The Devil's Nightmare
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''The Devil's Nightmare'' (, ) is a 1971
supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of supernatural film and horror 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 Erika Blanc (born Enrica Bianchi Colombatto; 23 July 1942) is an Italian actress. Career Her most notable role was as the first fictional character Emmanuelle in '' Io, Emmanuelle'' (1969). Blanc starred in several cult European horror films, ...
,
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 actress Dominique Blanchar (1952 ...
,
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 ...
, 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 m ...
. 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, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...
ism.


Plot

Baron von Rhoneberg, a former
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
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 female demon who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity, a bond forming between them, ...
. 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. Members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla that possess this type of hoof include cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, goats, and sheep. The two digits ...
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
succubus A succubus () is a female demon who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity, a bond forming between them, ...
. 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) function as a grouping of major vices within the teachings of Christianity. In the standard list, the seven deadly sins according to the Catholic Church are pride, greed ...
. 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. He uses his cross to burn her face, causing her to retreat. At that point, Satan appears and tells Lisa that he will take care of Alvin. Satan follows Alvin to the chapel, where Alvin finds sanctuary. The devil says he will wait for him. Alvin offers him a bargain instead: He says Satan can have his soul if he releases the souls of his travelling companions. Satan agrees, and gives Alvin a contract to sign. Using a dagger, he cuts a cross in his wrist and uses the blood to sign the contract, which immediately bursts into flames. The next morning, Alvin awakes to find that the dead tourists eating breakfast before they set out to continue their trip, as though the previous night's events had never happened. Alvin tells them he had a dream about a succubus. The Baron is then wounded in a fencing accident with Hans, and Alvin waits with him for an ambulance. The Baron confesses to Alvin that he had 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, saying that there is no such thing as a succubus. Alvin chooses to remain at the castle with Lisa while the other tourists go on. However, when he visits the chapel again, he sees the burnt remains of the contract along with the blood-stained dagger. 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. Lisa thrusts herself into Alvin's arms. Lisa and Satan smile at each other as her and Alvin's embrace becomes sensual.


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. Filmography * Terror Is a Man (1959) * The Walls of Hell (1964) * Moro Witch Doctor (1964) * The Ravagers (1965) * Brides o ...
, who released it regionally in October 1972, with
drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or Drive-in theater, movie theater) where one can driving, drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by ...
screenings in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and
Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, 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 United States Census ...
. In England, the film was released on 5 November 1972. The film was released in the United States again in 1974, screening as part of a triple-feature in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
with '' In the Devil's Garden'' (1971) and '' The Devil's Wedding Night'' (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 the ...
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 AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...
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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' noted that the "succuba is well played by beautiful Erika Blanc, who looks a lot like
Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch (; September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023) was an American actress. Welch first gained attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her con ...
," 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 ki ...
in 1998 under their "Redemption" series. Mondo Macabro issued a
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
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
Erika Blanc Erika Blanc (born Enrica Bianchi Colombatto; 23 July 1942) is an Italian actress. Career Her most notable role was as the first fictional character Emmanuelle in '' Io, Emmanuelle'' (1969). Blanc starred in several cult European horror films, ...
and
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 ...
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

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devils Nightmare 1970s French-language films 1970s Italian films 1970s supernatural horror films 1971 films 1971 horror films 1971 LGBTQ-related films Belgian horror films Belgian LGBTQ-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 LGBTQ-related horror films Seven deadly sins in popular culture Succubi in film The Devil in film Films about curses