THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE (Jean Brismée, 1971) -- Mondo Macabro, Jan 2019

[bruce holecheck]

*** A Cinema Arcana Exclusive! ***

“Nothing in your wildest imagination can prepare you for what happens!” And you’ll see it all in Jean Brismée’s Eurohorror classic THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE (1971), getting its worldwide Blu-Ray debut from Mondo Macabro!

A group of seven tourists exploring Europe by bus find themselves stuck in a castle when they miss a planned ferry ride. The keep’s owner welcomes the company, but alludes to a family curse passed down through the generations. As his guests rest, they find themselves visited by a beautiful woman with an uncanny ability to discover their most private vices – and not all of them are going to make it through the night without giving in to their deadly sins. Unfortunately, this castle’s got a bit of a succubus problem, and their deepest desires may just get them killed in the most violently creative ways.

A Belgian / Italian co-production, THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE is a wonderfully lurid piece of ‘70s cult cinema by one-and-done director Jean Brismée. Its mixing of gothic trappings with the decade’s expected doses of gore and nudity make for a thoroughly entertaining watch, unless you have something against basement decapitations, bloody impalements, completely necessary lesbianism and Nazi-conceived baby stabbings, that is. Erika Blanc is a joy as the inviting demoness; her ability to go from striking beauty to vile creature in the blink of an eye is never less-than-impressive. Uniquely-featured character actor Daniel Emilfork gets an important role as a carriage driver who may also have something to hide. Briskly paced with a solid body count—each character has a story, each character has a sin—THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE has long been a fan favorite, and in dire need of an HD rescue.

In 1972, THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE hit Stateside screens courtesy of Hemisphere Pictures. The outfit would keep the film in circulation over the next several years, usually paired with Sidney Hayers’ British giallo IN THE DEVIL’S GARDEN (aka Assault, 1971). Exploitation distributors Motion Picture Marketing got a hold of the title in 1980, redubbing it VAMPIRE PLAYGIRLS for a fresh theatrical run with a salacious ad campaign that promised, “They bite. They squeeze. They’re ready to please.” The video era wasn’t much kinder, as a tangled rights scenario led multiple companies to issue their own tapes under a myriad of titles and various levels of completeness. In those pre-internet days, you could feasibly swing by your VHS rental shop and come home with copies of THE DEVIL WALKS AT MIDNIGHT, SUCCUBUS and CASTLE OF DEATH, only to find out they were all the same movie! It took Redemption Films to finally give THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE its first respectable release; in 1998, they offered a gorgeous-for-the-time uncut transfer across three mediums: VHS, laserdisc and a fledgling format known as DVD. It was a godsend. But… that was it. Rights complications reared their head. No remastered editions. No Blu-Ray upgrades. Just a 20-year-old non-anamorphic master, recycled over and over again. Until now.

Mondo Macabro’s Blu-Ray represents the film’s worldwide HD debut, replacing that decades-old print with a brand new restoration from the uncut negative, with both English and French language tracks. They’ve also tracked down director Jean Brismée for his first ever interview, second unit director Robert Lombaerts shares his memories in another talk, and legendary underground filmmaker Roland Lethem discusses the Belgian filmmaking scene in the ‘70s. The always-entertaining Troy Howarth contributes another audio commentary track. There may even be a few more surprises when the disc hits the streets. As tradition dictates, there will first be a red case Limited Edition that includes a reversible cover, a set of liner notes from Pete Tombs and some lobby card reproductions. I’m sharing Gilles Vranckx’s amazing front cover illustration now. This is seriously a monumental release for Eurotrash fans.

Currents plans are to offer THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE for sale around the second week of January. At the same time, Mondo Macabro will also be taking orders for the first release in their new American Arcana line – a previously-announced pairing of ‘70s sexploitation roughies co-branded with Something Weird Video: Byron Mabe’s THE BUSHWHACKER (1968) & Charles Nizet’s THE RAVAGER (1970). For more details on that particularly diseased double-bill, check the comments section for a link to our previous announcement.

Expect more news about Mondo Macabro’s 2019 slate very soon – watch this space!

A Cinema Arcana Exclusive © Bruce Holecheck, 2018

[DoghouseReilly46]

Instant purchase, Mondo Macabro has been knocking it out of the park over the past three or so years and 2019 is looking great.

[Lurtz6]

YES! This film was my introduction to eurotrash cinema, and it's one of the finest examples of the low budget sleazy European fare that graced grindhouses back in the day. Erica Blanc is smokin hot in this, and the characters and kills are entertaining as well.

[The Batman Professor]

BUCKET LIST!!!!

So stoked this is happening. Eurotrash gold!

[babybreese]

A bit of a holy grail, and really great news.
Mondo is going to own 2019!

[BobSimms]

Thank you for starting this thread.

I’m looking forward to this release more than anything else that’s been announced or hinted at for 2019. I was starting to lose hope for this release as it had been so long since Subkultur commented on theirs (last I heard, they were having difficulties with certain film elements; I wonder whatever happened).

All the specs for this release sound fantastic and I’m especially looking forward to the postcards.

I’ve loved this movie for 30 years, since I saw it on the USA Network. This was likely my introduction to Eurotrash as well, though it’s hard to be sure. (There was a lot of Eurotrash on USA Network, especially on Saturday Nightmares.)

[Skorpius]

This is up for order today.

[horroru]

Originally Posted by Skorpius

This is up for order today.

And I believe they've sold over 600 out of 1,000 copies already, so anyone on the fence should make up their mind soon.

[The Batman Professor]

My order was completed within 2 minutes of the site going live today. So fired up for this release!

[UFOX]

Got my order today,it’s still in stock.
Now i can sell my old dvd.

[Keyser Soze.]

Really looking forward to seeing the “Mondo quality bump” on this one!

It’s going to be like watching it for the very first time all over again.

[horroru]

The latest update from Mondo (Jared) is that 960 copies out 1,000 are sold.
Nice to see us "niche" physical media supporters keeping movies like this alive.

[bruce holecheck]

For those unsure where to order:

https://mondomacabro.bigcartel.com/

[DarknessBDJM]

Originally Posted by horroru

The latest update from Mondo (Jared) is that 960 copies out 1,000 are sold.
Nice to see us "niche" physical media supporters keeping movies like this alive.

Thank God I got in an order this morning then.

[MTRodaba2468]

Originally Posted by horroru

The latest update from Mondo (Jared) is that 960 copies out 1,000 are sold.
Nice to see us "niche" physical media supporters keeping movies like this alive.

Glad I got an order in then...

[GODHOOD]

I got my copy ordered as well, after seeing the trailer I thought it looked interesting. So has it officially sold out yet?

[Wren]

Originally Posted by GODHOOD

I got my copy ordered as well, after seeing the trailer I thought it looked interesting. So has it officially sold out yet?

Yes

[babybreese]

I love their model, and imagine the pre oders on the LE fund the acquisition of another title.
So many great flicks have received wonderful Blu's from Mondo the last couple years.

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by bruce holecheck

For those unsure where to order:

https://mondomacabro.bigcartel.com/

Looks like I missed it. Kept going to the wrong site. Damnit.

[horroru]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

Looks like I missed it. Kept going to the wrong site. Damnit.

No worries, they'll release an unlimited edition.