The Devil's Plaything

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source: The Devil's Plaything

I bought "The Devil's Plaything" under the alternative title "Vampire Ecstasy" uncut on British DVD release, set in a German castle it is a tale of vampires, rituals and lots of sex. I won't beat about the bush (pun intended, ha, ha!) but this is a soft core skin flick dressed up as a horror movie. Erotic horror if you like, director Joseph Sarno was apparently one of the pioneers of this sub genre. The Gothic castle is set amongst beautiful German mountain scenery, impressive but the female vampires seem immune to sunlight (though not garlic or crosses), and there's not a set of fangs in sight. Barely any blood either. The cast consists of European actors who appear to have been speaking in English. If this were the case then credit to them for doing this, however their performances do come across as very wooden and would probably have been better filmed in German with English subtitles or dubbed into English. Apart from a disfigured, creepy male servant all of the cast get naked and this probably makes up about half of the move's running time. The sexy female vampires perform rituals in the castle's dungeon, gyrating to a repetitive drumbeat and doing suggestive things with phallic shaped candles! There are also several sex scenes though nothing of the hardcore variety. My problem is that after a while this just became very repetitive and lost its eroticism, not helped by a running time of 103 minutes. As a horror movie this is lame, as a European sexploitation flick then it's worth a look.

Well, there you have it, another disillusion on my account. Two, actually! First of all, even though I like to think of myself that I know a little something about 70's euro-exploitation and its most prolific contributors, I never heard about Joseph W. Sarno before. Here's a guy who made over seventy rancid and cult-laden exploitation movies and I haven't seen a single one! How? Why? What happened here? Secondly, and even worse, just when you think to have found a new source for obscure cult movies, that director's most famous and supposed "masterpiece" turns out to be an irredeemably dull and irritating film. Admittedly, lesbian vampire movies form a pretty insignificant sub genre as a whole, but some of them bath in ominous atmosphere and curious sensuality (like José Larraz' "Vampyres" or Harry Kümmel's "Daughters of Darkness"). Joseph Sarno's film has nothing to offer, except copious amounts of gratuitous nudity and even that becomes boring rather quickly. The events take place in a secluded old castle, hidden deep in the German mountains, where five centuries ago lived a malicious and bloodthirsty (literally) baroness. Her loyal disciples still throw naked dance parties in the castle's catacombs, which are lit by *-shaped candles…AUCH, and hope to resurrect the baroness any time soon now. Suddenly (don't even ask how) the castle is full of young and sexy female guests, so even more erotic rites ensue. Sounds delicious and entertaining enough, but "The Devil's Plaything" contains a massive number of sequences where literally nothing happens and where the cast members' ignorant facial expressions are simply unendurable! Sarno isn't capable of creating suspense or building a Gothic atmosphere (or maybe he just didn't bother to) and the actresses' capacities restrict themselves to standing in front the camera topless and pull a really pathetic face. Please do yourself a favor: no matter how desperately you strive to see all lurid lesbian-vampire movies of the 70's, this one isn't worth a penny! Even the repertoires of Jess Franco and Jean Rollin are pure art compared to this dud.

Baroness Varga was put to death 400 years ago for her Bathory-style attraction to human blood, and she put a curse on the place. She promised to return one day, and it appears that time has come. Hungarian actress Nadja Henkowa plays Frau Wanda Krock, the housekeeper, who bears a passing resemblance to singer/songwriter PJ Harvey. She is is head of a coven of stern eye-browed maidservants who 'welcome' a disparate crew of travellers forced to seek refuge in her castle due to stormy weather (Henkowa's performance is my favourite in the film – a fine balance of brooding menace, fearsome rage and passionate sensuality). The characters address each other with exquisite politeness, but a tone of condescension and abhorrence. In the great cellars of the castle, you see, erotic rituals are taking place that imply the maidservants are not so straight-laced after all. Apart from Henkowa, who steals every scene she is in, Marie Forså is very good as Helga. Her transformation from seemingly 'innocent' to something far more provocative is well played. Everything you need for a typical Euro-horror is here – much stilted acting, bare-breasted erotica, unconvincing day-for-night shots and a genuine crumbling castle set in spacious, beautiful locations. This Swedish/Swiss/German collaboration is directed by Joseph W. Sarno, who began his pioneering work in the sexploitation genre in 1961 with 'Nude in Charcoal', before venturing into more explicit territory. The story is regularly padded out/interrupted/enlivened (the choice is yours) with lingering sex scenes of varied persuasion. The resulting film is vastly overlong and has a disappointingly low-key ending, but nevertheless, is a very enjoyable example of its genre. The physical and mental connection between vampire-like curses and sensuality has always been a selling point, and is portrayed quite explicitly and very effectively here. Although it could be argued that the whole venture is just an excuse for lots of heaving breasts and softcore activity, and that the performances (from a cast who are not speaking in their native tongues) are typically 'Euro trashy', this is a powerful meeting of sexuality and dark rituals - complete with phallus-shaped candles and a tribal drum-beat that will stay with you long after the film has ended!

