''The Devil's Nightmare'' (french: La plus longue nuit du diable, lit=The Devil's Longest Night, it, La terrificante notte del demonio, lit=The Terrifying Night of the Demon) is a 1971

supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...

directed by Jean Brismée and starring

Erika Blanc Enrica Bianchi Colombatto (born 23 July 1942), usually known by her stagename of Erika Blanc, is an Italian actress. Career Her most notable role was as the first fictional character Emmanuelle in ''A Man for Emmanuelle, Io, Emmanuelle'' (1969). ...

Jean Servais Jean Servais (; 24 September 1910 – 17 February 1976) was a Belgian film and stage actor. He acted in many 20th century French cinema productions, from the 1930s through the early 1970s. He was married to Gilberte Graillot, and later actr ...

Daniel Emilfork Daniel Emilfork (7 April 1924 – 17 October 2006) was a Chilean stage and film actor who made his career in France. Biography Emilfork was born in San Felipe, Chile after his Jewish socialist parents from Kiev fled a pogrom in Odessa. At a ...

, and

Lucien Raimbourg Lucien Raimbourg (1903–1973) was a French film, stage and television actor. He appeared in the original performance of Samuel Beckett's '' Waiting for Godot''.Blair p.421 Selected filmography * ''L'affaire est dans le sac'' (1932) - Le client ...

. Its plot follows a group of tourists who spend the night in a historic castle owned by a family plagued by

curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...

s and

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ...

ism.

Plot

Baron von Rhoneberg, a former World War II German general, sacrificed his daughter as the war ended. He did so because his family was placed under a terrible curse; the first-born female of every generation was to become a

succubus A succubus is a demon or supernatural entity in folklore, in female form, that appears in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. According to religious tradition, a succubus needs male semen to survive; repeated sexual activit ...

. Many years later, he tells the story to a reporter who wishes to write an article about it and take pictures of his castle. However, the Baron opposes any photographs being taken. Despite his protests, the young woman goes up to visit the castle and takes pictures but is killed when a dry thunderstorm suddenly rolls in while she is in close proximity to it. Her body is taken back to the town, where it is discovered she has a burn in the shape of a

cloven hoof A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. This is found on members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla. Examples of mammals that possess this type of hoof are cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, g ...

on her arm, which is confirmed as the Mark of the Devil. Sometime later, a group of tourists become stranded when the bridge they have to cross has been destroyed in a flood. They meet Satan in the guise of a strange-looking man who recommends that they take the ferry boat, but they arrive too late to catch the last ferry of the day. They are then directed to an old castle that offers room and board. When they arrive, one of the doors opens by itself, and a piece of the façade breaks off, nearly killing one of the tourists. Hans, the butler, greets them and shows them to their rooms, giving them a briefing of the history of three of the rooms, one of which bears the same cloven hoof mark on the floor tiles in front of the fireplace. After the guests have been accommodated to their rooms, Hans goes down to a laboratory basement and informs the Baron who is practicing alchemy. Over dinner, the Baron explains his family's history to his guests. His ancestor made a pact and sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his services. Satan demanded that the eldest daughter of each generation become a

. When asked if he ever had a daughter, he shakes his head no. A young woman named Lisa Müller also comes to stay at the castle and proceeds to seduce each tourist according to their own personal weaknesses, then kills them, using their own sin against them. Each tourist is a representative of one of the

