The Devil's Nightmare

This is one of your better Italian Gothic horror films (maybe they should have done more co-productions with Belgium). The simple plot concerns a group of travelers who end up stranded in an eerie castle. The travelers supposedly represent the Seven Deadly Sins (although after "lust", "gluttony", and "greed" I kind of lost track of who was supposed to be who). They are picked off one by one by a sexy female succubus played by the sumptuous Erica Blanc. There have been a million movies like this over the years, but two things set this apart. One is the atmosphere of horror it creates. This film wasn't directed by any of the Italian Gothic horror greats like Mario Bava, Antonio Marghereti, or Riccardo Freda but it evokes their best works ("Black Sunday", "Castle of Blood", "The Ghost"). The second though is Erica Blanc who manages to be both very sexy and very scary (the latter with the help of some good effect make-up). Interestingly, Blanc has only some very brief nude scenes here, but she plays such a seductive and deliciously evil character so well (especially when she preys upon the hapless priest) that she manages to steam up the screen far more than the two Euro-lesbian characters who spend half their screen time cavorting in the nude. Along with her famous coffin strip tease in "The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave" this one of Blanc's most memorable roles and worth the price of admission by itself. It's also a pretty good movie though.

Sexy Erika Blanc famous from Mario Bava's "Kill Baby Kill" and Emilio Miraglia's "The Night Evelyn Came Out from the Grave" plays a seductress and succubus who spends the night in a Gothic castle along with seven unfortunate tourists,some weird servants and a cursed Baron von Rhoneberg.With the use of the Seven Deadly Sins as a motive,she will kill all that are in the castle.Here is where the fun kicks in,as we are witness to several creative deaths ala guillotine,drowning in gold,gluttony poisoning,iron maiden,falling on spikes,etc."The Devil's Nightmare" offers some nudity plus pretty steamy lesbian scene.The killings are fun and Erica Blanc is dressed in one of the sexiest evening outfits in the history of Eurohorror.The stunning cinematography by Andre Goeffers perfectly captures the majestique of the Gothic castle.7 out of 10.

A neat little Belgian-Italian horror flick brimming with atmosphere. Complete with a kinky wardrobe, Erika Blanc is perfect as Lisa Miller, the succubus. She displays supreme sensuality in her "normal" guise, then transforms into a murderous demon with such face-pulling, over-the-top relish that your skin will crawl. If she's not enough, Daniel Emilfork is on hand to complete things as a corpselike vision of the devil. The deaths are creative and brutal, the Gothic castle is very creepy, and the ending has a shock-twist that you'll never see coming. Julie sings the haunting theme song, which will stick with you long after the picture is over. The only debit is the moralizing angle, which is faintly offensive, but can be overlooked in light of everything else. Very well done on a small budget and beautifully photographed in wonderfully cheap, grainy color.

I saw this movie on videotape under the title Succubus. This tape is an absolute mess--videoburned title, scenes trimmed, scenes out of order toward the end--and should be avoided. It turns a fun, entertaining Euro-horror into a throughly frustrating experience.

Trivia: Though it was released in Europe in 1971, this film did not hit the U.S. until 1974, when Hemisphere released it as Devil's Nightmare to coattail The Exorcist.

I found this movie when I was shopping at Sam Goody. It was on the Nightmares From the Crypt boxed set. What I expected was a crappy, badly dubbed 70s horror film. Instead, I watched a beautifully photographed, and demented horror film. I LOVED the music score! It was absolutely riveting! It managed to build up an atmosphere of dread and foreboding. The lady who played the succubus was just stunning, and the make-up she wore and her performance frightened me. I didn't care too much for the other characters in the film, however. They just seemed one-dimensional and cardboard. I recommend anyone who has respect for Eurohorror films to pick this up, it's quite a rare treat. However, keep this one away from the young ones. It's features a few sexual scenes that were "bold" for it's time, and some disturbing death scenes. Check it out. 9/10.

I saw this as one of 10 horror films on a collection from brentwood DVD called;fright night,its an awesome collection of fright films.anyway the devils nightmare is a Belgium/Italian made shocker about a group of tourists(each one represents one of the 7 deadly sins)they get stranded at the castle of an ex Nazi officer.there's a family curse,gruesome murders,lots of nudity(surprising for 1971)and a very good soundtrack. I'm usually a sucker for good European horror movies especially with the sexy beautiful Erika blanc,who starred in many Italian horror films.sort of like a rival of Barbara Steele.the murders are very gruesome.the dubbing is sloppy but thats expected.i saw this years ago on the USA cable network,of course it was chopped up by the censors. it was hosted by commander USA.who used to show very strange movies. watch the uncut version for the full effect.ignore the critics because most of them dismissed this film as junk.you be the judge.believe me its kind of scary.8 out of 10,Erika blanc gets 10 out of 10 because she was hot.