By no means a top notch Gothic horror but it is colourful and eventful, has the wondrous, Rosalba Neri and a cast of lovelies, all pretty keen to strip down. The ever effective Mark Damon, here plays a pair of twins with some silly mission involving a big red ring, worn throughout the film, of course by the vampiric countess (Neri) in some style. Indeed Neri is perfect in this role of the majestic yet deadly, beautiful but cruel lady of the night. Apart from the nonsense story there are one or two too many scenes of Damon on horseback or searching through corridors, but there are also such stylish set pieces, mainly involving blood and flesh, that it would be churlish to complain. Great title and if not expertly executed, certainly entertaining enough.

Two brothers searching in Transylvania for the legendary 'Ring of Nibelungen' fall under the spell of the sexy and evil Countess De Vries(Rosalba Neri)who uses the ring to attract the local virgins to her foreboding castle where they fall victim to her bloody rituals.This soft core piece of Italian erotica offers plenty of sleaze and nudity.Rosalba Neri is the convincing bloodsucker that spends much of the film in an advanced state of undress.In one memorable scene the Countess writhes around in a coffin in the pink while the faithful maid slowly pours a pitcher of fresh virgin blood over her naked body.Unfortunately the action is quite dull and there is almost no suspense.Still if you like lesbian vampire movies you can give it a look.7 out of 10.

A 19th century version of Indian Jones goes looking for a Ring of Vermougglian of Wagnerian legend in Castle Dracula in Transylvania!(While he's at it he might also look around for the mythical South American city of El Dorado). He stays at an inn at a nearby town and finds out from the attractive innkeeper's daughter that once every year during the full moon the town sends five virgin sacrifices to the mysterious inhabitants of the castle (thus the Italian title of this movie). After briefly pausing to help the innkeeper's daughter with her virginity problem, he heads to the castle. (The guy has an amulet which supposedly protects him from all evil, but in an act of unbelievable stupidity he leaves it at the inn). He meets the inhabitants of the castle-- Countess Dracula (Rosalba Neri) and her sinister lesbian servant. He quickly forgets about the Ring of Vermougghlian (being obviously more interested in Aureolas of Neri) and winds up sealed in a coffin and turned into a vampire for his trouble. Then just when you think the movie couldn't get any stupider his identical twin brother shows up for some reason. . .This movie like "Death Smiles at Murder", "The Reincarnation of Isabel" and the director's more famous "Nude for Satan" was made at a time when the Italian Gothic horror films of the 1960's had pretty much completely sunk into blood-drenched and sex-fueled delirium. Most of these other movies were content to have no coherent plot at all; this one instead just has a really stupid one. The main attraction here, of course, is the numerous nude scenes by Rosalba Neri and the sequence where the five virgins are sacrificed (which, of course, involves each of them being stripped naked and stabbed to death by the lesbian servant). A professional critic I once read describes the famous scene where blood is poured on on Neri's nude, writhing body as "pretty unappealing". While I would never use the words "Rosalba Neri", "writhing, nude body" and "unappealing" in the same sentence, she is pretty much wasted here. Neri was a great actress when given a chance and this could have been a memorable role for her (like the famous Erica Blanc role in the similar "The Devil's Nightmare"), but this movie is just too stupid and ham-handedly executed. For what it's worth Neri's "blood bath" is longer and much more erotic than the one Ingrid Pitt takes in "Countess Dracula" (which no doubt inspired the one here). Die-hard flesh hounds at least won't be disappointed. I can't really recommend this to anyone else though.

Il Plenlunio delle vergini (THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT) is probably only interesting as a late example of Italian Gothic horror. By 1973 most Italian horror films were following in the footsteps of Alfred Hitchcock and Argento's giallos (eg. THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE, 1970), including those of the original gothic filmmakers, Riccardo Freda (THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE, 1971) and Mario Bava (HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON, 1970 and BAY OF BLOOD, 1971). Also of interest to cult and horror film buffs, the film was photographed by Italy's (probably inferior) equivalent of Jess Franco, Joe D'Amato. Other than that, this film has little to recommend for it. The photography is a mediocre homage to NOSFERATU, the sets pale in comparison to those of earlier gothic horror films (for example, Bava's BLACK SUNDAY), the story is dull and inconsistent, the nude scenes are neither necessary nor particularly erotic, and the atmosphere is less-than-spooky when it isn't unintentional comical. They don't make 'em like this anymore, and we should be thankful for it.