32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Weird but fascinating Euro-sleeze horror, July 11, 2002
The sight of a woman in white gown spread open, running full frontal through the woods has got to be a good sign, coming as it does in Nude For Satan's opening moments.
On his way to a house call, racing down the highway in his VW bug, Doctor William Benson nearly has an accident as he sees the woman in white standing in the middle of the road. As he is recovering from his near miss, he hears a crash behind him. He finds a Mini with the woman inside injured, presumably for the same reason as he. He puts Susan in his car and goes for help. Note: how did he know her name later? He didn't go through her purse or anything that I could see.
He finds a castle and enters. The place is a deserted and decrepit place. He sees a painting of a woman, then finds that woman rushing to greet him. To his surprise, it's none other than the woman he rescued, except she calls him Peter. She's also more carefree and happy, and she ends up seducing him. She also spouts some puzzling words on memory and time: "What is memory but a fraction of time wrapped in the parentheses of the past?" Wow, sounds like dialogue from Dr. Who, Colin Baker era. And also, "The past is not in time anymore, and time is silence. There is no space here for memories--it's always now."
Meanwhile, Susan, apparently recovered, goes to the castle, where she is invited in by a mysterious man in black. He welcomes her in but there's a sinister air about him, as he momentarily undresses her with a glance of his eyes. A hallucination or no? She sees a painting of a man who looks like William, except he's dressed in 19th century clothes. She runs into him, and he not only calls her Evelyn, but acts like a buffoon. What's happening should be kind of obvious by now, adding the woman's mysterious words, and those of a book William finds: "The light is twofold, the way is only one. The essence of life is not in time. He who has made a pact with Him, belongs to Him."
The mysterious stranger says some words about life that are intriguing and true: "... an illusion, like life. We delude ourselves that we live, that we love, that we die. When we see our mistake, we prefer to ignore it. Then, everything becomes a nightmare." A nightmare is exactly what William and Susan go through once they figure out what's going on.
There's whippings, lesbian sex, and enough full frontal nudity. Rita Calderoni (Susan/Evelyn) also played a dual role in The Reincarnation Of Isabel as Laureen/Isabella, and we see more of her here than in Isabel. If this didn't have the skin and violence, this would make a great Dr. Who story. As it is, it's a piece of weird but fascinating Euro-horror, more coherent than The Reincarnation Of Isabel, and with a good puzzle for the viewer to figure out.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nude, Nude, Nude, March 9, 2003
By A Customer
With the title of the movie, there is no doubt you will get to see nudity, but this film is much better than that. It is the best non-Jean Rollin film in the DVD Redemption line, and the only one in my collection other than the Rollin films.
Surreal, creepy, the lovely Rita Calderoni, in her most nude role, and all the campy goth and eerie locations and characters that a classic 70's sexploitation horror film should be. A classic.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Atmospheric Italian Horror, June 16, 2000
By no means is this a classic of horror cinema (apparently it's been locked away in a vault since it's disastrous Italian one-screening release in the 70's), but it is nonetheless a fun and moody descent into euro-erotic atmosphere. There is a creepy feel to the proceedings which is backed by a foreboding musical score, solid acting and stylistic use of lighting and camera movements. It's very low-budget and the narrative is minimal, but the film's shortcomings are redeemed by it's dream-like ambience. Nudity abounds and there's a very fake spider, but this is one small gem that italian horror fans should check out. The DVD lets you watch it in Italian with english subtitles (this is the better choice) or in the English-dubbed version. Also contains the Italian and the English trailers.
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