Notte di tenebre

"Possessed by a brain-like one-eyed thing in a jar" would be a more accurate title for this one, but I guess "the night" is shorter. Anyway, besides this "creature", the movie offers: a sweaty Shannon Tweed giving us fitness tips, a (then) 42-year-old Sandahl Bergman still sporting a PHENOMENAL athletic body, irrelevant martial arts fights with Chad McQueen, and timeless movie villain Henry Silva mostly sitting behind a desk and saying things like "I love bimbos!" and "Greed makes the world go round". So fans of B-movies should enjoy it, despite its pointless story and redundant subplots. Fred Olen Ray makes the most out of a probably tiny budget, and smartly keeps the running time short too. (**1/2)

I recently watched "Conan the Barbarian" and was quite sad I didn't know any other films with Sandahl Bergman in it. So I got myself "Hell Comes To Frogtown" and thought that was an extremely goofy and poorly made film, but fun to watch (gotta love the three snakes dance scene).

Then I got myself this one, thinking I could not really be disappointed, what with the Hell film and all, and I have to say: this movie offers *all* (!) the entertainment, plot logics, good dialogue, acting skills and high-end production value of a cheap porno, but without the explicit sex scenes. And Sandahl looks better partially dressed (I'm gonna try and remember her in her skimpy barbarian outfit, where you couldn't see the handiwork done on her chest).

There is absolutely not the slightest point in *ever* watching this. You will not get back the precious time you lose trying to not be put off by this. Just hands off. This film should never have been made.

Pure gold for hard core fans of B-movies. What else can you ask for? You got Shannon Tweed in all of her sexy glory. Her looks are extremely hot. You got a supernatural plot that involves a cheesy but gross "thing" (a brain with an eye or something) that awakens people's sexual instincts. Weird but effective. And last but not least you got hot sex scenes including of one Shannon's most famous moments where she is forced at first to have sex and then enjoys it in a savage manner.

Well this is not the best erotic B-movie but it's a damn entertaining erotic flick to have. Buy, rent, or watch it on cable, it's worth the watch.

It's hard to sum up this movie and I don't like to call low budget exploitation films B-movies; still if anything does fit that bill it's this one. Contains some pretty 'hokey' acting (just horrid 80's fashions) and the most fantastic of plots, though some shots and direction are pretty good; plus there is plenty of nudity and sex scenes (of the Soft-core variety) just to keep it, keeping on. Worth seeking out a rare copy. Played for laughs. stars ex 'playboy' glamour model (and cult actress) Shannon Tweed, who's certainly enjoyable in parts, if not all over.

Last week I found in Possessed by the night in the thrift store. A long time ago I had once seen the film on a Friday night on TV. In the 90s and 00s, many commercial channels broadcast 16+ films late on Friday evenings: B-Horror and Erothrillers. Possesed by the night is a marriage between these two genres, an odd couple of 16+ genres aimed at diffrent audiences.

The plot very briefly summarized: A writer with a writer's block visits an antique shop in search of inspiration and becomes fascinated by a glass jar containing a spirit in spirit. Meanwhile, his publisher has gambling debts, so he sends a secretary, played by Shannon Tweed, to help speed up the writing. But the secretary becomes possessed by the glass jar and forces the author to have misogynistic sex with his wife. And then an unhinged Mafia hitman walks in.

I'll start with the good news: the movie is pretty fun to watch, even in 2023. As far-fetched as the plot is, compared to a mass of other B-roll erotic thrillers from the '90s, Possessed by the night has a pretty suspenseful, constructive story instead of the usual wafer-thin story mixed inbetween a succession of sex scenes.

Also more original given the horror impact, although the horror remains below average and will not attract demanding horrorfans: Special effects are largely absent and the film never gets scary nor gorry.

Acting performances remain below average and frankly I don't think Shannon Tweed had much more talent than these kinds of roles. The other actors do it even weaker if possible, though the Asian shop owner came over as genuin to me...

Anyway, set all cons apart, I was able to watch this odd cross between Horror and Erothriller without frustrations and had quite a bit of fun with it, so a well-considered 6/10. For those with nostalgia to 90s tv-thrillers.