema, perhaps even a masterpiece.The film runs 95 minutes and was shot at Château d'Antoing, Antoing, Hainault, Wallonia, Belgium.GRADE: A (keeping in mind its age and origins)

"La Plus Longue Nuit Du Diable" aka. "La Terrificante Notte Del Demonio" aka. "The Devil's Nightmare" of 1971 is an admittedly cheesy, but overall delicate piece of Eurohorror that no lover of Cult cinema should miss. Jean Brismées film has the overall reputation of being more or less a piece of crap, but while the plot is doubtlessly incoherent, the film profits from sinister characters, a macabre mood, a nice Gothic atmosphere, as well as some gore, sleaze and creepiness, and, last but not least the beautiful Erica Blanc in a genuinely demented role. The film starts out in the final days of Nazi Germany, when Baron Von Rhoneberg (Jean Servais) kills his newborn daughter after baptizing her - for unknown reasons. Two and a half decades later, a bus-load of tourists come to visit the Baron's castle. We learn that, 700 years before, an ancestor of the Baron's had made a pact with the devil, which resulted in every first-born Rhoneberg daughter becoming a Succubus, a female demon in service of the devil. And, apparently, the infanticide committed by the Baron years ago did not stop a devilish creature to come into existence... Erika Blanc is a stunning beauty, also in this film, but she looks creepy as hell as the Succubus. The most intense, creepiest moments in the film are those when she turns into the succubus, especially when she does so for the first time. I do not want to give too much away, but i can assure that these scenes alone make it worth watching the film. Blanc is best known to Horror fans for her roles in Mario Bava's 1966 masterpiece "Kill Baby... Kill!" (aka. "Operazione Paura") and Emilio Miraglia's Gothic Giallo "The Night Evelin Came Out Of The Grave" of 1971. This is another film a lover of European Horror/Exploitation cinema should not miss her in. Apart from Blanc, there are several other beautiful female cast members. Praise also goes to Daniel Emilfork - man, what a CREEPY-looking fellow! One would not want to run into this fellow by night, I can assure. "The Devil's Nightmare" is actually less sleazy than I expected it to be, with a rather small dose of occasional female nudity, sex and lesbianism. However, the film is as macabre as one could possibly hope, with loads of insanity, demented characters and a generous use of bizarre execution/murder devices. And, all the cheese aside, this also has quite a dose of creepiness All said, this is probably not the kind of film that will appeal to those who strictly fall for the "Citizen Kane" type of cinema, but all my fellow fans of demented Eurosmut should have a great time watching this. Highly recommended!