not horrible nor great

Let's be realistic.

An action-packed slog

Blistering performances.

Giorgio Ferroni's Night of the Devils (not to be confused with the 1971 film of the same title) is an extremely rare little horror film; but in spite of that, any self respecting fan of Eurohorror will recognise the plot line instantly as it was also used to great effect in the longest segment of the Mario Bava masterpiece 'Black Sabbath'. While this film is not as good as the middle of Bava's film, and does feel a little stretched at times; it managed to hold my interest throughout and I'd rate it as a success overall. The film begins with an unknown man stumbling into hospital. He doesn't make any attempt to identify himself, but soon after an unknown woman turns up and he begins to panic. From there we go back in time as the man remembers the events that lead up to him stumbling into the hospital. It emerges that he had a break down and was forced to stay with a family out in the woods. They are clearly hiding something right from the start and we soon find out that there's a witch in the woods who has taken their father.Director Giorgio Ferroni is best known for his excellent Gothic horror film Mill of the Stone Women which he made twelve years previously. Overall, I'd have to say that the earlier film is the more successful; but there are shades of the macabre atmosphere that made Mill of the Stone Women a success in this film. It has to be said that the film is rather slow and there are times when it is not very exciting; but this time is used well in building up the atmosphere and it pays off towards the end. The plot line follows basically the same narrative as the one we saw in Bava's earlier film so the story won't be much of a surprise to anyone who has seen Black Sabbath. The setting is very well used also and the director ensures that the isolation of it is always at the forefront. The film is not very gory but this is made up for with some memorably disturbing scenes. It all boils down to a very effective ending that certainly justifies the slow build featured throughout the film. Overall, Night of the Devils is a very solid little horror film and is well worth seeing if you can find it!

I've seen this movie many times; I have to say I love this movie because of many reasons : there are scenes that really scare the hell out of me , for example , the witch running through the woods , the animals running , the scenes that create suspense like when Gianni Garko is inside the house and they're all waiting for the grandpa to come back (and we all know something is happening) Gianni Garko is one of the great actors of the 70s ,he's been a guest star in "Space 1999", as well;the movie has got that 70s atmosphere (like in the hospital) mixed with a sense of Hammer Horror , but more low-budget From what I know, the movie was shot near the place I live (North East Italy) close to Slovenja (Yugoslavia, back then) It's less scary after two or three views, but it's a very good movie

It's always nice to find an obscure gem like this. This film is VERY good. Don't let the other reviews here fool you. An intelligent viewer who actually WATCHES and takes in all the atmosphere built up will find a lot to reward them. One should not go into this with the typical 2 second attention span so prevalent today. The film is intelligently made and builds slowly but surely. You have to take this as an Italian horror movie from the 70's to appreciate. All the conventions of this style of film-making are present. The weird dubbing zooms and creepy vocal music are all their and are very effective in creating the proper Euro Horror feel. The director Ferroni was very competent in this genre. It starts off with a bang of weird gore and settles into a slowly building story with a Wizz bang finale, with some of the most off the wall goofines I have ever seen in one of these types of films. It is Definitely worth the wait for the gore and mayhem at the end. The Vurdalak(witch/Vampire) theme is an underdone sub genre and is quite different than the usual Vampire conventions. The very foreign Yugoslavian setting is also a plus.Gianni Garko is quite effective as the lead and has the requisite chemistry to pull off his central role. He also creates sympathy which helps make this better than the average Italian gore movie. The children are also REALLY creepy and effective. Special kudos to Carlo Rambaldi(ET) for his effective 70's gore effects. This is available form Midnight Video in a Good quality widescreen transfer with slightly annoying Japanese subs. If you are a fan of atmospheric Euro horror this is a must have. A proper DVD release in the Future? I hope so.

A man in rough shape walks weakly like a zombie. He winds up at a hospital. There's a barrage of strange images, a meaty skull with worms, half of a woman's head exploding, followed by the other half, X-rays of a skull. Pretty surreal start, but it normalizes from there.The man does not speak. The doctors circulate his photo, and a woman comes to the hospital and can identify the man. He does start talking when he sees her, and freaks out to some extent. She disappears.The man remembers the events that led to him winding up in the hospital. Driving his car on a woodsy road, he gets into an accident and comes across an isolated home. This family has recently buried one of their own. The man grows fond of one of the women, and gradually learns about the dead man, and the family's fears. The external SciFilm review of this film raises some of the same points I would have made.The story this was based on, never translated into English as far as I know, was also adapted by Mario Bava as one of the segments of Black Sabbath. Bava, not surprisingly, did a much better job. This director is OK, but his other horror film, Mill of the Stone Women is quite a bit better. I recommend those two movies over this one.