La notte dei diavoli

Considering that I only acquired a major affinity for "Euro-Cult" fare following my attendance of the "Italian Kings Of The B" retrospective first held during the 2004 Venice Film Festival, it is small wonder that I had been largely underwhelmed by what I sampled from this particular fount of movie lore beforehand; curiously enough, among these had been two distinct adaptations of Tolstoy's "The Wurdulak", namely an episode in Mario Bava's omnibus BLACK SABBATH (1963) and the picture under review!

Being about to revisit the former on account of Bava's recent centenary, I opted to re-acquaint myself with Ferroni's feature-length version as well – having already done similar duty with two films based on the same tale (also Russian in origin) which had inspired Bava's BLACK Sunday (1960). Incidentally, in my comments relating to the Maestro's take on "I Wurdulak", I had surmised about how padded Ferroni's rendition would be in comparison: however, he works around this factor, so to speak, admirably by updating the plot to our times (while retaining the essential Gothic feel and, thus, accentuating its inherent eeriness!) and bookending it with scenes inside a clinic, to where the disoriented protagonist (in this case, Gianni Garko) had been taken after barely escaping with his life from the clutches of the undead family unit at the core of the narrative.

There is no doubt that Ferroni had watched Bava's version – as its numerous shots of characters peering ominously through windows can attest – yet he opts to dilate what is perhaps its most chilling moment (the 'afflicted' child pleading with his mother to be sheltered from the cold, dark night and the woman being unable to resist her instincts lets him in, despite knowing full well that her offspring had just been laid down into the ground!) by having the mother merely go out to look for her in this case!! Other elements which tend not to work here are: the personification of the witch (who is the cause of the hero's getting stranded in the quasi-deserted Yugoslavian village to begin with!) and her face-off with the patriarch (himself – though reasonably authoritative – clearly no match for horror icon Boris Karloff, his counterpart in BLACK SABBATH) whose resolution is, thankfully, still left ambiguous; also, the fact that the family members get all giggly when, as vampires, they descend en masse upon the beleaguered Garko. That said, his somewhat hysterical characterization is poles apart from that of Mark Damon in the original – who remains decidedly (and, perhaps, unrealistically) cool throughout his ordeal! Even so, while there is a poignancy to Garko's murder of Agostina Belli – who he had thought had joined the vampiric ranks and was now seeking to add the hero to their fold in view of her feelings towards him (and suggesting how psychologically scarred he had been by the whole experience) – the sequence is rather clumsily handled overall, as the girl should have made it immediately apparent to him that she had not 'turned'!

The passage of nearly a decade between versions allowed for greater emphasis this time around on gory make-up effects; indeed, I recall having counted the film's entire ghoulish vibe (appropriate though it may be) as a drawback upon first viewing! Incidentally, even if I had long bemoaned my erasing of that preliminary copy, I realize now – via a side-by-side comparison of two prints floating about (another one, which I also own, is English-dubbed, subtitled in Japanese and has its few moments of nudity digitally-covered!) – that it was missing a surreal nightmare sequence at the very start!! By the way, director Ferroni – whose penultimate work this proved to be and whom I learned, from the accompanying Gianni Garko interview, was virtually deaf! – had previously helmed a key entry in the Italian Gothic Horror canon, i.e. MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN (1960). Interestingly, too, he died on my 5th birthday (17th August) in 1981…a date also shared by the original Italian release of BLACK SABBATH itself!

An amnesiac man, haunted by memories of torture, is undergoing a rigorous psychiatric assessment after he was found wandering, dishevelled, close to the Italian border.

The medical team are trying to figure out who this man is, and what exactly happened to him. When suddenly, a mysterious woman shows up claiming the man's name is Nicola and that he works as a lumber importer. She says she hardly knows him, but when she confronts the man...he freaks out...before she seemingly disappears without a trace.

The memories of the man start to seep back to him in a flashback. It turns out he isn't an amnesiac at all. Rather, someone who has had an experience so traumatic, that all prior memories have become repressed- causing him to slip into a state of madness. Though, one that just may be warranted in his particular case...

He recalls taking a short cut through the woods and getting his car stuck on a stump after crashing it in an attempt to avoid a woman- who also just disappears after.

In an attempt to find help, he recalls wandering through the woods, where he happens upon a family of backwoods hick-types. They agree to help him...but not until the morning. They invite him inside, before proceeding to tightly bar all doors and windows...to protect themselves from what lurks outside at night.

