Nude For Satan (1974, Review)
aka Nuda per Satana
Director: Luigi Batzella
Cast: Rita Calderoni, Stelio Candelli, James Harris, Renato Lupi
Redemption USA / Color / NTSC R1 / Unrated / Widescreen (1.85:1) / Dolby Digital Stereo / Italian & English (Dubbed) / English Subtitles / 82 mins / Purchase from DiabolikDVD.com
Dr. Benson is on his way to a remote insane asylum to work when he sees a young lady, Susan, have a car accident and she is knocked unconscious. He walks to the nearest dark, spooky, Gothic castle to get her help. When he arrives, he is met by a mysterious, creepy man dressed in all black with a black and red cape (that’s right, I said a “cape”). The man tells Benson to go inside where he is sure to find some help. All he finds when he enters is some weird goings-on, including meeting a woman that looks exactly like Susan except that she is dressed in old-fashioned clothes and thinks he is someone called “Peter”.
Susan awakens and walks herself up to the dark, spooky, Gothic castle and is greeted by the same caped creep. As soon as she goes in the castle, she too is confronted with all kinds of weirdness except she meets a man who looks just like Dr. Benson and thinks she is someone named “Evelyn”. The whole deal just gets weirder after Benson and Susan finally find each other. They confront their dopplegangers, get attacked by a HUGE(ly) fake spider and watch a servant girl get whipped. But all of that’s just the set-up for the Satanic “orgy” that consists of naked chicks appearing from smoking coffins and painted dudes in loin cloths. Are they dead and ended up in Hell? Is it a dream? Are they on a bad LSD trip?
To answer the latter, writer/director Luigi Batzella may have still been on some lysergic acid amide when he made this absurd Italian erotic horror film. To say that it is weird is an understatement. The story, while linear, is nearly impossible to decipher logically. The dreamlike, Gothic set-pieces make it all the more trippy. I have yet to see a Jean Rollin film, but from all that I have read, this sounds like the closest I have come. It’s hard to say that you like or dislike a movie like this (at least the first time you watch it), it’s more like you appreciate that absolutely insane vision it took to create it. And I do appreciate it.
The luscious leading lady, Calderoni from The Reincarnation of Isabel aka Black Magic Rites and Delirium is the best part of the flick. She has the boobs of a goddess almost on par with Christina Lindberg and can go from ravenous seductress to helpless victim in the same scene. Renato Lupi in his small role as the black-toothed butler is uproariously hammy and Harris as the Devil is over the top cheesy. There isn’t much gore or blood to speak of but what you will get your fill of is lots of female nudity, lesbianism, bizarre rituals and lots of “what the fuck is going on” fun.
I will warn you, if you are not a seasoned Italian horror fan of this period, you may not see the charm. If you know some of the ins-and-outs of the genre and time period, you know what to expect and won’t be bored and bewildered in some spots; lingering scenes of walking, running and looking, erratic zoom lens manipulation, non sequitur scenes that throw you out of any logical sense of story. It’s all here and daring you to watch. The Redemption disk looks great considering that the transfer is taken from the only surviving materials and the sound is free of any hissing or popping sometimes associated with aged film stock. Included in the extras is some trailers, a stills gallery, and a 25 minute documentary titled “Virgins and Vampires”.
