3/10
Boring Satanic Mess
17 December 2009
I am an enthusiastic fan of European Horror in general and I LIVE for Italian and Spanish Gothic Horror productions in particular. That being said, one will always be in for one disappointment or another, regardless of genre, and this is definitely the case with "Las Amantes Del Diablo" aka. "Feast of Satan" (1971). My expectations for this flick weren't very high, since fellow Eurohorror buffs had already warned me that it wasn't very good; however, I tend to love trashy flicks that others find silly. While I expected this film to be silly, I did not expect it to be boring. Well, it is.

The film's premise isn't all that bad and could have actually made a cool flick, had it been executed with a little more love. The film is about a young woman (Krista Nell) who, in search of her disappeared sister, comes to a small coastal village where she encounters the sinister Dr. Tills Nescu (Espartaco Santoni)... The title already gives away in which direction the film is going, and though it is only 90 minutes long, it seems to go on forever. There is zero action and zero suspense, and endless periods in which literally nothing happens. European Horror cinema is generally known to be as atmospheric as cinema gets. Sadly this isn't the case with this yawner, which features hardly any atmosphere-building settings (with the exception of one somewhat eerie-looking castle). The ridiculous and absolutely out-of-place elevator music doesn't help. Unlike most European Horror / Exploitation flicks from the 70s this one is almost gore- and sleaze-less. The highlight of the film is a scene in which the yummy leading actress Krista Nell (who sadly passed away far too young from leukemia) bares her breasts for about two seconds. The female cast members, particularly Nell and the equally ravishing Teresa Gimpera, are nice to look at, but then, there's about 10.000 other Eurohorror films of which one can say the same, and which are a hundred times more recommendable than this one. The film's most entertaining moments are those which are (unintentionally?) funny, such as the mustached dwarf who simply is there for no reason whatsoever. The film also features Julio Peña, who might be known to Eurohorror fans for being in several films starring the late Spanish Horror legend Paul Naschy (R.I.P.). The film catches up a little in the last 15 minutes, but this doesn't make up for first 75 minutes of boredom. There isn't much else to say about this film, other than that it is dull as ditchwater. Not Recommended.
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