Review: Night of the Sorcerers (1973)

In 1971, Spanish writer/director Armando de Ossorio made a movie called La Noche del Terror Ciego (The Night of Blind Terror), known in the US as The Blind Dead, Mark of the Devil, Part 4: Tombs of the Blind Dead (which was a neat trick, as this isn't a sequel to anything, as far as I can tell) and Revenge from Planet Ape (a recut version, which must've been inspired by an acid trip considering the movie has nothing to do with apes or planets). The movie dealt with undead Templar Knights, and while it was slow and a bit plodding, it was rather atmospheric and the rising of the undead, eyeless Templars (the "Blind Dead") is one of the creepier scenes that you can find on film. I mention this because de Ossorio's "Blind Dead" films are the ones that most people are familiar with, and the first of these is rather good.

Then, in 1973, de Ossorio made the topic of today's review, Night of the Sorcerers (La Noche de los Brujos). A movie that is also slow and a bit plodding. Unlike The Blind Dead, however, it is not particularly atmospheric nor does it have any scenes that are memorably creepy. It is, however, rather ridiculous. The movie takes place in deepest, darkest Africa (or a set that's standing in for it) and starts in the past (maybe the 1910s? earlier? later?) with a Caucasian woman is about to be the sacrifice in some sort of ritual. First, she's tied between two trees, then whipped naked (I'm no expert in African rituals, but are whips a usual part of them?), after which she's wrapped in a leopard-skin blanket or something and laid down on an altar as the savage African... er... tribe? cult? group of actors? dance around while a topless woman keeps raising a machete (there's a genuine native weapon) and lowering it as if she's about to chop the sacrifice's head off. In the meantime, a troop of British riflemen are on their way to rescue the woman. However, before they arrive, the ritual comes to a climax and the woman's head is lopped off. The natives go wild and drink the blood that flows from the stump. At that time, the British riflemen show up and shoot the natives (great timing, guys), at which point the severed head turns itself right-side up and starts to scream, showing a mouth that now has two large fangs in it. By the way, none of this is nearly as gory or disturbing as I might have made it out to be.

That's when we cut to the main plot, which takes place in "the present" (or 1973, at least). We meet our five main characters, who are on... er... some sort of expedition where they're going to look in on possibly endangered species and take pictures (I think). I didn't bother to catch the name of most of these characters, but we have the professor that is leading the expedition (his defining feature is probably his cheesy mustache); the blond bitchy female, whose father is funding this expedition (I think); the blond not-bitchy female, who is the photographer and a friend of the bitchy one; the red-haired 'half-breed' woman (who I wouldn't know was a half-breed if they didn't say so, unless half-breed means "Spanish actress with red hair), who is our heroine. She's also insanely jealous and is romantically involved with our hero, the guide/bodyguard. He's the one whose name I did manage to remember... Rod Carter. He happens to look like a guy whose name should be Rod Carter in that he looks like he might be an actor in a porno (which we'll soon find out is rather appropriate)

Let me tell you about Rod and our psycho red-haired heroine. Our heroine spends all of the movie, it seems, being insanely jealous that Rod will sleep with one of the blonds as soon as her head is turned. There's danger and she wants to leave? She won't leave without Rod because she's sure that he'll be seduced away from her the moment she's gone, not because she's brave or wants to help anyone out. As for Rod... well, if you paid him to guide you through the jungle and keep you safe, you deserve everything you get.

Our *cough* intrepid explorers are first introduced when they stop to camp for the day. They meet... what I think is a travelling merchant of some sort. He warns them about the cursed area nearby (it's where the ritual we saw at he beginning of the movie took place) and how it's dangerous on the nights of the full moon (the first of which JUST SO HAPPENS to be that night), and he warns them about something called the Devil Leopard Women. His main function in the movie seems to be exposition, after which he wanders off, only to pop up later when more exposition is needed and for one other scene where he attempts to rape the heroine before being stabbed by her (the importance of this scene ranks slightly below the importance of lint).

Okay, moving on, the first night in camp begins with Rod on guard duty. Our heroine approaches him and they wind up having sex. While this is going on, the blond not-bitchy female (aka, the photographer) has decided to sneak off into the jungle to find the sight Exposition Man spoke about to take some pictures... or something. She finds the spot and watches as dry-ice fog starts to come from the cairns there. The rocks on the cairns begin to fall away and the zombified natives rise. This scene is actually not badly done and is somewhat reminiscent of the scenes of the Blind Dead rising in de Ossorio's earlier film, but it's not as good. Anyway, they get up, she snaps a few pictures with her "infrared" film, then turns to leave only to be confronted by... the beheaded woman from the opening scene who is now a Devil Leopard Woman! This means that she's now wearing a leopard-skin bikini, boots and a cute little cape(!), and has fangs and big hair. Ooo, scary! Anyway, the blond not-bitchy woman is grabbed by the zombies and the Devil Leopard Woman gets to do the whipping this time, after which she bites the not-bitchy one's neck and then the ritual is carried out like it was in the first scene.

The next morning, the bitchy-one realizes that her friend is missing, but our hero explains that he never saw her leave the camp (probably because he was too busy getting laid). A search is mounted for the not-bitchy one, at which point Exposition Man shows up to help out. The not-bitchy one's camera is found, but there's no sign of her. The now party-of-four decides to stay another night in case the not-bitchy one comes back. The Professor goes to develop the film from the camera while Rod is to stand guard. Rod is instead convinced to have sex with our heroine again, but inside of her tent this time. The bitchy one, in the meantime, takes a few sleeping pills in order to sleep. It's at this point that the Devil Leopard Woman and the not-bitchy one (who is also a Devil Leopard Woman now) show up on the scene. The original Devil Leopard Woman (DLW from now on as I'm tired of typing that out) kills the Professor while the not-bitchy one lures her friend (who is groggy from the pills) into the jungle, where she's bitten by the two DLWs.

We then cut to morning, where Rod finally discovers that the Professor is dead and the bitchy-one is gone. Remember what I said about Rod belonging in a porno? Well, considering that the only thing he did once he was paid was sleep with the heroine, he certainly isn't cut out to be a guide/guard. In two nights, he's managed to get laid twice while allowing one woman to leave camp without being seen, one man to be murdered in a tent and another woman to be lured into the jungle. Good job, Rod!

The rest of the movie involves Rod wandering into the jungle at night, while our heroine kills Exposition Man after he tries to rape her, running into the jungle where she's chased by the now THREE DLWs, being captured, placed on the altar where she's to be sacraficed, then having Rod save her JUST IN TIME, but not before she's bitten by one of the DLWs. We'll see that she has fangs of her own at the end. Maybe it's just me, but I always thought the hero of a movie should be able to actually, you know... SAVE SOMEONE! Good job, Rod.

So... if you're looking for an atmospheric, creepy film, this isn't it. If you're looking for a film that has quite a few ludicrous elements, however, this one will definitely qualify.