Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This is the "b-side" of a disc with Larry Buchanon's "The Naked Witch". And it very much resembles the more well-known film. After three swamp rats murder and rob a Vietnam vet in a Lousiana bayou, he is found and revived as a zombie for some reason by a strange witch name "Dambala", and he proceeds to take undead revenge on his murderers.This is the kind of regional, low-budget film-making that they really don't do anymore. (There are, of course, the modern-day, internet-savvy fan-boys with digital cameras who might pull off something like "The Blair Witch Project" once in awhile , but that's really a different thing). Texas-based Larry Buchanon was one of the first of these filmmakers, but these guys had their real heyday in the 1970's when they took advantage of things like the bigfoot craze (i.e."The Legend of Boggy Creek") and the explosion of "sexploitation" films. The director of this, Jack Weiss, was obviously more interested in the sex films then PG-rated bigfoot "docu-dramas" (although the two things weren't necessarily mutually exclusive--there were actually some "bigfoot sex" films in the 70's). His most famous film was "Mardi Gras Massacre", a much more graphic film both in terms of sex and blood, but this movie (believe it or not) has more of a plot and is more enjoyable simply because it is not so tediously repetitive. The down-home characters are pretty endearing too (despite the generally inept acting).This is better than "Mardi Gras Massacre", but inferior to its co-feature "Naked Witch". Since this was a 70's film though, the witch "Dambala" is certainly a lot more NAKED than the one in the earlier Buchanon film. Maureen Ridley, who plays "Dambala", has an incredible body and was obviously some kind of professional dancer--it's actually not hard to believe her nude dancing could raise the dead (and a lot of other things). I would recommend this if you enjoy low-budget regional film-making, especially as two-for-one feature with "The Naked Witch"

I was taken aback by quite a few things. The photography, especially the bayou shots, is very good; surprisingly good for a no-budget film like this. I kept thinking how even more beautiful several shots would have been in widescreen. The music in many places was also surprisingly good. It's not often that low-budget movies have anything going on that's decent with the music but this one does and there are several moments where it's very effective in building atmosphere.Maureen Ridley, who plays the witch, is absolutely stunning. She reminds me of Laura Gemser (of the Emanuelle films). Her contribution alone adds a few stars to the rating for me. HUBBA HUBBA! WOW! Now for the ugly. The writing/acting is hideous. There are a few actors that looked like they had the potential to do better if only they had better lines to deliver (like Herbert Jahncke). The rest couldn't deliver a line with a packing slip. This is supposed to take place in southern Louisiana yet no one (but one - and he tried but it was awful) had a Louisiana accent! And I'm sure some of these people were from there. I wasn't buyin' it.Overall, the film was very entertaining on a "so bad it's good" level and the fact that Maureen Ridley dances al fresco a few times. With good photography, music and eye candy it gives you more than you'd expect.The print, from Something Weird Video, is exceptionally good for a film such as this. It's on a double bill DVD with THE NAKED WITCH (which has two commentaries). The extras are several shorts and probably a dozen trailers (many of which are New Orleans themed) which are worth buying the disc for alone. For low budget/bad movie lovers this one is an unexpected find.

This rural low-budgeter was pretty shocking for something coming from the Something Weird DVD line, in the fact that it doesn't look or feel like some softcore porn, like probably 90% of their output. Of course, Damballa is pretty hot without her clothes (which you get to see in ample amount)! The film is fairly well-made under the conditions, with some rich color photography and it moves along at a good gallop, being only 71 minutes, and could have probably gotten away with some editing out of the overly-long ritual and dancing sequences. Granted, the acting is pretty poor, but that's to be expected in something like this. All in all, worth a look if you buy a copy.

"Crypt of Dark Secrets" is a '70's horror flick, set in the bayous, concerning a legendary witch woman named Damballa, who has existed in the bayou since pre- Columbian times. Now, I would presume that this witch would be a native American, even though the actress who portrays her is white, but that's just one of the ridiculous inconsistencies that makes movies of this type so much fun. The story begins when three crooks discover that a Vietnam vet living on an island in the bayou has a little stash of money and decide to kill him. While the crooks are planning their crime they utter such words of sheer brilliance as " we have to make sure we don't leave any evidence." Duh, lady. Anyway, they commit the dirty deed and leave the poor guy dead, but guess what, Damballa comes to the rescue to revive him. The witch woman, played by the stunning Maureen Ridley, is a quite shapely young woman who strips down and does a sensuous dance completely in the bare before bringing him back to life. The two take revenge on the murderers before falling madly in love and living forever as lovers. This movie is so awful it's an absolute gas! You'll burst out laughing at the abominable acting and you'll ogle at the nudity and you will love this film!