jamesraeburn2003 In a remote village in Brittany, Count Sinistre (Hubert Noel) is reactivated as a vampire four hundred years after being buried alive for his crimes. He kills and reactivates a gypsy girl called Tania (Carole Gray) to be his bride in blood. Meanwhile, writer Paul Baxter (William Sylvester), is holidaying with friends in the village. Two of them discover the resting place of the vampires whilst exploring caves and are murdered and another, Anne (Rona Anderson), is drowned after she discovers Sinistre's secret. However, Baxter and antiques dealer, Madeleine (Diana Decker) escape back to England. But, Sinistre is close behind as Baxter has stolen his secret Talisman, a gold necklace carved in the shape of a bat. Meanwhile, we learn that Madeline is involved with Sinistre's cult and that she helped him move to England. In addition, Baxter's new girlfriend, the model Karen Steele (Tracy Reed), is in grave danger as Sinistre intends to make her his new vampire bride...Notable as the first British horror film to bring vampirism into a contemporary setting, but it is a disappointingly tame offering with little in the way of thrills or suspense thanks to Lance Comfort's flat direction and since most of its horrors take place off screen. Lyn Fairhurst's screenplay has promise with its inclusion of themes like reincarnation and witchcraft as well as vampirism. Sadly, however, they are poorly integrated into the basic plot and we are left with a mish mash of occult mumbo jumbo that make very little sense.Nevertheless, there are still some things to enjoy here. Reg Wyer's Eastmancolor camera-work is atmospheric including a beautiful shot of Tania lying in her coffin surrounded by red blossoms as the Count sets about reactivating her as an Undead. Another great set piece is a portrait of Karen, painted by Sinistre, which gushes blood when Tania slashes it with a knife in a jealous rage since she knows that Karen is to replace her as the Count's vampire bride. The film has no real outstanding merits in the acting field and William Sylvester, who was excellent in Lance Comfort's notable b-pic thriller, Blind Corner, here playing a writer turned vampire hunter is a rather dull hero. We don't think much of Baxter's chat up techniques either. At a party where he meets Karen for the first time, he invites her back to his flat by saying: "If you get hungry, I know a place where the scrambled eggs taste great. I cook with a non stick saucepan." Overall, Devils Of Darkness, is a big disappointment considering its status as Britain's first modern day vampire film and the fact that a promising plot is left woefully underdeveloped. It is a film that I would like to see remade because, with a better developed script and a stronger cast, it could well be a front rank genre offering. But, there are some bright moments and die hard fans of British horror cinema, like myself, will love it anyway as it is in itself a pleasant reminder of a period of British filmmaking that has long since disappeared.

Woodyanders Writer Paul Baxter (likable William Sylvestor) and his newfound model girlfriend Karin (ravishing redhead beauty Tracy Reed) meet elegant French aristocrat Arman du Moliere (a supremely suave and sinister portrayal by Hubert Noel) while vacationing in rural Brittany. Moliere turns out to be a vampire who abducts Karin so she can be a human sacrifice for the Satanic cult that he's the leader of. Director Lance Comfort, working from a nifty and inspired script by Lyn Fairhurst, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, ably creates a creepy atmosphere, and offers a strong evocation of the remote rustic region. The solid acting from a sturdy cast rates as another substantial plus: Sylvestor and Noel are fine in the leads, with good support from Carole Gray as lusty gypsy Tania, Diana Decker as perky socialite Madeleine Braun, Peter Illing as the huffy, yet laid-back Inspector Illing, and Victor Brooks as the helpful, hard-nosed Inspector Hardwick. Reginald H. Wyer's vibrant cinematography, Bernie Fenton's spooky'n'shuddery score, and the rousing conclusion all further enhance the entertainment value of this enjoyable 60's fright feature.

