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The Night of the Sorcerers
A group of researchers gathering material for a magazine article on endangered wildlife encounter vampiric leopard women in the heart of the African jungle.
Release : | 1974 |
Rating : | 5.1 |
Studio : | Hesperia Films, Profilmes, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Set Decoration, |
Cast : | María Kosty Simón Andreu Kali Hansa Loreta Tovar Bárbara Rey |
Genre : | Horror |
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Reviews
Absolutely brilliant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
In Bumbasa, Africa, in 1910, a jungle tribe ritualistically murders a sexy young woman. In short order, they are all massacred by a bunch of dudes in pith helmets. Over 60 years later, a team of researchers come to the area to document endangered species. They soon discover that the voodoo legends of the area are not to be ignored."The Night of the Sorcerers" finds its writer / director, Amando de Ossorio, in good form, although it's not as thickly atmospheric and utterly gloomy as his "Blind Dead" series. It may strike some viewers as slow to start, but it really delivers the goods in its second half. Certainly it ticks off some of its exploitation requirements in able fashion: sex, nudity, gore. The ladies present - Kali Hansa, Maria Kosty, Loreta Tovar, and Barbara Rey - are all powerfully attractive. Simon Andreu is a hunky leading man, and the great Jack Taylor, a very familiar face to any lover of Spanish horror, is good as always. In general, the acting is acceptable.There's some good, fun stuff in this, although this reviewer will opt not to go into too much detail. Still, there are a couple of effective decapitations, and a fair amount of the red stuff flows before all is said and done. Although shot in Spain instead of Africa (with the expected use of stock footage), the locations make an okay substitute, and help give the film a pleasing look. It's gorgeously photographed by Francisco Sanchez and nicely scored by Fernando Garcia Morcillo.There's nothing truly great here, but it's still well worth ones' time.Seven out of 10.
No Horror fan can doubt that Spanish director Amando De Ossorio deserves great praise for his absolutely awesome "Blind Dead" series, which he began in 1970 with "La Noche Del Terror Ciego" ("Tombs of the Blind Dead"). These four films enjoy an enormous (and well-deserved) cult status and the eponymous undead Blind Templars range among the creepiest creatures ever to appear on screen. "La Noche De Los Brujos" aka. "Night of the Sorcerers" (1973) is sadly a weaker film in Ossorio's repertoire, as this little trash offering makes no sense at all and furthermore tends to get quite boring.In 1910, a tribe of savages in an African country behead a hot woman, who then turns out to be a female vampire... Decades later, two scientists (Simón Andreu and Jack Taylor) and three hot babes travel the country in order to take photos of endangered animals and happen to come to the exact same spot...In spite of a better cast (frequent Giallo leading man Simón Andreu, Exploitation regular Jack Taylor and sexy Spanish cult-siren Bárbara Rey, who also was in "Ghost Ships of the Bind Dead") "La Noche De Los Brujos" reaches neither the creepy atmosphere nor the suspense or entertainment level of any of the 'Blind Dead' films. This is not to say that "La Noche De Los Brujos" is completely without qualities, however. It is, to a certain extent, fun to watch. The female cast members are entirely hot (especially Bárbara Rey and the maroon-haired Kali Hansa), and all take their clothes off at some point. Also, in typical Ossorio manner, the gore-effects are very well-made. That's about it though, as the film is sometimes unintentionally funny and the storyline is flawed and full of holes. A Horror film doesn't necessarily have to be 'realistic', but it should have a certain inner logic, and the story-parts should connect, which isn't really the case here. "La Noche De Los Brujos" isn't a complete disaster, but its definitely not very good, and there are far better films by Amando De Ossorio to check out. 4.5/10
If it's gratuitous nudity, sadism, or sadomasochism you're looking for, look no further: you've found it. (If you're a masochist...) I rate this one a three for three reasons: some very fluid, almost lyrical slow motion tracking shots of the leopard vampire women running through the jungle; some very effective music that, in more capable hands, could've underscored some brilliant sequences; and an fx shot of a man, now a zombie, set ablaze in a gasoline-drenched tent, who lifts his head once as he's immolated to look around before giving up (and giving up the proverbial ghost). Other than that, I can't recommend this one on the grounds that to do so might tend to incriminate me.
OK, this is not a good film. But I think it is somewhat underrated, while the director Amando Ossorio's more famous "blind dead" series is somewhat overrated (especially the last two). Instead of undead Teutonic knights, in this film we have a tribe of living voodoo-practicing Africans. Of course, voodoo sacrifices have been practiced historically in places on the "dark continent", but this bunch are little more than cartoon stereotypes (all they need is a big pot to cook people in). I suppose it doesn't help that the tribe exclusively captures white women, whips all their clothes off, rapes them (at least in one case), and then decapitates them--which somehow causes them to become undead "panther women", prowling half-naked through the jungle in slow motion (and WITH their heads). But is this the only film of the 1970's to portray black Africans as "primitive", or to play on the illicit thrills of interracial sexuality? Hardly. All those who call this racist and/or sexist really need to see more European exploitation films of that era. This is actually pretty weak tea.It's also a very typical low-budget Spanish horror film--short on a logic, long on atmosphere, extremely confusing but with a generous helpings of nudity and violence (at least in export prints). It's certainly more incompetent than Ossorio's best films, but I'd put it on the level of a mediocre Paul Naschy flick, and it has the same scruffy charm as a lot of those. There's also a couple of recognizable actors among the European characters who come to a bad end at the hands of the African voodoo cultists and "panther women", including Jess Franco regular Jack Taylor, as the expedition leader, and the slinky and sexy cubana Kali Hansa as the "half-breed". It's out on DVD now and is worth a rental, if maybe not a purchase, for fans of Spanish horror.