Blood Orgy of the She-Devils

I think I may be turning into a cinematic masochist. After suffering through two of Ted V. Mikels' abominations--"The Astro-Zombies" (1967), one of the world's worst, and "The Corpse Grinders" (1972), which is marginally better but still decidedly crummy--I had to rent out the Mikels-produced 1977 effort "The Worm Eaters," another incredible stinker. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson, but no, I then had to go out and rent Mikels' 1973 witchcraft epic "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils," and I guess I got what I deserved. In this one, a coven of hotty SoCal witches is led by a high priestess named Mara (Lila Zaborin). What little plot there is to speak of deals with the coven sacrificing the occasional male chump to Satan, some foreign agents who ask Mara to kill a U.N. ambassador with her voodoo powers, a (surprisingly well-done) seance ceremony, and a college professor who battles the high priestess. As usual in a Mikels film, the acting, scripting, lighting, editing, directing and FX are all rock-bottom deplorable, but at least--unlike, say, "The Astro-Zombies"--the story is comprehensible here, outlandish as it may be, and Zaborin intones her lines with great intensity. Some gratuitous scenes of witch torture from what I gather is supposed to be the 1600s only make the picture weirder than it would have been otherwise. Anyway, perhaps Michael Weldon, in my beloved "Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film," puts it best concerning this movie: "From the man responsible for 'Astro-Zombies,' so don't expect quality of any kind." I guess I'm a hopeless case, though, because now I'm searching out Ted V. Mikels' other 1973 masterpiece, "The Doll Squad"...

I have to admit, this movie was not as bad as I thought it would've been. Now, it's no Dario Argento, but there is this underlying dark theme of witchcraft, occult, the black arts and the low budget quality is apparent. Plus, considering I've seen "Girl in Gold Boots" first, I thought this one scored higher (although Gold Boots has become a favorite laffer for me). The music and visual effects helped add a creepiness to the film. Mara as the head witch does scream a lot especially during the seance scene. The Indian guy reminded me of Tomy Chong. Tom Pace did not make as many goofy faces as usual and Leslie McRae (ROWR, yum yum!!) was just great to look at despite her so so acting (I think Ted agrees). Some flaws included the witch trial flashbacks with the men donning modern dress slacks (poor kid got whipped) and the fake bat. Good late night fodder.

"Blood Orgy Of The She Devils" - an awesome title, that raises hopes for an ultra-sleazy and gory 70s Explotitation effort full of gratuitous female nudity, chopped off limbs etc. Unfortunately Ted V. Mikels' film, which is nonetheless slightly entertaining for its trashiness, is a very tame, and often boring yawner, that does not nearly come up to what the title promises. As it often was the case with films with an extremely low budget, this was given a title that has little to nothing to do with the actual film in order to lure viewers into theaters. The film itself is an absolutely ridiculous mess, but even though often too boring, it has its amusing moments. The film has a ridiculous and confused plot dealing with witchcraft, which revolves around an occult voodoo circle lead by a witch named Mara. Mara has supernatural powers which she can use to communicate with the dead as well as for other black magic purposes. When she includes a pretty young woman in her unholy circle, the girl's boyfriend and best friend consider a doctor who is an expert for the occult. The doctor, basically the hero of the film, is constantly talking in 'sophisticated' nonsensical phrases about witchcraft. The performances are terrible, but terrible performances are something I can forgive in low-budget cinema. What I missed were the exploitative factors, namely the expected gore and sleaze. The popularity of Michael Reeves' British Horror masterpiece "Witchfinder General" starring the great Vincent Price spawned a number of violent 'Hexploitation' films about witch-hunts, most prominently the notorious (and great) "Mark Of The Devil". Director Mikels also tried to jump on the bandwagon here, and "Blood Orgy Of The She-Devils" therefore includes two flashbacks to the time of witch-hunts, which are incredibly corny, but probably even so the best scenes in the film. Mikels is probably best known for "The Corpse Grinders" of 1972, which has a certain cult status, and which I have yet to see. "Blood Orgy Of The She Devils" is certainly not the nasty Exploitation film the title suggests, but merely a quite tame, and very very silly little film that mildly amuses but bores even more. It somehow reminded me of "Snake People", an extremely odd low budget-production which happened to be one of the last films starring the great Horror icon Boris Karloff. The difference is that this one doesn't star Karloff. "Blood Orgy Of The She Devils" has its amusing moments, and fans of (awful) cult cinema can consider watching it. Others should avoid it. I personally don't regret watching it, as I was somehow entertained by it, however, I made sure to write this review the day after watching it, since I will probably have forgotten it entirely in a week.

T.V. Mikels movies often have outlandish plots and titles but the execution almost always lacks excitement. This PG-rated hokum about suburban occultism will have your mind wandering half way into it and fully asleep by the end. So what's good about it? I did like the electronic score and the harem of dancing girls swaying to a native bongo beat in their castle. Whoever played the head witch put some gusto into her performance but overall this movie is a real drag. Even more dull than watching this movie is watching it with Mikels' audio commentary on the DVD. If you've seen the episode of The Incredibly Strange Film Show on Mikels you know that he's a lovable eccentric but he barely says anything on the commentary.