It turns out that the family is being tormented by a cursed witch- actually a varadluk (or vampire). This woman had recently targeted the head of the family's brother- forcing them to euthanize him with a wooden stake to the heart.

Nicola has a hard time believing what he is being confronted with, but has- by this point- fallen deeply in love with one of the young women in the family- Sdenka.

After witnessing the disappearance and murder of more family members (while still suffering from cognitive dissonance), Nicola decides to flee for help- asking Sdenka to join him. But she cannot leave her family behind under the circumstances, so she requests that he return for her...and not go to the police, in the meantime.

He quickly discovers that the local townspeople are of no help (they suggest he forget about it). So, he returns to fetch Sdenka. Only to discover it's too late. So late, in fact...he has to fight and flee just to escape with his own life! An experience which has rendered him into his current psychological state.

Apparently Sdenka is the mysterious woman who suddenly shows up at the hospital, requesting to see him. Hence why he goes all crazy in her presence...knowing she has come back for the one she loves...him.

But is he truly a victim of a supernatural reality? Or is it all in his head?

While relatively basically constructed, this is a rather enjoyable vampire flick. The atmosphere is quite mysterious. And I love how the writers exploit a loophole in the legend to propagate the curse. The vampires- while simple- are quite freaky...particularly the children. There are some great traditional special effects thrown in there too. Older vampire films are so much better than the modern incarnations because simple just works better sometimes. As this film is a testament to.

6.5 out of 10

A great, obscure Italian gem from the 70's, directed by Giorgio Ferroni, "Mill of the Stone Women". It's based on the same story as the "Wurdalack" segment of Mario Bava's "Black Sabbath", and I consider to be about on the same level of the latter. It's much more mean-spirited and darker than Bava's version, and while it may not be as elegant and subtly creepy, this one is quite frightening and suffocatingly atmospheric in it's own right, with some surprisingly haunting and disturbing set pieces. The characters and the story were much better developed, and unlike "Black Sabbath", I actually cared for them. The actors also did a pretty good job, with some solid performances. Still, I thought the violence and nudity came off as gratuitous and were not really necessary, and Carlo Rambaldi's special effects didn't age very well, specially compared to his other works. Nevertheless, Ferroni's stylish direction and Georgio Gaslini's eerie, melancholic score more than make up for it's flaws. I also loved how the film is slow paced, but never gets boring, always keeping the viewers on the edge of their seats.

NIGHT OF THE DEVILS opens with a wandering man named Nicola (Gianni Garko) being taken to a mental institution after a traumatic event. From his hospital bed, Nicola recalls what happened to him through flashbacks.

After almost hitting someone, Nicola leaves his damaged car, only to stumble upon a house in the forest. Upon meeting the family that lives there, he spends the night, unaware of the horrors to come.

Loaded with grim, foreboding atmosphere and ghoulish goings-on, the superstitious dread is palpable. There are some genuinely chilling moments, along with wonderful, practical gore effects! The characters are memorable, especially the lovely Sdenka (Agostina Belli), her stolid brother Jovan (Mark Roberts), and the mysterious witch (Maria Monti). Whatever you do, don't miss the truly unsettling, blood-soaked finale! One of the best movies of its kind...

Nicolas is found wandering aimlessly at a beach and is taken to a hospital where his horrific story is told through flashbacks; He have a car accident in the Yugoslavian countryside and finds a house where he gets shelter for the night. He hears strange noises during the night and in the morning he's told about the witch that lives in the forest. The witch killed Yorga's borther (Yorga is the father in the family he stays with) and the brother came back at exactly 6 pm the next day, transformed into a Vardaluk (some sort of zombie). Nikolas falls in love with Sdenka, Yorga's daughter, and stays with the family. Yorga decides to confront the witch and his son Jovan is prepared for the worst. Just like Jovan feared Yorga returns the next day at 6 pm precise and a lot of really bad things starts to happen.

This is an interesting movie with a good story, scary music and nice sets but it is a bit to slow moving. The flashback-to-present way of telling the story is pretty effective. There are some memorable scenes like the torture fantasies in the beginning and when Helene's fingers are cut of by Nicolas' car door. There are some nudity and sex. The twist ending is great! Some curiosity: The good-looking Agostina Bella (Sdenka) plays the jealous chambermaid in Ivanna. I give this one 7/10.