Product: Satan's Wife (1977)
Rating: 3.0
Shoddy Transfer
Here we have one of the most bizarre films of the occult which could have been a minor success if the storyline wasn't so muddled and slipshod. It has an outstanding group of actors: Anne Heywood, Valentina Cortese, Frank Finlay, Irene Papas, John Phillip Law, Ian Bannen and the stunning Marisa Mell; a funky music score by Stelvio Cipriani which borrows from the Goblin score for George Romero's 'DAWN OF THE DEAD' and wonderfully surreal cinematography from Guglielmo Mancori who did his fill of Spaghetti Westerns but the film just doesn't gell. The real flaw is the transfer. The reviewers are quite right, it looks like a second generation VHS bootleg which fluctuates from light to extreme dark making it difficult to appreciate some of the images. The film is directed by Pier Carpi who also wrote the book 'L'OMBRA NELL OMBRA'of which this version also bears the title. It should have been called 'SATAN'S DAUGHTER' because the character of Daria is the offspring between Satan and a human host sent to Earth to kill the pope. It's a shame, the film looks like it could be a decent, little time waster but in this condition, its hard to tell. The 3 stars are for some of the images and music. For Euro-completists only.