User reviews

Movies such as "The Devil's Nightmare" are exactly the type of cinematic smut I live for! It's got everything to magically conjure a gigantic smile on the face of every slightly deranged horror/cult/exploitation fanatic. There's bad & incoherent plotting, macabre set-pieces, a mild Gothic atmosphere, demented characters, shocking themes, lousy gore effects and – not to forget – authentically gratuitous lesbian sex! This Belgian/Italian co-production (love the combination since I myself am Belgian and Italy is my favorite movie-making country) is messed up beyond proportions and describing the essence of the plot would take up at least a couple of pages, so I won't go too much into detail. Let's just say the main storyline revolves on an ancient family curse that turns every first born daughter of the Von Rhoneberg generation into a succubus (= female servant of the devil), and a group of tourists stranded at the family castle are just in time to "celebrate" the devilish pact's 700th anniversary. Furthermore, the baron practices alchemy in his basement, there are Nazi child-executions, a gruesome murder story for every room in the castle, the random torture of cats in the attic, negotiations between a priest and the devil himself and a wide variety of shlocky massacres. A lot of the on screen events don't make sense, and there's no building up suspense whatsoever, but it has to be said that the screenplay does also feature a couple of ingenious and rather clever elements. For example, the Succubus (a luscious Erica Blanc) makes sure that every tourist's death symbolizes his or her biggest sin, whether it's greed, unfaithfulness, curiosity … The killings are very nasty, though hardly scary, and follow each other at an incredible pace, barely allowing you the time to wipe the sinister grin off your face. And if all that isn't enough just yet, wait till you witness the far out climax sequence. Oh yes, "The Devil's Nightmare" is pretty bad… So bad it's freaking brilliant! Easily one of the most entertaining European exploitation movies ever made. It's ten times more exciting than all Jess Franco's movies combined, sleazier that Jean Rollin's horribly dull vampire movies and more demented than … well, anything you've ever seen. It's a damn shame Belgians and Italians didn't collaborate more often back in the 70's, because this crazy puppy is a real keeper.

Horror at its best!!!!!! This movie is definitely one that earns the designation of HORROR!!!!! The atmosphere is chilling and the characters are zany and unpredictable. At first glance I thought that this movie would be another Italian slasher fest, but instead I was amazed to discover this eerie piece of cinema had a lot to deliver, most of all a frightening tale of sin and temptation. The devil in this movie is one that instills fear and curiosity, just as the devil should be portrayed. I recommend this film to horror fans and movie fans that don't like watching a typical film. Just a note of caution, this movie is not for the faint of heart. As is with many euro horrors of its day, the Devil's Nightmare pulls no punches when it comes to murder and mayhem. Enjoy!

I saw this as one of 10 horror films on a collection from brentwood DVD called;fright night,its an awesome collection of fright films.anyway the devils nightmare is a Belgium/Italian made shocker about a group of tourists(each one represents one of the 7 deadly sins)they get stranded at the castle of an ex Nazi officer.there's a family curse,gruesome murders,lots of nudity(surprising for 1971)and a very good soundtrack. I'm usually a sucker for good European horror movies especially with the sexy beautiful Erika blanc,who starred in many Italian horror films.sort of like a rival of Barbara Steele.the murders are very gruesome.the dubbing is sloppy but thats expected.i saw this years ago on the USA cable network,of course it was chopped up by the censors. it was hosted by commander USA.who used to show very strange movies. watch the uncut version for the full effect.ignore the critics because most of them dismissed this film as junk.you be the judge.believe me its kind of scary.8 out of 10,Erika blanc gets 10 out of 10 because she was hot.

"Devil's nightmare" is a real great surprise because it is the only movie directed by belgium Jean Brismée who did an original work, not a routine cliché horror movie, quite inventive with different characters (ah Lucien Raimbourg as the old touchy), the sexy Erika Blanc (and her mask of demon), the diabolik Daniel Emilfork (the best surprise of the movie), the pop musical score, and great bonus on the french dvd (interview of Jean Brismée and Erika Blanc). A must see.

Decent Euro Horror outing from Belgium of all places, produced by Italians but with a unique sense of place. Very well written story about an Arkload of stereotypes representing the seven deadly sins obliged to spend the night in a rural castle with a history of occult happenings. Each meets their demise in ironic accordance with the sins they represent: Gluttony, greed, lust, vanity, infidelity, and envy get the main focus while a handsome seminary student is bombarded by temptation as a test of his faith.

