I diavoli n° 2

Despite the presence of the late, great Oliver Reed, this is a slow moving Pinteresque drama which fails to grab the attention.

Derek Jacobi is okay as the wimpy lord of the manor who finds his servants are actually devil worshippers - or something. The plot is obviously inspired by a mix of Upstairs Downstairs and Rosemary's Baby and there's the odd, bizarre flash frame to keep you interested.

Worth a look only for the stunning Fiona Lewis who has rarely been more gorgeous. Watch it for her brief scenes alone and it will be a worthwhile experience.

A young German nanny takes up employment at a large English stately home, where a sinister butler called Tom (Oliver Reed) appears to have power over the master (Derek Jacobi) and the other staff. It has taken me decades to finally see this, having picked it up on DVD. I recall it being screened on TV years ago, listed as a horror, but for some reason I missed it. Sadly it proved somewhat disappointing. Filmed over two weeks for a mere £55,000 it is a far cry from many of Reed's other movies that he had starred in, and it does show. The story is based on a novel by Lord Alexander Thynn, the 7th Marquis of Bath, and was filmed at his home Longleat in Wiltshire. This was one of the film's stronger points, one part shows scenes of visitors queuing up in their delightful looking old cars, it is almost part documentary and brought back memories of visiting it myself back in the 1970's. The film features much drinking and smoking dope (apparently Reed would organise evening pub crawls for the cast and ended up smashing up his Bentley Continental!), plus Lord Gregory spends a lot of time in bed with his wife (Fiona Lewis) and his mistress, all three are seen naked. Oliver Reed is one of my favourite actors and he looks menacing here but unfortunately just mumbles his way through, "As a gentleman's gentleman I sometimes ask myself who is a real gentleman?". Billed as a horror movie this is 90% rather slow drama, only the Satanic looking segment near the end gives it any horror. The bruises on the young children, or baby bashing as it is referred to in the film, was the most horrifying aspect. Overall I felt slightly disappointed, having waited so long to finally watch it, there were elements that did interest me but Blue Blood is certainly not a film for a wide audience.

As this film opens German nanny Beate arrives at a stately home. She is there to look after the children of its owner, a lord named Gregory. It soon becomes clear that Gregory has a somewhat degenerate lifestyle; he is desperate to have a choice of sons to inherit his home and is keen that they have a variety of mothers. It also becomes clear that while Gregory may own the house it is run by Tom, his butler. As the film progresses Tom's malevolent control of the house only increases.

This is a distinctly strange film. It is billed as horror but it isn't gory nor is there anything really scary. It is however unsettling at times. It is filmed at Longleat, a great location that really adds to the film... much use is made of both the house and the attached safari park, even if the latter is only shown so we can see scenes of lions eating large slabs of meat. Knowing that Longleat was at the time owned by the Seventh Marquis of Bath, who wrote the book on which the film is based, one can't help thinking the 'degenerate' Gregory was actually a toned down version of the real owner... a man famed for his seventy plus 'wifelets'! The story is a bit slow to get started and when it does it still feels a bit of a mess. The main cast have certainly been better in other films although Oliver Reid is suitably menacing as Tom, despite his strange accent. The low budget shows but doesn't really spoil the film. The occult elements of the film are rather odd; mostly limited to red tinted visions seen by those around Tom. Overall I wouldn't call this a must see but it is an interesting curiosity.

My, but this is a howler.... Oliver Reed is the singularly nasty "Tom", butler to the suitably wimpish "Lord Gregory" (Derek Jacobi). In addition, I hope to stop us all dying from boredom, "Tom" is also the grand wizard (?) of a Satanic cult that practices it's devilish antics in the stately pile of his unwitting host (aptly filmed at Longleat House - home of the late Marquess of Bath - he of the "wifelets"). Anyway, what ensues is a sort of dirty "Downton Abbey". Just about everyone sleeps with the other; the cluttered plot is preposterous and both Reed (I hope) and Jacobi (I trust) had their tongues firmly in their cheeks as this nonsense trundles on for what seemed like an interminable 90 minutes. Some lovely Paisley pattern clothing - if that's your thing, but I'm afraid this is amongst the worst British films that I have ever sat through.

An outstanding acting by the good old and never enough recognized Derek Jacobi and of course, Ollie Reed that here makes the perfect butler, stiff, stone-faced, confident and knowledgeable. I would've welcomed subtitles when he spoke Geordie dialect though. The setting is sublime and the environs perfect for a bunch of lunatics trying to fit in the social expectations of the time. We even get a most wonderful song to a nanny! If you are a nanny you will be proud of this beautiful rendering. As always British use in their films sophisticated cars that I very much enjoy seeing. All in all another masterpiece of British film making even if the Director only started (and ended) his career with this film.