Seven Deadly Sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

. Matt Ducard represents Gluttony and dies by choking to death while gorging on food and wine. Nancy dies representing Greed by drowning in a hidden treasure hoard of powdered gold. Howard, representing Envy, is killed when he is guillotined, and Corrine, embodying Lust, is murdered when she is trapped inside an iron maiden while they are in the middle of an adulterous tryst. Short-tempered old Mr. Mason represents Wrath and dies when he is thrown out of a window and is impaled on an iron fence below. Regine dies as Sloth when a snake kills her in her sleep. Only the seminarian, Alvin Sorelle as Pride, seems immune to Lisa's seductive charms. When six of the seven tourists are dead, Satan appears to Alvin. Alvin offers his soul if Satan returns the dead tourists to life, to which Satan agrees. The next morning, Alvin awakes to find that the dead tourists have indeed been returned to life as though the previous night's events never happened and are having breakfast before they set out to continue their trip. Even Alvin himself remembers it as only a dream. The Baron is wounded that morning in a fencing accident with Hans, and Alvin waits with him for an ambulance. The Baron confesses to Alvin that he lied; he did have a daughter and killed her in her cradle. After a conversation with Martha, the housekeeper, Alvin learns that the child the Baron stabbed was not the succubus. Lisa is Martha's daughter from an affair with the Baron's brother, Rudolph von Rhoneberg, and Lisa is the eldest daughter. Alvin dismisses Martha's claims that Lisa is subsequently a succubus. Alvin chooses to remain at the castle with Lisa while the other tourists go on. As Alvin and Lisa watch the tour bus heading back to the main road, the bus suddenly swerves to miss a funeral wagon driven by Satan and goes over a cliff, killing everyone aboard. Alvin enfolds Lisa in his arms. Lisa and Satan smile at each other, knowing they have claimed their souls once again.

Cast

Release

''The Devil's Nightmare'' was released theatrically in Belgium on 14 November 1971. In the United States, the film was acquired by

Hemisphere Pictures Hemisphere Pictures was a film production and distribution company that specialised in movies from the Philippines. More information is available at '' Kane W. Lynn''. Filmography * Terror Is a Man (1959) * The Walls of Hell (1964) * Moro Witc ...

, who released it regionally in October 1972, with

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollersk ...

screenings in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

. In England, the film was released on 27 December 1972. The film was released in the United States again in 1974, screening as part of a triple-feature in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

with '' In the Devil's Garden'' (1971) and ''

The Devil's Wedding Night ''The Devil's Wedding Night'' ( it, Il plenilunio delle vergini, lit=Full Moon of the Virgins) is a 1973 Italian horror film. Plot Two rival brothers are looking for the magic ring of the Nibelungen, a mystical jewel that confers all power to th ...

'' (1973). It had several

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to t ...

s in English-speaking territories, including ''The Devil Walks at Midnight'', ''Succubus'', ''Vampire Playgirls'', ''Satan's Playthings'', and ''Castle of Death''.

Critical reception

Author Howard Hughes described it as an apparently cheaply produced but "effective modern gothic". On the other hand, Allmovie wrote the film "is steeped in spooky atmosphere", but "has little else to offer." Linda Gross of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' noted that the "succuba is well played by beautiful Erika Blanc, who looks a lot like

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hammer ...

," adding that the film's makeup is "outstanding."

Home media

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

released ''The Devil's Nightmare'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in 1998 under their "Redemption" series. Mondo Macabro issued a

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

of the film in 2019 featuring a new 2K restoration.

Related works

Novelization

The film's screenwriter Patrice Rondard, who frequently used the pseudonym Patrice Rhomm for his literary and cinema industry work, also wrote a novelization entitled ''Au service du Diable.'' The 216-page French language paperback was published by Galliera in April, 1971 to coincide with the film's European theatrical release. Galliera issued the book as the first volume in their ''Bibliothèque de l'étrange'' (Strange Library) series, and it features a full color illustration on the paper cover depicting

and

as their respective characters that is moderately different from the artwork used for theatrical release posters.

Remake

Dave Zagorski filmed a remake in 2012 under the Mad Z Productions banner (the US remake of the film). Devanny Pinn and Seregon O'Dassey starred in the film.Teaser Trailer and First Details on Mad Z Productions' The Devil's Nightmare
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References

Sources

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Devils Nightmare 1970s French-language films 1970s Italian films 1970s supernatural horror films 1971 films 1971 horror films 1971 LGBT-related films Belgian horror films Belgian LGBT-related films Films scored by Alessandro Alessandroni Films set in castles Films set in West Germany French-language Belgian films Italian haunted house films Italian supernatural horror films LGBT-related horror films Seven deadly sins in popular culture Succubi in film The Devil in film