MARIO GAUCI I had never heard of this one when it was announced as part of the revived "Midnite Movies" line of DVD releases paired with the renowned WITCHCRAFT (1964); frankly, I was disappointed that this obscure title was chosen over, say, NIGHT OF THE EAGLE (1962) which would have been the ideal companion to Don Sharp's film. In any case, it did seem rather intriguing from the colorful stills posted on Internet sites which reviewed the disc(s) but, all in all, it emerged as pretty goofy, with risible accents and several instances of wildly dated 60s modishness; in fact, an unexpected degree of camp is present in the lengthy pre-credits gypsy dance sequence, when depicting the 'degenerate' lifestyle of a group of ostensible bohemians (read bitchy lesbians and buffoonish, tipsy gentlemen) and the climactic Satanic ceremony! The narrative, then, provides an unholy mishmash – with little rhyme or reason – of popular horror themes: vampirism, witchcraft and, most bafflingly, body-snatching are all called upon by the oddly female screenwriter. Clearly, this was made by people with no proper knowledge of genre convention: consequently, the end result is aloof and forgettable, if undeniably good-looking (particularly prevalent are the vivid, velvet robes sported by the Satanists) and eminently watchable; in essence, this lies somewhere between the generic output of Hammer and AIP. Predictably, most of the characters initially skeptical author William Sylvester comes into contact with turn out to be members of the devil/vampire cult. In the same vein (pardon the pun!), the police inspector investigating the various mysterious deaths and disappearances starts off as hostile but gradually becomes sympathetic – not to mention, a believer in the supernatural! Unfortunately, the film's slow-moving 88 minutes (misprinted as an even heftier 124 on the DVD back cover!) are capped by a rushed and altogether weak climax.Sylvester makes for a likable if wooden lead; he had already appeared in another notable horror film DEVIL DOLL (1964) and would later feature in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). Hubert Noel, though lacking most of the qualities one typically associates with a bloodsucker (not that "Le Comte Sinistre" sees much action in this respect – since all he seems concerned about is to recover his precious talisman!), along with Carole Gray (as the intended gypsy bride of the vampire who, for whatever reason, is jilted by him in favor of the former!), make a rather arresting pair of villains. The belatedly-introduced Tracy Reed is a striking, redheaded heroine – she is Carol Reed's niece, Oliver Reed's cousin and director Anthony Pelissier's daughter, and is best-known for portraying George C. Scott's bikini-clad secretary in DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)! Curiously enough, as I lay watching, I pondered on how it would have effected the film had Gray and Reed exchanged roles...

santiospain This is one of those independent productions that kept appearing in the UK in the 60s and early 70s. Think Tigon and Tyburn film producers. Like many of them they made only one or two films and then disappeared again. Hammer's success with the Dracula franchise inspired this one. Its an interesting film that instead of the Gothic heavy appearance of Dracula this film transplants itself to contemporary France and England. Its starts promisingly with a gypsy wedding being interrupted by a rude bat. This is a metamorphosed form of a buried count who was interned alive for practicing the dark arts. He has arrived without an invitation to claim the intended bride as his own. This is rather heartless of him since he is taking the would be wife of one of his loyal servants. Having made her immortal he proceeds to gather a coven of worshipers as though being invincible wasn't enough for his ego, he need people to worship him too. Hubert Noël was successful at playing minor roles in film for which he seemed very suited. Here is thrown as the villain in the lead role. He may have th appearance of suave French vampire but he lacks the presence of a Dracula and his accent is an unintended joy. In addition there is Tracy Reed as the usual hapless victim and once again a minor actress is thrown into something too deep resulting in her never taking another lead role.The film ends predictably with the hero doing most of the right things. But this is a pale imitation of a Roger Corman film. I found this feature only the more interesting having read descriptions of it and seen a painting with references to the film. On a couple of film and vampire sites the then writer and psychic Stephen Armourae described the film and gave particular attention to Tracy Reed of whom he was clearly somewhat enamored including her in a column on Erotica. Later I saw an intriguing painting by him entitled 'Catherine'. Having then seen the film and the painting that appears in that as the vampire is also an artist I could see the connection and it wake me up from falling asleep. The difference being that Armourae has played & from what has appeared in print and net perhaps more a vampire better than Noel. If your in front of a TV and this comes on a satellite channel try and stay awake for Tracy Reed and a pretty hot painting of her. The rest- see a Hammer movie