Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

BA_Harrison Based on a book I've never read (Aleksei Tolstoy's The Family of the Vourdalak), Night of the Devils deals with the supernatural creature known as the wurdulac (also spelled wurdalak, vourdalak or verdilak), a type of Eastern European vampire that is compelled to drink the blood of its loved ones, thereby converting the whole family.Lumber importer Nicolas (Gianni Garko) encounters such monsters in a Yugoslavian forest. After pranging his car, he sets off on foot to find help, eventually meeting a family who live in a house in the woods, where he is invited to stay the night. Nicolas is intrigued when his hosts barricade all of the doors and windows at nightfall; he eventually discovers that the family is plagued by a wurdulac that comes a-calling once it is dark.With a very measured pace, this isn't going to be for everyone, but fans of atmospheric Euro-horror will be delighted by the creepy vibe throughout and some genuinely tense moments, the best being Nicola's frantic escape from the woods in his car (attacked by wurdulacs and mocked by ghoulish wurdulac children), and the gripping finalé, which packs a neat downbeat twist.Meanwhile, those who enjoy a spot of gore and nudity will be pleased to know that are some juicy moments of splatter (a woman's face exploding, a beating heart removed from a body, severed fingers, and several bloody stakings, all courtesy of FX man Carlo Rambaldi) and a fair amount of T&A (ravishing Agostina Belli, as Nicola's love interest Sdenka, sheds all for her art, while Teresa Gimpera has her top torn open by one of the vampiric kids).N.B. The wurdulac also appears in Mario Bava's classic horror compendium Black Sabbath, a film I've yet to see (I know, I know... and I call myself a horror fan).

Bezenby Never heard of this one! Gianni Garko, scratched, bloody, and having crazy visions, stumbles out of the woods and collapses. He is found and taken to the nearest nut house, where Dr Umberto Raho starts performing tests on him. Gianni is unresponsive and doesn't even seem to know his name, and only comes alive at night, where the darkness makes him really nervous. He REALLY comes alive when a mysterious woman shows up at the hospital, causing him to go completely insane and ends up wearing a nice comfy straightjacket while we witness a lengthy flashback.You see Gianni was merely driving through the Yugoslavian countryside when a freak accident forced his car off the road. He eventually finds his way to a country house (not noticing the two men burying a corpse in a bloodied sheet), and finds himself in the company of a very frightened family indeed. What we have here is another Italian film version of the Tosltoy novella The Family of the Vourdalak, and despite the other version being directed by Mario Bava and being great, this version holds it's own too. Basically there's a witch running around the woods who has turned that guy they just buried into a vampire and now the head of the family must go out and kill her. He warns everyone that if he returns after six o'clock, he must be killed on the spot, so naturally he comes back at that time...and all hell breaks loose in the family household.This version takes its time to get to the chills, but still manages to convey the tension and horror that's needed. Those creepy kids help too, as does Gianni's mounting terror of what's unfolding around him. There's a thick atmosphere about the film too, with the animal skulls lying around and the reluctance of the family to explain to Gianni what's going on.There's also a nice ambiguous ending too, just for kicks. Some gore and boobs for those that thought that was missing from Bava's version. Melting faces too, and who can hate a film where someone's face explodes?Not I....not....I...

Woodyanders Weary traveler Nicola (a fine and credible performance by Gianna Garko) seeks refuge at the secluded home of a backwoods family after his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Unbeknownst to Nicola, the family are afflicted by a centuries old curse involving a deadly vampiric being called the Wurdulak.Director Giorgio Ferroni relates the compelling story at a gradual, yet still hypnotic pace, does a masterful job of crafting and sustaining a supremely spooky and unsettling atmosphere, makes sound use of the desolate and isolated country setting, and certainly doesn't skimp on both the hideous graphic gore and arousing explicit sex and nudity. Better yet, this film not only effectively presents a rich and fascinating depiction of a bucolic and folkloric netherworld steeped deep in dread, superstition, and ancient traditions, but also delivers a fresh and unique spin on the standard vampire premise. The excellent acting from a top-rate cast qualifies as another significant asset, with especially stand-out contributions from the ravishing Agostina Belli as the sweet and naive Sdenka, Roberto Maldera as the sullen Jovan, Bill Vanders as stern patriarch Gorca, and Luis Suurez as the antsy Vlado. The startling downbeat ending packs a devastating wallop. Kudos are also in order for both Manuel Berenguer's sumptuous widescreen cinematography and Giorgio Gaslini's exquisitely eerie score. Recommended viewing for aficionados of moody European fright fare.

FieCrier 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.