Leofwine_draca Normally I'm the first to jump at the chance of watching a wacky, psychedelic slice of steaming Euro-horror, but sadly Renato Polselli's 1973 travesty left me totally cold. Written without a plot in mind, to watch BLACK MAGIC RITES… is to experience a jumble of incoherent, absurd sequences with little logic or reality behind them. With better editing, scripting and direction, this might have been half-watchable, but it's frankly a bore.Former bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay (THE LOVES OF HERCULES) quit making movies after this one and it's easy to see why; he starts the film as a dashing heroic type but, by the end, when he appears in blackface wearing a tight red leotard, you know he'd had enough of the whole industry and who can blame him? Poselli is more interested in getting his leading actresses to strip off over and over again, making this more of a sexploitation film than horror. Endless scenes of coupling, groping, stripping and chained women are what BLACK MAGIC RITES… offers, and if you're happy to watch all of that without a shred of plot, then you might just like this one.Despite the film's nonsensical approach to plotting, there are some classic Euro-horror elements to be enjoyed, albeit briefly. There's a crippled, scarred servant straight out of a Universal horror flick, except a little more pervy; plus some wonderful Italian locations, mountains and all, used as backdrops; the scenery is even easier on the eye than the girls. Scenes of a witch-cum-vampire being spiked and burnt are also pretty effective, reminiscent of Mairo Bava's superior Black Sunday. Polselli doesn't skimp on the bloodshed, even if none of it is remotely horrifying; close ups of hands clutching freshly-torn hearts are the order of the day here. BLACK MAGIC RITES… is clearly a product of the late '60s, with lots of psychedelic and hallucinogenic inserts, flashing lights, jump cutting and other camera tricks going on. While this kind of stuff is nice enough to watch (despite badly dating the movie) it's a shame Polselli didn't try harder at directing the damn film.Another thing that ruins the film is the score… oh boy, talk about inappropriate! The cheesiest scene in the film involves a threesome (the guy with a blinking problem) in which the music is straight out of a comedy film – yet the scene isn't supposed to be funny! The climax of the film involves yet more chained women and a ton of nudity, but there's only so much nudity a viewer can watch before it becomes boring. Give this one a miss because it just doesn't press any of the right buttons.

udar55 Jack Nelson (Mickey Hargitay) arrives a gloomy looking castle with his fiancé Laureen (Rita Calderoni) and strange things start to happen immediately. Why? The hell if I know but it is somehow related to Laureen being the reincarnation of Isabella, a witch who was staked and burned alive 500 years ago. Oh, and there are some vampires wandering around too. This is my second Renato Polselli flick (after the previous year's DELIRIUM, also with Hargitay) and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It is great in spots (moody lighting and an interesting editing technique) and completely lousy in others (totally fake rubber bats and easily exposed black backdrops outside of set windows). The biggest problem is it runs way too long (1 hour and 49 minutes) and doesn't make a lick of sense. Worth seeing once just for the 70s feel and the abundance of nudity.

christopher-underwood If the box indicated non stop naked female sacrifice, who would believe it? Well, there is, from the opening credits to the closing title. In between such scenes there is the odd bit of vampirism, some Italian style Gothic horror, psychedelic moments with coloured lights and mini skirts and even time for comedic moments, not forgetting the non consensual threesome and other odd sexual antics. Total nonsense of course and seemingly two or more films stuck together judging by the jumps from misty castles to crystal clear soft core. But, who cares? It looks good most of the time, at no moment does everyone have their clothes on and the soundtrack although appalling is varied. Not much horror but some stunning images, some great faces, and lots of lovely Italian girls happy to show that they are lovely all over.

Mrswing Totally incomprehensible mess of a film, which mixes Satanists, reincarnated witches and vampires to no good effect - apparently the shoestring budget didn't allow for plastic vampire teeth, plus these so-called bloodsuckers (there's never any actual evidence of neckbiting) do not follow any of the usual vampire rules. The editing is extremely confusing, the score ridiculous, the acting... what acting? Hardly any gore, and what is present is very obviously fake. Lots of strictly R-rated nudity, so even on the sleaze level this is a very mild entry. Apparently this film had been lost for many years - and with good reason, too. Avoid unless you're in a masochistic mood.