I don't know why it is, but time after time I find that European horror films possess something that their American and British counterparts don't. This something is a certain artistic flair or style which make the films fun and interesting to watch, even when the genre is not at its best. I don't know if it's down to the directors, or cameramen, or what, but I do know that it makes these films some of my favourites.The setting for these films - most are from Italy or Spain - is invariably a decrepit castle or mansion, full of twisting, gloomy corridors and cobwebs, and with sinister servants lurking in the background with warnings of death. This film is no different, yet presents the action in a unique and fresh way. The plots may always be the same, but you know there are going to be little things that are new and different. These are the little touches which I love - in this film, the mark of Satan, which is found on people and on the floors of the guest rooms.The cast is full of clichéd and stereotyped characters who we all know and recognise only minutes after seeing them. There's the overweight man who always seems to be eating, the young attractive women, and the handsome, yet wooden, heroes. In this case the main hero is an up-and-coming vicar, and he couldn't be more stiff if he tried. Of course, the acting does seem stilted and amateurish, not helped by the fact that we never hear the actors or actresses say their own lines as they're dubbed. This is not important though. What is important is the way in which the film retains the viewer's interest.THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE takes a long time in introducing the various characters, and showing their personalities, before dispatching them in various assorted ways. It actually attempts a little atmosphere-building, too, something which I always welcome in a film. We get to know and understand the people before they die. Cynics would say that this slow build up is nothing but an excuse for some gratuitous nudity, and they wouldn't be wrong: one lesbian encounter lasts for almost ten minutes. The other exploitation standby, gore, is used surprisingly sparingly in this film, and all we are offered to is a shot of a bloody severed head, some blood running over floors, and a dead cat which has been unceremoniously impaled on some spikes.A lot of humour comes from watching the reactions of characters to various things, such as when they find the corpse of the cat and couldn't care less about what it's doing there! The deaths, when they do eventually come, are nothing spectacular, but at least they're all varied and therefore interesting. They're supposedly based on the seven deadly sins, but this basis is fairly loose. One woman is bitten by a snake, a man is decapitated by a guillotine, a woman steps into an iron maiden, another man falls from a high window and is impaled, a woman is suffocated in a pile of gold dust and a glutton chokes on a banquet. Erika Blanc, who plays the succubus in the film, is rather good, and undergoes a complete change in appearance after each death occurs. This is done by changing the colour of her lipstick, putting a bit of shadow around her eyes and with her pulling a distorted expression, these subtle differences make a very effective and disturbing-looking woman.The ending of the film is very strange. At first it appears to be a cop-out, one of those "it was all just a dream" type endings, but then there are a couple of new twists which I won't spoil, except to say they're unexpected. A weird gangly guy lurks around in a black suit and turns out to be the Devil, collecting the souls of people who have sinned, and using the succubus as his slave. This man's presence is atypical and gives the film an arty slant which adds interest. THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE may not be a particularly good film but it contains enough different ingredients to make it worthwhile for any fan.

When a film starts out with a German officer stabbing a newborn baby to death, you know you're in for something special. The Devil's Nightmare is an Italian movie, and a good one at that, so you can expect loads of atmosphere, surrealism, and of course nudie love scenes. Wahey!Turns out our baby stabber is part of a curse family who's oldest daughter always turns out to be a succubus, and we flash forward about 30 years to his castle, where a bunch of tourists have just turned up. There's the always eating bus driver, the gold-obsessed wife and cheating husband, the old guy, two lesbian lovers, and a priest. After a lengthy and welcome love scene between our two girls, everybody settles down to show the audience how awful they are before Erika Blanc shows up for dinner. It's no spoiler to say that our Erika is a succubus and immediately starts messing with the tourist's minds. No one can get out of the castle and a stabbed cat is found in the attic. Erika starts killing everyone in a way that represents the seven deadly sins: gluttony, lust, avarice etc. This kind of sounds boring, but for some reason Erika Blanc can turn from being a Euro babe to resembling a cadaver, and it's all a bit on the creepy and weird side. Who will survive?Apart from the creepy atmosphere, the thing I liked about this film was how when I thought I had it pegged (i.e. I thought the remainder of the film would involve Blanc stalking the survivors) the film took a quick left turn when the devil himself showed up! Throw in a couple of more twists and you've got a pretty effective, weird horror that could only have come from the seventies. Good soundtrack too!

What exactly would be considered a nightmare for the devil? Would it be going to heaven perhaps? Regardless of the confusing title The Devil's Nightmare has nothing to do with Satan's lack of sleep rather it concerns a family curse in the Von Rhoneberg bloodline which condemns the firstborn daughter to an existence as a Succubus. After the Baron sacrificed his daughter following the death of his wife during World War II he retires to the family castle where he studies alchemy in the basement. The story picks up some thirty years later as seven travelers become sidetracked by a road closure and are guided to the Von Rhoneburg castle to stay the night. Upon arrival they are each given rooms where the begin to act in the manner of whatever deadly sin is assigned to them, i.e. gluttony constantly stuffs his face, sloth is always sleeping etc. One of the seven happens to be a priest, which sin he represents I have no idea, who is wary of Lisa, another unannounced guest, who seems intent on corrupting the man of God. Turns out Lisa is a Succubus who dispatches the guests in the very act that defines each character. At least it starts that way as the glutton is fed a poisoned meal and the greedy woman is drowned in gold dust which if I'm not mistaken is what happened to Scrooge McDuck on the series finale of Ducktales. When the priest refuses the sexual advances of the Succubus, I would have failed in the first minute, he has to not only battle her but the Devil himself who more resembles a dying cancer patient rather than the living embodiment of evil.At least Devil's Nightmare knows how to keep your attention as it features plenty of scantily clad women while the meandering storyline ratchets up the action. One of these tactics is a lesbian tryst between two of the doomed guests when the gorgeous blond refuses to sleep alone. Plots and story lines give way to bras and panties which I'm not complaining. What saves this film from the countless other Eurotrash horror movies is the performance of Erika Blanc as Lisa the Succubus. While either in her seductive form complete with her tight, flesh baring dress or the pale skinned monster herself Blanc absolutely commands every scene she's in. The makeup used to mark her darker side, while not much, is still pretty effective as she switches between sexy vixen and fearsome beast. My one complaint is taking away the main trait of the Succubus which is the loss of life via the act of sexual intercourse. Erika Blanc screwing to death the guests would have made a better film in my opinion. Still, this is one of the better Gothic horror movies with the right amount of sleaze and gore to keep you interested. Should of been called the Devil's Wet Dream.

The movie is about seven tourists who must spend the night in a creepy castle, because of bad weather. There, the owner tells them that a family curse preys upon the mansion. In the middle of the night, when they're having dinner, a strange woman appears (Erika Blanc). And here's when the movie starts to get real good. Sorry, no more spoilers. Watch the movie by yourself to find out what's going on.This was a nice revelation! I wasn't really expecting much of it, but was pleasantly surprise. It's creepy and well made. The story is very original, the music is spectacular, there's a good amount of nudity as well (sorry, no Erika), and the steamy lesbian sequence is sure to please the sleaze crowd. The direction could have been better though (the camera work was sometimes too flashy and messy) and the acting (aside from the excellent Blanc) was very bad. A special mention deserves the excellent make-up Erika had when she played the succubus. Very well made and chilling.A nice piece of Euro horror that gets a 8/10 from me.