L'amante del demonio

Lucifera: Demon Lover (1972)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Italian horror has three women (led by cult favorite Rosalba Neri) going to stay at a house that is said to be the home of Satan. They talk the caretaker in letting them spend the night when the Neri character sees a portrait that takes her back in time several hundred years where the three women are now in their own battle with the Devil. Fans of MARK OF THE DEVIL or THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT will probably be tempted to try this out as will fans of Neri but both parties are going to be disappointed because the movie is pretty much dull from start to finish. The entire story doesn't make a bit of sense and to make matters worse is the fact that director Lombardo didn't have much experience behind the camera and this clearly shows with the incredibly slow pacing. It also doesn't help matters that we have several Ed Wood moments where it will be light outside but then they'll cut to the next scene where it's dark and then cut back to light. This happens at least during two different scenes taking place at different times. The plot doesn't make a bit of sense but for this type of film that's really not overly important as long as we get good stuff. That good stuff being either violence, sex, nudity or in the best case all three. This film doesn't offer any blood and has very little nudity. We do get a pretty fun orgy taking place in a castle and fans of Neri and her nude scenes will have to wait until the very end to get just a little peak. The performances are all rather bland but you really can't blame them as I'm sure they were all aware that this thing wasn't going to turn out too well. Satan has invaded Italian horror films countless times but this here isn't the best out there and should pretty much be avoided by everyone unless they just have to sit through even the bad ones (like myself).

I saw this on a recent, as of 2024, blu ray release and was shocked when I went to IMDB to discover that I guess I'd seen it. Now how could I forget the film, well after watching it I can see how. It's not memorable. I had given it a 6 but I've revised that more to a 4.

The problems are the script and directing, both by the same man who seems to have little talent at either. The performances are just ok, no one seems very committed to a role, other than Neri. There are a few really beautiful shots of her, how could there not be?, but she's had better parts and looked better in much better films.

There is very little style and the shots at times barely cut together. The music score is pretty good but it stops and starts at odd moments sometimes in mid scene, it all feels like no one with much experience was at the helm of the movie.

For something that's supposed to be shocking, the violence and nudity are few and far between, not a problem if the drama is compelling, but it's not.

There is one laughable scene with a red hooded guy popping, like in Bewitched, in and out in various places. The editing is sluggish so you can tell one actor is freezing in place while the other moves and they start shooting again. It's really half heartedly done.

There is a sword fight and well, uh, that's about it, I guess there sort of is another sword fight eventually.

It's all rather flatly done and pretty dull, for a film called The Devil's Lover the whole devil angle is also dull and almost silly the way it's done. A film that doesn't know how to be erotic horrific or compelling, decent production values raise it above worse films, but it looks like what it is, a producer directing and not knowing how.

In the Severin 2024 release there is an interview with actor Robert Woods who claims he was brought in to try to save the movie, to edit the film, be in it in a small role added later and to direct some of it. Even with all that he says it's not better than just ok and I'd agree.

The 2024 release looks and sounds very good, features a dull commentary track with lot of silence between not too interesting things to say.

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.

Rosalba Neri and her two girlfriends visit a remote European castle that is supposedly owned by Satan himself.That night she comes across a portrait of a woman who looks much like her.While sleeping she has is transported back to the 16th century where she has nightmares of her past which include:cave dwelling rapists,sadistic vampires,inquisition and a mysterious red-hooded,cloaked,disappearing swordsman."L'Amante del Demonio" is watchable Italian Gothic nonsense.There is a bit of sleaze and nudity plus incredibly sensual Rosalba Neri,the Queen of Italian Gothic horror.The film mixes Satanic horror,vampirism,sex and torture,so fans of Italian exploitation should definitely check it out.However the action is suitably dull and the climax is terrible.A generous 7 out of 10.

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.