Blood Orgy of the She Devils

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Female Plasma Suckers" )

directed by Ted V. Mikels
USA 1973

Mara (Lila Zaborin) presides over a black magic coven of women that sacrifices men and uses voodoo to kill from afar. When Rodannus (Ray Myles, SATAN'S BLACK WEDDING) welches on his contract with Mara to kill the Rhodesian ambassador and has her killed, Mara rises back from the grave to take revenge while otherwise conducting business as usual. Mara's activities come to the attention of white magician/college professor Dr. Helsford (Victor Izay, BILLY JACK) when one of his more mature students Mark (Tom Pace, THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES) accompanies his girlfriend Lorraine (Leslie McRae, THE GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS) to one of Mara's seances (in which her Native American spirit guide speaks through her in decidedly non-PC broken English) and they both undergo past life regressions; but will the good doctor be able to save the "young" couple before Lorraine gives herself over to Toruqe (William Bagdad, THE DOLL SQUAD) and Mark winds up on the sacrificial altar?

Never approaching the level of exploitation that the title BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS implies (you know: blood and orgies), Ted V. Mikels' PG-rated occult thriller mostly talk and a bit of go-go dancing. What pleasures the film possesses are in Mikels' deployment of his regular cast members (including THE CORPSE GRINDERS' Sherri Vernon as a flashback inquisition victim tortured by Mikels himself) and an odd and genuinely atmospheric electronic score by Carl Zittrer (including a cue in the final scene that sounds like his main titles theme for CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS). WEREWOLF WOMAN's Annik Borel appears in another flashback as an accused witch stoned by a mob in none-too-convincing period clothing.

Eric Cotenas

Theatrical Release: January 1973 (USA)

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DVD Review: 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	88 Films Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:18:51
Video	1.33:1 Open Matte format Average Bitrate: 5.5 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Subtitles	none
Features	Release Information: Studio: 88 Films Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by director Ted V. Mikels • Theatrical Trailer (4:3; 2:29) • Viewing Notes by Calum Waddel (19 pages) • 88 Films Trailer Park DVD Release Date: August 19th, 2014 Amaray Chapters 6

Comments

As with the American DVD releases of the film from Image Entertainment and Alpha Video (licensed unlike some of their PD offerings), 88 Films' PAL DVD of BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS has to make do with an aged fullscreen video master that is impenetrably dark at times (although the film probably looked just as unclear on drive-in screens). It is presumably open matte since compositions do not look cropped and a boom microphone shadow creeps into the top of the frame at one point. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio is fairly clean and subject to the faults of the original recording more than anything else.

The audio commentary by director Ted Mikels - which originally appeared on the Image release - appears on a separate encode of the film (hence the usage of a dual-layer disc). Among the topics covered are his first use of a synthesizer score, his two years of research and week of screenwriting, shooting the film in his Glendale "castle" (as well as Cecil B. DeMille's estate), the presence of psychic Kebrina Kincade in the cast, and pointing out the Van der Veer Photo Effects opticals. Mikels could have used a moderator as there are plenty of dead spots, or the comments could have been culled into an interview featurette.

Besides the film's original trailer, the disc also includes nineteen pages of "viewing notes" by Calum Waddel waxing on the film's "PG-rated preposterousness" and making an argument for the influences of Michael Reeves' WITCHFINDER GENERAL and the Manson murders (as well as the ensuing "Mansonsploitation" films) on Mikels' production. The disc closes out with ten 88 Films' trailers including THE CORPSE GRINDERS, TWO MOON JUNCTION, THE TOXIC AVENGER, HIDEOUS!, THE GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS, ROBOT WARS, DOLLMAN, THE DOLL SQUAD, CASTLE FREAK, and SLICE AND DICE.