Ring of Darkness (1979)

Ring of Darkness (1979)
aka: Un ombra nell'ombra, Satan's Wife
Director: Pier Carpi as Peter Karp
Cast: Anne Heywood, Lara Wendel, John Phillip Law, Irene Papas
Occult Euro oddity.

The film starts with a group of satanic cultists dancing and stripping while a female voice gives us a bit of a monolgue. "It started that night, when we subbmitted to him we call our lord, and surrenderd our bodies to his will. We were young and dreamed of the power he'd bestow on us, a power that would raise us above the normal run of humanity. Was not long before we relized the price we'd have to pay was a terrible one, that would involve not only us but our children as well" Turns out the speech is from a former cultist who suspects her 13 year old daughter Daria as fallen under the control of the former cults leader whose possibly lucifer himself. He uses her to exact his revenge on members who betrayed him.

No doubt made as a quick cash-in as a response to the horror hits of the time like The Exorcist and The Omen though the director claims otherwise saying it was based on a novel he wrote in the 60's and similarites to those 2 films was due to studio pressure. That said ripoff or not this is fun low budget supernatural nonsense fron Itally. Lara Wendel (Tenebre/Maladolesenza/Perfume of the Lady in Black/Ghosthouse) who plays the devil girl Daria is fantastic in her evil role. The soundtrack is awsome too and was re-hased for the film Pieces. My only real complaint was due to it being harder to find than gold dust (unreleased in a worthwhile version since the early 80's, possibly due in no small part to the brief under age nudity of actress Lara Wendel who was born in '65, Rings Of Darkness was filmed back in '77 making her only around twelve) which meant I had to suffer a 2nd generation vhs transfer to dvd that got released in the US as Satan's Wife. The ending offered the chilling scene of Daria walking towards the vatican, that hinted at a possible sequel which sadly was never made. Theres much speculation about the various runtimes/cuts on the European vhs's as well, with some fans claiming there could be prints exisiting upwards of 100 minutes, when it was submitted to the Italian censors in '79 it was listed as being 91 mins the vhs releases in existance are around 84-87 minutes mark, so whats missing is pure speculation. After finishing directing this in October 1977 Pier Carpi started shooting a film called 'IL Mago e La Svastica/The Wizard and the Swastika' with many of the Ring Of Darkness cast alongside Max Von Sydow but it was never finished or released and he never got to direct again. It's hard to recommend and say I enjoyed this without looking like someone who defends the use of naked youngsters on film, being a father myself is something of course I would never try and defend. But putting that thorny issue aside, it must be noted that the rest of Ring is without a question one of the best supernatural Eurosleaze movies I've seen.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 7 out of 10]
[Deathcount 5]
[Gorequota 2/10]

Themes Included: Black Magic ● Teen Shower ● Devil Worship
Nudity ● Classroom ● Weird Dreams ● Witchcraft ● Nude Catfight