LA NOTTE DEI DANNATI (1971)
aka Night of the Damned
Article 2590 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-8-2008
Posting Date: 9-15-2008
Directed by Filippo Walter Ratti
Featuring Pierre Brice, Mario Carra, Daniela D’Agostino
Country: Italy

A journalist who specializes in unsolved mysteries visits an ailing friend who is actually under the spell of a 200 year old witch.

At heart, I believe it’s patently unfair to make critical judgments about a movie that you’ve only seen in a language you don’t understand. Nevertheless, since I’m writing up every movie on my list, I’ve got to put something down, and I always try to point out when I’m watching something under these circumstances. Therefore, since I’m seeing this one in unsubtitled Italian, you can take it with a grain of salt when I say that I suspect the movie is a bore. I could be wrong; if the dialogue is sparkling and fascinating, this might be a really enjoyable movie. Seen in this state where I can barely comprehend what’s going on (I borrowed heavily from comments on IMDB to get a plot description together), I can’t appreciate it on that level, and, despite the fact that there’s a few moody scenes, a fair amount of nudity, a witch that likes leaving scratch marks on women’s breasts, and other odd touches, my primary impression is that this movie is somewhat static and talks your ears off. Also, Patrizia Viotti (who plays the female journalist) has one of the lousiest screams I’ve ever heard in a movie, and we get treated to it far too often. Still, until I get to see it in a form where I can really understand it, this is only speculation – except for the bit about the scream.