Blood Sabbath

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.

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

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.

Boob Sa-butt, more like! If you like nudity, naked girls, and women with no clothes on then this film is right up your street. Our hero, David, is a Vietnam vet wandering the land with a guitar and not much else when he's set upon by naked, annoying hippy girls and before you know it he's being rescued by a water nymph and falling in love. Trouble is, the water nymph can't totally fall in love with him until he loses his soul. Why? I've no idea, but luckily there's a coven of witches nearby who just happen to be on the lookout for a soul. Makes sense to whomever wrote the screenplay, I guess.

You've also got the local fisherman guy, and the local priest who is now having an attack of the guilt after filling his boots with naked witch acolytes for years. What price will David pay for the witches services? How will his water nymph missus react? Does anyone come out unscathed from making pacts with witches? And will Dyanne whatshername get out her knockers and boogie for the lads? The answer to that last one is indeed a 'yes' and it's enough to make a bald man cry, if you know what I mean.

Look, Blood Sabbath is a strange, strange film. It should be kind of boring, but the frequent nudity and all round surreal nature of thing keep you going. David's a Vietnam vet, and I get the feeling that all this film takes place in some kind of purgatory or something, which would explain the annoying hippy people and the flashbacks to him accidentally shooting children. Either that, or I've watched far too many weird films and something bust up there in my brain, there.

Delirious mess of a witchcraft tale is watchable mainly as a showcase for the female bust. 'Nam vet drifter David(Anthony Geary, "Luke Spencer" of GENERAL HOSPITAL fame) is nettled by a group of reckless hippies who are having some sort of baby-oil orgy in the wilderness. By and by, he falls in love with a foxy water nymph named Yyalah, but she can't requite his affections "because he has a soul". The inimitable Dyanne Thorne(of the amazing ILSA films) turns up as a witch named Alotta (hmmmm...now there's a name you can have all sorts of fun with), who has plans of her own for David. This very druggie deep-woods tale of love, lust, and the supernatural culminates in a satisfactory bittersweet finale(and a closing credits crawl with that distinctly MARY-TYLER-MOORE lettering font), but getting that far along is a challenge and a chore.

An occasionally interesting, but mostly tiresome affair from the post-psychedelic burnout years(a place in time which I personally refer to as "the rattan zone"). If you're not a dedicated completest of 70s horror trash, you might opt to give this one a wide berth. I'm pretty sure it's inspired by, or very loosely based on Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's 19th century romantic fantasy novella UNDINE.

4/10