Blood Sabbath

This film might stay with you a little longer than most horror movies from the 70's. It's about an ex-Vietnam soldier who doesn't care about the outside world anymore. He finds himself in the woods and near death. He is awoken by a very beautiful pond goddess (?) who cannot love him unless he gets rid of his soul. Of course he wishes to be with her and will do anything to get rid of his soul. He asks the loner woods guy what he should do. He, just like everyone else, warns him to stay away from this woman (Yyalah). But he won't give up. He even asks the local priest how to get rid of his soul (in a slightly comical way, I might add). He decides to go to an evil witch who annually sacrifices a child so that "the village" will have good crops.

Well, I won't spoil it for you, but as you can see, it deals with the supernatural and goddess/witch love. As people have mentioned on here, there is tons of pointless nudity that includes naked slave witches dancing around and worshiping the main witch.

The movie is slightly magical and doesn't seem to be as raunchy as it sounds. There's even nature frolicking scenes and happy music. The actor who plays David must be a bit of a nerd in real life because it shows in the way he acts. He punches in the air with joy when something goes right, or he uses big giant facial expressions as if he were in a play. His acting makes the movie seem a little weird. Yyalah is also quite beautiful, even though she wears a horrible wig the entire time.

I give this a 4/10 because the movie has something about that makes you like it and you can't put your finger on why.

Blood Sabbath (1972)

** (out of 4)

David (Anthon Geary) is walking around the country when he comes into a small town. He goes to sleep one night in the woods and is woken up by four naked women climbing over him. He manages to escape from them (why?) and then meets one woman and quickly falls in love but she keeps refusing him. It turns out he's gotten involved with a coven of witches and now they are going up against Alotta, the Queen of the Witches (Dyanne Thorne).

BLOOD SABBATH isn't a masterpiece or even a very good movie but it's got a few interesting aspects that make it worth watching. I'd be shocked if the budget was over $100,000 but that's not a slam on the picture. It's clear that they weren't working with much of a budget yet they appeared to find every woman that was willing to strip down. The film might not offer a very original story but it offers up plenty of nudity and then there's Thorne.

The biggest problem with this film is its pacing. The film moves way too slow for its own good and this was especially true for the final twenty-minutes or so. Before all of that, we're actually treated to a mildly entertaining film. I thought Geary was good in the lead role and at least kept you interested in what's going on. Susan Damante was good as well and it's always fun to see Thorne.

Another good thing about the movie was the setting as you really did get the feeling that you were out in the middle of nowhere. BLOOD SABBATH isn't going to have too many fans out there and especially since there are so many better movies dealing with witches. Still, if you're a fan of these types of movies this one is worth seeing.

I voted "excellent" because I have not seen the movie since 1972. I was involved with its production and, quite honestly, had no idea that there was a print out there, anywhere in the world. Thought for sure it had been lost and destroyed. lol I have ordered the film so that I can view it, and it will be fun trying to remember what was what. Tony Geary was an unknown at the time that this was made. Once he made it big on "General Hospital," he would have taken it all back. Again I am laughing because it is a part of my life that I find myself reviewing these days as I approach 71 years old as a little old grandmother. It will be fun to share this with my daughter who had not been born at the time. Bri was a lovely film photographer, a very nice lady, and did some directorial work. Her passing was mentioned a few years ago on the Oscar show. Took me back some. But then many of the people involved with that production have passed. Bill Bairn the producer is gone, Sam Gilman (usually associated as best friend of Marlon Brando's) is gone, Bri is gone, and god knows who else. It was an interesting experiment for everybody. There was an actors strike at the time and it was a bunch of pick up people who did it for fun on less than a shoestring. It was shot in 16mm and transferred to 35mm. Les Baxter took it on as a lark, but his music was hauntingly beautiful. Most of the film was shot on a ranch in the San Fernando Valley, and the Gower Street Studio's back lot. Can't wait to see it! P.S. I intend to go through my closet of slides to see if I still have the slides from the movie. I took hundreds. What fun this is going to be. If this is such a cult movie (?) maybne I can get some prints made and sell on e-bay. hahahahaha

The wimpiest and whiniest Vietnam vet in cinema history (played by "Luke" from "General Hospital")falls asleep in the forest for some reason and when he wakes up he finds himself being assaulted by five beautiful, naked women, so he does what any guy would do--he runs away screaming. Later he falls in love with a fully-clothed water nymph (don't ask), but can't be with her unless he gives up his soul (really, don't ask). Fortunately, the head of the coven of naked women, played by Dyanne "Ilsa" Thorne, is willing to take his soul off his hands, especially after he becomes very insistent ("Take my soul, damn you!"). But then he drinks sacrificial blood which is a problem for some reason and his water nymph lover is horrified ("You're covered with blood. . . sacrificial blood"!). Then the movie just starts to get weird.

Obviously, the only reason to watch this movie is to see a lot of naked women, including the top-heavy Dyanne Thorne dancing around in nothing but a skimpy black bikini bottom. "Luke" has a brief nude scene too (one for the ladies, I guess). It's also pretty unintentionally funny. Besides the looney situations and idiotic dialogue, the movie is chock-full of other absurdities. You would think from the sylvan location of the story and the water nymphs, satanic coven, etc. that this would be set in the British Isles or somewhere in the Old World, but it is supposedly set in Mexico! It doesn't look anything like Mexico and no one maintains a consistent Mexican accent (let alone speaks Spanish), but the coven does decapitate a "padre" at one point. That's the only scene that might recommend this to horror movie fans, but you see one priest decapitated by a satanic cult, you seen 'em all. Then there's the "Vietnam" flashback footage, but the less said about that the better.

A trippy, hippy horror from the 70s, this weird tale of witches and water nymphs features tons of full frontal nudity, a surreal atmosphere, a groovy soundtrack, and just a little graphic gore, giving it (in my opinion) a distinctly European vibe despite being made in the San Fernando Valley, California. And, like a lot of experimental, psychedelic Euro horror from the 70s, it proves to be rather incoherent, and very tedious.

Anthony Geary plays David, a young Vietnam veteran who falls in love with Yyalah (Susan Damante-Shaw), a mysterious, supernatural blonde woman who cannot love him back because he has a soul. In order to be with the woman of his dreams, David arranges for Alotta (busty Dyanne Thorne of Ilsa fame), the queen of a coven of witches that plagues a nearby village, to relieve him of his soul...

Despite featuring lots of babes with massive minges (as was the fashion at the time) cavorting together in the buff, plus the impressive sight of the legendary Ms. Thorne jiggling her huge cans and shaking her tush, Blood Sabbath is ultimately an unmemorable piece of trash that is unlikely to appeal to even the most desperate of perverts (even if birds with big bushes happen to be your particular thing!). The meandering storyline is extremely dull, and with only one instance of graphic violence (a manky severed head held aloft by Alotta), fans of exploitation and low-budget horror would be advised to approach with caution.