L'amante del demonio

I love 1970s movies and Rosalba Neri so I'm going to be as fortuitous as anyone could possibly be. But this movie is just awful . There's no point to anything it's not scary, very little violence, anemic plot, there's no sex, Cinematografia lacking, there's just nothingness. I could devise a better movie than this and I don't know the first thing about making movies . The biggest surprise is how anyone could give this a higher grade than me at which point I think I saw a 7 out of 10 from someone. I could not wait for this movie to end. The good news is it's probably very hard to find . Complete flop.

You gotta love the 1960s and 1970s European horror flicks. Most of them, anyway. "L'amante del demonio" (alternately called "The Devil's Lover" and "Lucifera Demon Lover" in English) is too slow-moving, and much of it looks like scenes that they added to fill space. There's no shortage of sex, but the movie has so much wasted potential. I prefer it when these movies have lots of blood and guts, and this story of a young woman who goes to sleep in the 20th century and wakes up in an earlier century (where she sees all manner of evil things) just doesn't have enough of that. I recommend sticking with a Jess Franco movie or a Michele Soavi movie if you're looking for some classic Euro-horror.

This title basically sat on my 'can't find it' list for ages until it appeared on Youtube a week ago. Sadly, it didn't turn out to be such great shakes. Hmm...shame.

The confusing plot starts off with Rosalba Neri and her two mates parking outside a castle supposedly haunted by the devil when the attendant tells them they're closing, Rosalba uses her Neri charms not only to get inside but also manages to get a meal and a bed for the night!

While changing into a nightdress, Rosalba spots a strange painting on the wall that seems to depict herself screaming in pain and on fire. Just like anyone who sees a picture of themselves in a strange castle they've never been to before, this sets Rosalba up for a good night's sleep that seems to transport her back hundreds of years to a medieval equivalent of Eastenders.

This is where things get really confusing because it seems like Rosalba is now a virginal bride-to-be with (I think) two friends in the village but two separate sisters, but her friend back in modern times is now a jealous love rival who still loves Rosalba's groom, so the love rival uses her suitor Robert Wood to try and destroy Rosalba's relationship with the groom. The only thing that makes sense is Edmund Purdom as a randomly teleporting guy dressed as a flamboyant Klu Klux Klan member!

Edmund comes sniffing around Rolba and promises her all the sensual delights on offer if only she'll sell her soul to him or something, but before we get to that bit there's a long sequence where a witch lures either Rosalba's two friends or her sisters into a cave to be pounced on by two horny men and two drunken women that turns into a lesbian scene before a vampiress turns up and puts the bite on both of them. Then they turn up later and put the bite on Rosalba, but then this entire plot point is immediately forgotten about as we get back to Edmund teleporting while fighting Robert Wood.

Lacking in any excitement whatsoever, Lucifera: Demon Lover actually had me nodding off at certain points through all the drama and staring. Rosalba just sort of stares into space for the most part and although Edmund Purdom is alright, he doesn't really feature until later in the film. The ending renders the entire thing pointless too!

Strangely, director Lombardo seems to favour top heavy women, but seems to botch nearly every aspect of this film, including a tongue removal. Strictly amatuer hour all the way. It's short though!

Three women stay the night at a castle supposed owned by the Devil - in the night, one of them has a dream where she is transported to the 16th century where a bunch of odd events take place.

The main selling point of this movie has to be Rosalba Neri. This Italian actress appeared in a number of genre films from around this time and always added quality to proceedings, in terms of her sensuality, sexual forcefulness and genuine acting ability. She's probably the best thing in this film too. Its an example of an Italian gothic horror film, at the latter end of the sub-genre's cycle. And on paper it does include a lot of promising elements - sexual deviants, vampires, religious fanatics, a red-hooded devil, a witch, beautiful maidens and ornate, crumbling locations. But director, Paolo Lombardo, was hardly a master at this kind of thing and, in fact, only helmed a further two minor films. The result is a fairly lethargic picture on the whole, with the odd interesting moment. If you like Italian gothic, it is certainly good enough for a whirl and Neri is always worth seeing in anything.

The heyday of the Italian Gothic Horror genre was the early-to-mid-1960s; even so, the style lingered on well into the next decade but the results were often far beneath what could be accomplished at its best. Naturally, this is one such example: actually, we start off here with a contemporary setting and the heroine ("Euro-Cult" favorite Rosalba Neri) dreams herself back at least two centuries – under the influence of an old mansion where, legend has it, the devil used to reside! An element these later efforts certainly took advantage of was the relaxation in censorship, except that then we tended to get copious nudity at the expense of plot (and even atmosphere): at one point, for instance, a couple of nubile girls are gang-raped and forced to copulate between themselves inside a cave, a sequence that has no bearing whatsoever on the central plot! For what it is worth, the narrative involves two girls (one is Neri and the other is played by a companion of hers in the modern 'bookends') who both love the same man; when he chooses Neri, the rival (herself pursued by another, played by Robert Woods) turns to a witch who puts a curse on the former. This results in Neri being seduced by a stranger (Edmund Purdom), losing her lover to him and getting burned at the stake for the latter's death…all on her wedding night and, surprise surprise, the interloper is eventually revealed to be Old Nick himself! While the lethargic pacing is decidedly characteristic of such fare, the inept handling is not and, in this case, makes the film a snooze-fest as opposed to the mood-piece its creators probably intended! When I first came across this one, I was intrigued by its description as "the greatest Rosalba Neri movie ever"; however, having checked it out for myself now, I regret to report that things could not be further removed from the truth!