An appreciation by
Bob Ignizio
Boasting
a title guaranteed to send all but the most obsessive horror and
schlock fans running the other direction, NUDE FOR SATAN
is a bizarre mix of sex, metaphysics, and pulpy gothic horror made in
Italy during the psychedelic seventies. There's not much that can be
called a plot, but the setup has one Dr. William Benson (Stelio
Candelli) involved in an automobile accident with a woman named Susan
(Rita Calderoni). Upon awakening, each goes separately to a nearby
castle looking for help. This leads to a convoluted series of events
involving doppelgangers, lesbianism, whippings, cheesy giant spider
attacks, and of course as the title implies, Satanism.
As befits a movie called NUDE FOR
SATAN, the film’s star Ms. Calderoni spends a good amount of
time without clothes and looks quite stunning while doing so.
Writer/director Luigi Batzella even manages to execute a few
genuinely erotic scenes. He also takes his film's occult elements
more seriously than the sort of lurid pulp Satanism found in most
horror films of the era. For the most part, though, eccentric
goofiness rules the day.
The end result is like a more
technically competent Ed Wood film spiked with hallucinogenics. As
with Wood's films, there's a genuine sincerity running throuh NUDE
FOR SATAN even at its most
absurd. Batzella seems to be trying to make a good film here;
he just doesn't have the skills and/or money to pull it off. And
that, ladies and gentlemen, is the difference between just another
depressing bad film made without passion and a true schlock classic.
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