Un ange pour Satan

I must admit, I collect horrors from the beginning of filming, my oldest is from 1911 until now but the fifties and the sixties never were my thing. That period was filled with too much blah blah horrors were nothing happens or were filled with guys in a monster suite. Thanks to Chris in the UK I was given the opportunity to watch this flick. It is a rare film to find, strange because Barbara Steele plays in it. Wellknown for her part in Black Sunday made in 1960. The fact that it is an Italian film made it even harder to find it with subtitles, my copy has it. In fact, for me it's a ghost story. Beautifully filmed and exceptionally for an Italian flick with perfect sound, no overdubs or hiss. All actors are believable. Don't expect a gory or bloody movie. In those days most of the horrors weren't bloody. Except for the start in the states of the slashers with Blood Feast (1963). Steele plays a perfect role written for her and the plot is also really nice, it's only in the last minutes that you will know what's really going on. It's more suspense then horror, only a few seconds there is blood. There are also no effects used in this film and that's why it has his cult following, Steele is also a reason. In some way it get's you by the throat. If you can catch a copy watch it but first transfer yourself in those days. Oh yeah, it's shot in black and white which gives it an older look (40's). Start searching my friends.

"Un Angelo per Satana" aka. "An Angel For Satan of 1966 is the last of nine Italian Gothic Horror films starring the wonderful Barbara Steele, doubtlessly the greatest female Horror icon in cinema. Barbara Steele, who is capable of combining stunning beauty and unspeakable eeriness like none other (which makes her my favorite actress), starred in none less than three of the all-time greatest Horror masterpieces within a few years, namely Mario Bava's "La Maschera Del Demonio" (aka. "Black Sunday") in 1960, Roger Corman's "Pit And The Pendulum" (aside the great Vincent Price) in 1961 and Antonio Margheriti's "Danza Macabra" (aka. "Castle of Blood") in 1964. While "Un Angelo Per Satana" is not a masterpiece en par with the aforementioned films, or even other brilliant Gothic tales like "Nightmare Castle" ("Gli Amanti De Oltretomba", 1965), this is yet another eerie and great gem starring Steele. As in "La Maschera del Demonio" and "Nightmare Castle", Steele once again has a double-role in this one, and she is once again brilliant switching between pure innocence and pure evil.

The film is set in a 19th century Italian village set next to a lake, from which an old sculpture has been recovered. Invited by the local Count Montebruno (Claudio Gora), sculptor Roberto Merigi (Anthony Steffen) has come in order to restore the artwork, and immediately finds out that the villagers are afraid of a curse which is supposed to be placed upon the sculpture. The Count's beautiful niece Harriet (Barbara Steele) bears an amazing resemblance to the sculpture... "Un Angelo Per Satana" did not have a very high budget, and actually looks a few years older than being made in 1966. This is in no way a fault, however, as the film, which is filmed in beautifully uncanny settings, nonetheless maintains a tense and creepy atmosphere. This is one of only two Horror films director Camilllo Mastrocinque ever made, the other being "La Cripta e L'Incubo" (aka. "Crypt of the Vampire", 1964) starring Horror icon Christopher Lee. Even so, Mastrocinque was obviously perfectly capable of creating genuine creepiness and a Gothic atmosphere. As stated above, Barbara Steele is once again brilliant in her double role here. I am always getting quite monotonous when this favorite actress of mine is the topic, but she simply cannot be praised enough, in my opinion. Anthony Steffen, who is best known for starring in many Spaghetti Westerns as well as Emilio Miraglia's "The Night When Evelyn Came out of her Grave" ("La Notte Che Evelyn Uscì Dalla Tomba", 1971) fits well in the role of the hero, and the cast furthermore includes Mario Brega. Brega, who was part of some of the greatest Italian Westerns, including Leone's Dollar-Trilogy and Sergio Corbucci's "Il Grande Silenzio" (1968), once again plays a grumpy ruffian here. The settings are beautiful and eerie, especially the lake, and the photography is very nicely done. The most convincing reason to see "Un Angelo Per Satana" is, of course, Barbara Steele (more than reason enough for me!), but the film is also great in other aspects. A definite must-see for my fellow fans of Italian Gothic Horror and Barbara Steele, "Un Angelo Per Satana" is a creepy and great gem that comes with my highest recommendations.

Very glad to see this after so many years just reading about it. Was still operating under the impression that it was only available without subtitles, but seeing that Netflix was offering it, I added it to my queue and was very happy to find that it arrived with English subtitles.

It's beautiful, evocative, violent, and puzzling with Steele cutting quite the figure of death and destruction as Harriet fresh out of England to claim her inheritance somewhere on the Continent. For a film that I thought was going to be wearisome and talky considering its first 15 minutes or so of weary talk, it definitely found its stride and delivered on its promise once Steele's machinations--or Belinda's or...?--unfolded.

A great end of the week, Friday night flick and now one of my top three favorite Steele films.

In AN ANGEL FOR SATAN, Sculptor Roberto Merigi (Anthony Steffen) arrives at a small village to restore a mysterious statue of a woman, rescued from the bottom of a lake.

Enter Harriet Montebruno (Barbara Steele), who just happens to bear a striking resemblance to the statue in question. Working together on the restoration, the seemingly supernatural spookiness begins almost immediately. When Harriet starts acting... differently, the real story unfolds.

Filmed in glorious black and white, the restored version of this movie is magnificent! Ms. Steele is at her wicked best here, playing her dualistic character with innocence and sadistic glee by turns. Her bewitching eyes add extra darkness to this, her most lascivious role.

A classic of the genre with a shocking double-twist ending!...

An Angel for Satan is the rarest, and therefore hardest to find of all the Gothic horror films that Barbara Steele made in the sixties; but hunting it down was certainly worth the time and effort as this film is right up there with Danse Macabre and Black Sunday as one of the best films that the horror icon made! Director Camillo Mastrocinque had worked in the Gothic horror genre previously with the somewhat less than brilliant effort Terror in the Crypt in 1964; but it would appear he'd done some homework on the genre since then as this film is much better. The story focuses on a little Italian village. A statue belonging to a rich family has been recovered from the local lake after a heat wave, and Roberto Merigi has been called in to restore it; which coincides with the return of Harriet Montebruno; the daughter of the statue's owner. There is a story of a curse surrounding the statue, and the locals believe that the village itself will become cursed if it is ever recovered from the lake. Strange things then start happening in the village.

The key thing for this genre, and indeed the best thing about this film, is atmosphere. Director Camillo Mastrocinque succeeds admirably in bathing the film in a thick and foreboding atmosphere; which is helped by a great score from Francesco De Masi. The plot is spread rather thinly and the film puts its main focus on the central characters, which works well. Barbara Steele is, of course, the star of the show and aside from looking better than ever, also provides the film with its main story lines. Starring alongside Steele is the great Anthony Steffen, who provides a strong male lead. The film is basically a mystery thriller with horror elements tied in; the horror of course coming mostly from the atmosphere and direction. The plot does flow well and the film is always interesting, though my only real criticism of the film comes from the fact that more isn't made of the curse. There's a gorgeous sequence explaining how it came about, but that's the only real mention and it's a bit of a shame. Otherwise, however, An Angel for Satan is an exceptional Gothic horror film and comes highly recommended to anyone that enjoys films like this!