Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973)

To me, this movie is perfection.

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

recommended

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Although I've heard a lot about the films of cult director Ted V. Mikels over the years, I'm not sure I've actually sat down and watched any of his work - until now, at least. Having just endured the cinematic mess that is BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS, I suspect that his career is based on a string of classic exploitation titles that the reality of the movies themselves can't hope to match.Certainly BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS is nothing like it sounds as a movie. Incredibly this film earned an 18 certificate here in the UK, even though there are only two or three mildly violent scenes in the whole thing and the American rating was PG. However it stands, this is a low budget mess of a film, in which very little happens. Mikels seems to be going for a pseudo-documentary approach at times, having a greybeard professor narrating various 'facts' about witchcraft to his assembled audience, which makes for exceptionally boring viewing.The 'horror' comes from a couple of black mass sequences that are full of alternate chanting and screaming, although they're filmed in such a way that's completely devoid of excitement, danger, or horror. Mikels is clearly hoping to emulate some of the exploitational 'witch finder' films made a few years previously, particularly MARK OF THE DEVIL, with a couple of moments of tame witch torture, but the histrionic acting and extremely low production values render such moments laughable rather than horrifying.

So here am again trawling through known worst in some hope of locating a redeeming factor (as someone here earlier assessed it, in a sort of 'masochistic movie musings mode'), and you should know - especially if paid attention to other reviews here - that being a T. Mikels' film, the answer is that still, it's a resounding NO: not least because most of it is shot in the dark (even one bright sunlit exposition scene still has one of the dialogue interlopers filmed in darkened face shadow, still!)In fact the most useful advice I could pass on was that perhaps it would be a good one to put on for the background to a (Halloween?) party or the likes (thanks 'Al Omega' of online Creature Features) coz in its way, this could be of aural interest, first for all the really hokey dialogue (Main witch star, Mana (Lila Zaborin) mostly not really acting, only emoting - once in almost an (ex UK PM) Margaret Thatcher style barking out "I'm not here to frighten you; I'm here to help you!"), but also because the soundtrack has some great trippy sounds on it seeming more appropriate to a sci-fi offering (kudos to Carl Zittrer and/or James Christopher in the music / sounds departments): and yes, as warned, no orgy folks, but towards the end some pretty dancing (well hop and jumping) girls bop about to a pretty cool drumming beat. Oh, and also that if right on full throated feminine screaming somehow does it for you, then these otherwise amateur delivery actresses really put their heart and, well, lungs, into their cue, 'scream' scenes, indeed!So there you go; plenty to keep ya ears attuned to, but otherwise, visually, on the whole - i.e. throughout - absolutely nothing (although I do wonder if the Monty Python team, circa Life of Brian, had seen and been inspired by the flashback stoning scene): as one other reviewer also suggested rank as below = sub zero: so, actually, standard fare for Ted as usual, really. What would you otherwise ever expect?

Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973)* (out of 4) This Ted V. Mikels film came after THE ASTRO ZOMBIES and THE CORPSE GRINDERS so if you've seen either of those films then you should know what to expect. Mara (Lila Zaborin) is using black magic and some sexy women to kill off some men who are trying to put an end to her but she then has to worry about a couple magicians who plan to use their powers to put an end to the Satan-worshiping. I really love those exploitation gems that would play third on a triple feature at a drive-in. Among the things I enjoy is reading how many films would bomb at one drive-in but they'd change the title, play it again at the same drive-in and this time the film would be a hit. Those who follow exploitation films from this era will know that there are some pretty kinky and wacky titles out there and Mikels certainly hit a grand slam with this one. BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS is a marvelous title but sadly that's pretty much the only good thing going on. There's not any blood. There's no orgy. And there's really not too many she-devils on hand. The title promises sex and violence but the film is actually PG-rated and features very little going on. I'm really curious who this film was meant for because it's certainly a little too dark for kids but at the same time it's way too tame for adults so who on Earth was Mikels making this film for? I can see many people pulling out of the drive-in or hoping into the back seats with their girlfriends because there's just nothing happening here. For the majority of the running time we see Mara giving speeches about the greatness of Satan and usually she's talking in some weird language where you can't even understand what she's doing. The magicians are just downright boring as are all the victims. The film is pure boredom from start to finish simply because there's not a life of energy to be found. Mikels has gained a cult following over the past several years as more and more people check his weird filmography out. I think there's some mild charm about the guy but at the same time there's no denying that he's created some really bad and pointless films and this here is one of them. The best part of the film just happens to be a flashback sequence where several of the people on screen are still wearing clothing from the 1970s.

Let's get the basics down first. I grew up in a white-bread, almost totally homogenized town. I am only 19. And, so, I haven't seen too many exploitation films. However, due to a recommendation from "Cult Flicks and Trash Picks," I bought this piece of trash a few years ago. I have watched it twice. The movie is good, and better than most.*SPOILERS* The movie is almost incoherent, and shall be for most films. A group of sacrificing witches do rituals. Their head witch is hired to kill a politician, and then is killed, but reincarnates herself. She also does seances. She decides to extract her vengence on the two who attempted to kill her. We also have flashbacks of torture scenes from history's witches (some of the more disturbing images on screen). And, it ends with a bunch of witch hunters coming to kill her. The movie is funny in parts, sometimes downright hilarious. However, it does have moments of disturbing images, much worse that Last House on the Left, if you need a comparison. The movie somehow got away with a 'PG' rating, probably because it does not show anything. So, I found it kind of entertaining, even if it was a little tedious.7/10