Much of the film's success should be attributed to genre film favorite Erika Blanc as the castle's resident succubus, ushering in the fates of the passengers like a Greek chorus. Her presence highlighted not only by the daring one-piece temptress from Hell costume they poured over her fantastic body - No false curves on this one, that's all natural and it still hurts when she bends over, yow. The genius of her makeup during the succubus scenes would have been futile without Ms. Blanc's ability to distort her facial countenance in a manner which is downright eerie. It's a genuine actual performance which comes through regardless of language translation, not just a willing pair of tits in a daring costume.

The other performance of surprising merit is Daniel Emilfork bookending the film as the Great Deceiver himself, superbly cast to not just make the most of his uniquely shaped head but the lightness of his gestures and look of spry delight as he brings torment onto the novice priest. You never make a deal with the devil, especially one who seems so polite, reasonable, and unthreatening.

The other attribute about the film which had slipped the mind is the claustrophobia which pervades almost every indoor scene, with the action stuffed into windowless bedchambers, endlessly curving turret corridors, airless basement kitchens, and stuffy cobweb thick attic spaces. They're even locked in the castle with no way out, or at least they are in the narrative of the priest's satanic nightmare which gives the movie its (English) title.

The film exists in several versions and due to a copyright lapse found its way onto innumerable bargain bin DVD pressings during the 2000s, most of them showing the uncut print. Best bet is to stick with whatever BR release is circulating, it may even feature the re-structured version titled THE DEVIL WALKS AT MIDNIGHT as a bonus, though there is also more than one version of that as well. Which is part of the movie's fun if you ask me: Great art should be able to take a re-fit and still come across as effective.

When a film starts out with a German officer stabbing a newborn baby to death, you know you're in for something special. The Devil's Nightmare is an Italian movie, and a good one at that, so you can expect loads of atmosphere, surrealism, and of course nudie love scenes. Wahey!

Turns out our baby stabber is part of a curse family who's oldest daughter always turns out to be a succubus, and we flash forward about 30 years to his castle, where a bunch of tourists have just turned up. There's the always eating bus driver, the gold-obsessed wife and cheating husband, the old guy, two lesbian lovers, and a priest. After a lengthy and welcome love scene between our two girls, everybody settles down to show the audience how awful they are before Erika Blanc shows up for dinner.

It's no spoiler to say that our Erika is a succubus and immediately starts messing with the tourist's minds. No one can get out of the castle and a stabbed cat is found in the attic. Erika starts killing everyone in a way that represents the seven deadly sins: gluttony, lust, avarice etc. This kind of sounds boring, but for some reason Erika Blanc can turn from being a Euro babe to resembling a cadaver, and it's all a bit on the creepy and weird side. Who will survive?

Apart from the creepy atmosphere, the thing I liked about this film was how when I thought I had it pegged (i.e. I thought the remainder of the film would involve Blanc stalking the survivors) the film took a quick left turn when the devil himself showed up! Throw in a couple of more twists and you've got a pretty effective, weird horror that could only have come from the seventies. Good soundtrack too!

I first watched this as a kid and thought it was scary. Now watching it years later it still is creepy and cheesy. The acting is good by the two main leads, Erika and the priest. The effects are not that bad for that time and the ending leaves room for a sequel. Recommended for those who like creepy and cheesy horror movies. This movie I think is better then Seven which was about the seven deadly sins like this one.What was so great about that movie anyway? Surprised a sequel wasn't made

We open in sepia tone 1945 with the fall of Berlin. What does this have to do with the rest of the movie? Very little.

A priest, a bickering couple, two models, and their fat driver are in a van lost in the German countryside. Stop me if you've heard this joke before.

After getting directions from grave digger Marylin Manson they decide to spend the night at a haunted castle and are invited to dinner by the creepy baron and his zombie butlers whom actually give them details on why each room they'll be staying in is haunted! What could possibly go wrong?

Finally it's time for the meat of the story, the hot lezbo action between the models!

This whole movie is basically the ultimate horror exploitation film with every cliché done to the extreme! So if you enjoy exploitation films you'll love this one.

The set is also noteworthy. I have no idea where this was filmed but the real life castle stands out as no just a Hammer Horror movie set.