This film is one that I heard about thanks to the Horror Show Guide encyclopedia that I'm working through. This is one that I watched back almost a decade ago. I wasn't the biggest fan and forgot about it. I've now given it a second watch as part of my Traverse through the Threes now that I'm a more seasoned cinephile.

Synopsis: Lorraine (Leslie McRay) and Mark (Tom Pace) enter the world of witchcraft where Mara (Lila Zaborin) foretells the future and helps them remember their past lives. When a series of mysterious murders occur, they turn to Dr. Helsford (Victor Izay) for advice.

We start with Mara leading a ritual. Helping her is Toruqe (William Bagdad) along with a bunch of young women who are dancing for the ritual. This is accompanied by a man playing bongo drums. There is also another man who is tied up. To end the ritual, he is sacrificed by the women with spears.

This then shifts to Mark and Lorraine. She is dropped off at a house and she is let in by Mara. Lorraine asks about Sharon (Kebrina Kincade) and then she is taken into a room to work on her abilities.

It is from here we learn how powerful Mara is. She meets Rodannus (Ray Myles) and Barth (Paul Wilmoth). The former wants Mara to prove to her that she has powers. She breaks his glass of wine with her mind, cutting his hand. Satisfied, he asks her to kill an ambassador for the U. N. He says he will be pay her 40,000 rubles, but then she informs him that for her to do this, she would need 10x that amount and in United States dollars. He does agree to these terms.

We then shift it back to Mark and Lorraine. She wants them to attend a séance led by Mara. We then see what happens there. Mara allows a Native American to take over her body who tells two women to change their plans, because they will die. Her body is then taken over when her aunt who tells another woman to let her father pass on peacefully and to stop fighting, because he will rejoin her mother on the other side. There is then a ghost seen by all in the room.

Mark is shaken but doesn't fully believe it. He meets with a former college professor, Dr. Helsford. They tell him about what happened and Mark states that he still doesn't believe that she is the real deal. He also reveals that he is going back for another ritual. Izay tells him to be careful, because magic is not good or bad, it all depends on the user.

We do see how truly powerful Mara is. She can kill the man that was hired to. Rodannus doesn't want to pay up though. He sends his bodyguard to dispatch her. That is just the start though. There is another ritual that goes down. Mara needs to be stopped before it is too late, but it will be difficult to kill someone as power as her.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. I must admit something. Coming in I was expecting this to be full of nudity. That is not the case as it is rated PG. The most that I noticed was the outfits our women are wearing during their ritual. I'll give this credit. The title is provocative to get people to check it out.

Where I'll start to delve into this is that I like the concept. Even if we just look at this as a cult of 'she-devils' led by Mara, that's fine. This is a coven of witches. Having this political assassination, another solid part. There isn't a large budget and what they do is great. It would never get traced back to them. Trying to kill her to tie up that loose end wasn't needed, but I know how people in government work. It is classic. How everything ends is fine as well. That also fits in with the talk between Mark, Dr. Helsford and Lorraine.

Now there is something that is a negative aspect to me. We have fillers here. This doesn't run 80 minutes so they added elements of witchcraft in the past. There is one that involves witches and how they were found by witchfinders. This plays out with the witch being forced to confess or be executed as a 'test'. There is another one where a woman is stoned to death. They are decent scenes. The first one is better than the later one. I've seen worse since this at least is in line with theme of the movie. It also makes sense with the professor telling this information at the least.

What truly hurts this though is that it is boring. The story is quite minimal. We have this coven and we see the different powers that Mara has. I understand the first séance. This is to entice Mark to join. He then takes part again in an age regression one, which is why we see the view in the past. That makes more sense there. The pacing just meanders here without a strong enough force guiding it in my opinion.

Something else that hurts this is the acting. No one is particularly good. I'm also guessing that the writing wasn't strong to help either. Zaborin is good though as this main witch. She isn't completely evil, but she does use her power for evil when needed. Bagdad is solid as her right-hand person. Pace and McRay are okay as our leads. It is interesting for the latter is that she is the model for the poster for Lizard in Woman's Skin, but uncredited. Izay is fine as the professor. I did like all the women that are part of the cult. Their dance scenes were good. The rest of the acting is mediocre at best.

All that is left is filmmaking. I've already said that the pacing is off. The cinematography is something else that is fine. It doesn't stand out and the print I saw was muddy. I'm guessing it was a VHS rip so I can't hold it against the movie itself. This is low budget. The minimal effects were cheap. Looked to be early computer and practical ones. I have a soft spot for both here. The best part though is the soundtrack. There were multiple times with my notes that I commented on it and it gave an eerie vibe. That helped the atmosphere.

In conclusion, I'm not going to completely beat this movie up. They weren't working with much. I don't mind the idea of this coven of witches that are able to do rituals. The problem is that they didn't know what to do with it so we got about a sixty-minute movie with filler. Those minutes drag as well. The acting feels amateur as does the filmmaking. The best part is the soundtrack. I enjoyed that quite a bit. Not one that I can recommend unless you like these types of films. I commend them for what they did so there's that.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 10.