Marquis de Sade

Genie (Zoe Trilling) arrives in Egypt to visit her hypocritical, bible-quoting archeologist father (William Finley) and attracts the attention of a group of cultists led by a descendant of the Marquis de Sade (Robert Englund). Englund also plays de Sade in flashbacks, ranting in his cell. Genie is led astray by Mohammed (Juliano Merr), who rides around naked on a horse and Sabina (Alona Kamhi), a bisexual who introduces her to opium smoking, which leads to a wild hallucination featuring topless harem dancers, a woman simulating oral sex on a snake, an orgy and her father preaching in the background! Meanwhile, black hooded cult members decapitate, gouge out eyeballs and slit throats. When Genie is slipped drugs in her tea, she imagines de Sade hanging from a cross, a gold-painted woman in a leafy g-string and herself bloody on a bed covered in snakes. It's all because she's the reincarnation of de Sade's lost love.

This typically sleazy Harry Alan Towers production is redundant, seedy and pretty senseless, but the sets, costumes, cinematography and location work are all excellent and at least there's always something going on.

Score: 3 out of 10

A young woman gets mixed up in a cult that is connected to the Marquis De Sade. Handsome looking sets, good make-up effects, lush costumes, and lots of pretty imagery can not cover up the fact that this is an incoherent mess with a skimpy script. The actors and director try hard, perhaps too hard. Rated R; Strong Sexual Content, Nudity, Violence, Adult Themes, and Profanity.

I like Tobe Hooper's work, but like all artist he has hits and misses. I think that horror is a very personal thing, akin to what turns a person on sexually. What is hot for one is an off for another.

The movie has an interesting concept.

I feel the acting is good. Robert Englund is wonderful as the Marquis De Sade and it was nice to see William Finley again. (He is also in one of my all time fav's "Funhouse" also directed by Hooper. )

Set design, editing, costuming, score and photography all have a very 80's feel to it although the movie was filmed in 1993. It has that high glossy feel to it.

The movie is neither as artist as it would have like to have been, nor is it completely terrible. Trust me there are A LOT worse out there. If you like Robert Englund, or have a kind of fascination for the Marquis, then this maybe worth your time. But if you are looking for chills, gore or T&A skip it.

1st watched 8/26/2001 - 3 out of 10(Dir-Tobe Hooper): Scary, yet sadistic(which makes sense) portrayal of a relative of the Marquis De Sade carrying out the same sadistic acts and enjoying it that supposedly his predecessor did. This Tobe Hooper film really doesn't do a whole lot different than his similar in style Freddy Krueger movies with the same star (Freddy himself - Robert Englund) playing a dual role(the Marquis De Sade and his relative). It is also seems like it wants to really poke at Christianity but then loses that in the end much to my chagrin but leaving an inconsistent feel to the movie. Could have been much worse if excesses were taken in sex and violence, but they try to keep this at a minimal despite some disgusting scenes. My final thought is why would Hooper want to make this movie. It obviously took awhile to actually get distributed, then it has to be advertised gruesomely and with Hooper's name in the title to hopefully make some money on his name and his gore. It's obvious this didn't work.

In the Eighteenth Century, the cruel Marquis De Sade (Robert Englund) is tortured by the king's order after being betrayed by his mistress. In the present days (1993), the American Eugenie "Genie" (Zoe Trilling) arrives in Alexandria after her graduation in engineering to visit her father, the pious archeologist Dr. Matteson (William Finley). On the streets, Genie meets the free-spirited Sabina (Alona Kimhi) that introduces her to the Marquis de Sade's novel and to a world of free sex and drugs. After Genie's sexual experience with the local Mahmoud (Juliano Merr), Sabina takes her to a party where she meets Paul Chevalier, who is descendant of the Marquis De Sade and leads a cult of followers. He recognizes Genie as descendant of the mistress that reported the Marquis De Sade to the king, and promises to degrade her.

"Night Terrors" (1993) is a deceptive erotic-horror film directed by Tobe Hooper with a messy screenplay. The movie has good ideas, but many events without explanation. Why Dr. Matteson, Beth, Fatima and other characters are murdered? The crime spree has no explanation. What for is the amulet that Fatima gave to Genie? What is the objective of the sect led by Paul Chevalier? What happens in the end of the movie? What is the meaning of the scale inside the trunk found by Dr. Matteson? Therefore, many unanswered questions raised along the story. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Noites de Terror" ("Nights of Terror")