Blood Orgy of the She Devils (1972)

Blood Orgy of the She Devils - now there’s a title that conjures up visions of sex, nudity and gore, especially given the 1972 release date. In fact you won’t get any of that in this movie. There’s absolutely zero sex and nudity, and almost no gore. What you’ll get is a typical Ted V. Mikels slice of cinematic weird, which is fine by me.

A witch is hired by a couple of goons to assassinate an ambassador by means of black magic. They try to double-cross her, which turns out to be a big mistake. There’s also a young woman flirting with the occult who drags her boyfriend along to a seance run by the same witch. He persuades his theology professor to become involved, and the professor in turn recruits an odd assortment of anti-occult warriors to deal with this dangerous manifestation of the black arts.

If I’ve so far given the impression that this movie has a plot that makes sense then I must apologise. It really makes very little sense at all. There’s no attempt to integrate the various sub-plots. There are odd characters who seem to have no real place in the movie.

But this is the crazy world of Ted V. Mikels, who gave us such classics as Doll Squad and Girl in Gold Boots (the ultimate go-go dancing movie). You don’t watch this guy’s movies hoping for a coherent storyline. You watch for the camp value. And Blood Orgy of the She Devils certainly delivers in that area.

Much of the film was shot in Mikels’ own castle, in Las Vegas (which apparently included strippers among the fittings). The settings do work pretty well. The costumes are as strange as you’d expect in a Ted V. Mikels movie. There’s a flashback to what appears to be a medieval witch burning, and some of the villagers are wearing jeans! The witches wear bathing suits. The special effects are delightful examples of ultra-low budget 1970s special effects, and there’s a spooky synthesiser soundtrack that adds even more amusement. There are no real scares although there are a couple of scenes of witches being persecuted that do almost mange to convey a sense of real horror. Mostly though this is bizarre campy fun. The only criticism I can make of it is that there’s no go-go dancing. Although there is some groovy 1970s dancing of a sort by the witches. I loved this movie.

The Region 4 DVD presents the movie fullscreen and there’s some print damage. On the other hand the DVD can be picked up very cheaply, so it’s still good value. And it’s not as if it’s one of the great cinematic masterpieces that is likely ever to get a full-scale restoration treatment. The image quality is quite acceptable, and the DVD includes a commentary track by the man himself. Ted V. Mikels is a true legend of 1960s and 1970s exploitation cinema. And not only is he still alive, he’s still making movies!