I wasn't as "lucky" as some of the others commenting on this film: i have never seen anything else out of the...shall we say... "fecund" mind of Sarno. I agree with many: some of the actresses who spend a lot of time topless and (go-go) dancing are not really that attractive. I kinda liked Fraulein Crank(?)...she was so homely , she was cute! The acting was pretty stale, also, though delivering lines in a second language might have accounted for a lot of that problem. Trying to follow the plot was a major chore: was there one, really? I do heartily agree with one other comment: for a vampire movie, there's not much blood. Yep, if you want GOOD bloodsucking flicks, check out such Hammer classics as "Horror of Dracula" and (my personal favourite) "Brides of Dracula". The most (unintentionally) humorous part is where the lady doctor gets her clothes torn off by a cloud of bats...which you never SEE!...the bats, I mean. Okay as a time-waster if you happen to catch it on cable here in the Great White North but, for heaven's sake, don't rent it!

THE DEVIL'S PLAYTHING is my second attempt at a Joseph Sarno production - and although I will say it is far more enjoyable than the painfully dull and unerotic Swedish WILDCATS, it is still a little slow and un-explicit for my taste. This one centers around a group of vampire girls who live in a castle, that want to resurrect their previously murdered "leader". In order to do so, the girls have to dance around naked and kiss each other and chant weird stuff - and of course drink some blood, too. When a doctor and her brother's car breaks down and they have to stop at the castle for lodging - they provide the ideal bloodbank for the horny vampires...but they may not be as helpless as they seem... THE DEVIL'S PLAYTHING is a pretty good example of early 70's exploit sleaze. Lots of nudity - including some full-frontal, some sleazy undertones - including incest and of course, lesbo-bloodsucking...but these scenes are still pretty tame by today's standards. Some pretty hot women in this one, would have benefited from some more explicit sex, but I guess ya can't have it all. Also would have benefited from some heavier violence/gore, being that it IS a vampire film, but I think the purpose of THE DEVIL'S PLAYTHING was more to showcase skin, not blood. Still a little slow - and the acting for the most part is absolutely wooden - but that's to be expected from something from this era and of this budget. Worth a look to exploit fans - others may find it a little too dull for their liking. 7/10

... than this has a lot of Horror in it! Like almost way too much of it. Full frontal and everything. There is no explicit intercourse being shown, but other than that it feels like at least 50% of the movie plays in the *. A lot of women who may not be able to convince you of their characters motivation, but seem to be able to convince others to obey them (through singing as is suggested and their bare bodies). I wonder if some thought: who needs Viagra, when you can chant and make people horny just like that. Of course Viagra was not a thing back then. But Horror movies were. Not that there is much evidence of that here. I mean it get eerie from time to time, but this puts the Horror mantle on to let you watch a soft-core movie and not feel bad about it. Here's the thing: you can have fun with this, because it's so bad it gets entertaining. You can't be prude (I think I thoroughly established that) and don't expect too much Horror out of it ... Fancy an ... old castle with hot women dying to get into your pants? (on a serious note: the best thing is the location itself, really puts value to the whole thing)

Der Flutch der Schwarzen Schwestern (called by it's UK release title The Devil's Plaything, on my copy)is an experiment in eroto horror that never really takes off. What plot there is to be had involves the spirit of a vampiric baroness whom has been kept alive by her cult of attendants, so as to possess the body of a young woman and be reborn. Once resurrected, she can continue her bloodlust eternally, provided she drinks the blood of the descendants of her executioners. The stilted dialogue and even worse acting make the storyline damned hard to follow (worsened by a very poor audio mix and no subtitles). It's pretty evident the plot is a wash about 15 minutes in, and had there been enough half clothed starlets, all would've been forgiven. Instead there's random cut scenes of naked girls dancing to bongos(while wearing body paint reminiscent of extras from Laugh In), lots of spell induced heavy breathing in sheer nighties(resembling those shampoo as * Herbal Essences commercials) and a weird incest subplot, with the girls being fairly below par overall (The castle's housekeeper/leader of the cult is probably the worst of the lot, looking like a man in drag in most camera angles) This movie is fence sitting between the two genres, and it's lack of commitment to either is what makes it a lot less interesting than it could've been. There's too little plot to be scary (having actors look about aimlessly is not an effective suspense building tool) and too little quality skin to be sexy. 3 stars. (1 for genuine castle setting, 1 for the god awful shadow puppet special effects in the bat attack scene, 1 for an interesting but wasted premise)

To be as honest as I possibly can, The Devil's Plaything (or Veil of Blood or Vampire Ecstasy or The Curse of the Black Sisters or……) is a complete bore. The movie has a good premise behind it – the resurrection of a long dead vampire through the body of a descendant through the aid and assistance of a group of women dressed in black – but the execution is horrible. There are great, long moments of screen time when literally nothing happens. Characters just stand around with nothing to do. There's no mystery, no suspense, and no plot points to care about. The acting is simply abysmal. Most of the acting involves a group of below average looking women dancing naked while staring at the camera. They do this repeatedly. And what little plot there is seems to be designed to get more of these less than attractive women naked so they can join in the dancing. While it's not as bad or pointless as the dancing or the plot in something like Orgy of the Dead, it comes close.