There are roughly 18,262 days in a 50-year period. Thus, I would have to say that the odds of twin brothers Karl and Franz Schiller, in the 1978 Eurosleaze horror flick "The Devil's Wedding Night," arriving at the castle of Countess Dolingen de Vries in Transylvania on the one night in 50 years when village virgins are sacrificed is, well, 18,262 to 1. Still, the viewer can well imagine on which night they DO arrive: that's right, the Night of the Virgin Moon! In their quest for Wagner's legendary Ring of the Nibelungen, which gives its owner almost limitless powers, the brothers (well played, I suppose, by Mark Damon) run afoul of not only the beautiful vampiric countess, but her castleful of zombie retainers, as well. In the role of the countess we have the perfect 10 Eurobabe Rosalba Neri (here called Sara Bay, for some reason), an actress who I only recently became enamored of after admiring her performance as the doomed nymphomaniac in 1971's "Slaughter Hotel." Rosalba, though a talented thespian (and, in this film, lesbian) and much more than just a gorgeous face, nonetheless still looks incredible here, especially when streaked with blood and rising out of a steaming vat. She easily flaps away with the film. But there are still other, modest pleasures to be had here, in a film that ultimately comes off as sleazy shlock. Like another Italian film that I recently saw, 1960's "Mill of the Stone Women," "The Devil's Wedding Night" features a disorienting, drug-induced, psychedelic freakout sequence that comes roughly halfway in. Director Luigi Batzella and composer Vasili Kojucharov's contributions do create a film with some creepy atmosphere, and for all you hound dogs out there, the five virgins that are called to the castle, stripped and butchered are quite a toothsome lot. In all, certainly not a classic or even very good film, but still fun. Unfortunately, this DVD from Shout Factory showcases a very damaged-looking print that is only just barely watchable, and with no extras to speak of other than some snide comments from Elvira. Even this sleazy piece of Eurohorror deserves a better treatment!
Review of The Devil's Wedding Night
