Black Magic Rites (1973, Review)
aka Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento
aka Black Magic Rites & the Secret Orgies of the 14th Century
aka The Reincarnation of Isabel
aka The Ghastly Orgies of Count Dracula
Director: Renato Polselli
Cast: Mickey Hargitay, Rita Calderoni, Moschera Consolata, Christa Barrymore
Redemption / NTSC R1 / Unrated / 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen / Dolby Digital 2.0 Italian / Subtitles: English / 93 minutes / Purchase from DiabolikDVD.com
I have seen some crazy movies. I have even seen some completely insane, inexplicable and just plain weird movies. But nothing I have been subjected to thus far has readied me for writer/director Renato Polselli‘s madness in Black Magic Rites. I reviewed his incredibly sordid and violent slasher Delirium not long ago but not even that could have prepared me for this sublimely artistic, sexy and satanic Euro-sleaze. The closest film I can think of that even comes close to the absurdity on parade here is Luigi Batzella’s Nude for Satan. But even that doesn’t hold a candle to this madness.
From what I can gather, Jack and his stepdaughter Laureen move into an old “cursed” castle that is also inhabited by a satanic weirdo and his even weirder sidekick “Gerg”. They have a party to celebrate the stepdaughter’s pending nuptials to a local guy and that’s when the weirdness starts. Jack begins to have visions or dreams about a woman, Isabella, who looks exactly like Laureen being burned at the stake for being a witch. And during the party, the women begin to disappear. All of them being attacked by satanic “vampires” who capture them and take them to the basement dungeon to sacrifice them to resurrect Isabella.
That is really all I could get out of it. It was very confusing and there was so much going on visually. Polselli is either the most inept filmmaker I have ever seen or a cinematic genius. His visuals are so rich and colorful that it’s hard to look away. His sets are, for the most part, up to the par of a high school stage show, but somehow he makes the goings-on so enthralling that you don’t really care. Colored lights, stage smoke, spotlights – they all sound like hokey, low budget, amateurish crap, but he somehow pulls it off and makes it his own. The costumes, especially those of the satanic revelers and the nightgown clad hotties, are very dreamy and unforgettable.
He also assembled one of the best casts I have ever seen. Not only did Polselli bring Mr. Jane Mansfield, Mickey Hargitay, the smoking hot Rita Calderoni and Christa Barrymore back together from Delirium, but he castthrough some of the most breathtaking Euro-babes I can remember. Stefania Fassio in particular as the eccentric and ditzy “Stephy” is yummy to say the least. And the best part is, they are nude – or at least topless – for the majority of the movie. Or my favorite, in see-, flowing nightgowns. But aside from the flesh parade, the always deranged looking Hargitay and the Donald Pleasence look-alike, Marcello Bonini Olas who plays “Gerg” are stand-outs.
This movie was thought lost until Redemption got a hold of it and released it to the masses at first as The Reincarnation of Isabella, and now Black Magic Rites – shorted from Black Magic Rites & the Secret Orgies of the 14th Century, both of which serve the film well. The anamorphic transfer looks awesome and really allows the LSD inspired colors to come through. The sound is also tight and clean and the funky soundtrack comes through nicely. The disk is short on extras – just stills and the original trailer – but with a movie like this, extras would just ruin the experience in my opinion. The less I know about a movie like this, the better. The mystery makes it more odd and original.
