Starring Ian Ogilvy, Barbara Steele, John Karlsen, Mel Welles and Joe ‘Flash’ Riley. Written and directed by Michael Reeves. Produced by Paul Maslansky.
Also known by the titles REVENGE OF THE BLOOD BEAST and SHE BEAST, this UK/Italian coproduction sees Veronica, a newlywed holidaymaker in (then-communist) Transylvania, played by horror queen Barbara Steele, becoming possessed/replaced by a ghastly, snaggle-toothed witch. Veronica’s hubby, Philip (Ogilvy), teams-up with Count Von Helsing (Karlsen), who says that it is the 200th anniversary of the death of the witch and he must exorcise the hag to save Veronica.
This movie was the first of only three films made by Michael Reeves (the other two being THE SORCERERS and WITCHFINDER GENERAL), and it is a lively, low budget, rather silly affair, with a story structured around the fact that Reeves only had Steele for one day’s filming, so her appearances bookend the events.
Ian Ogilvy, who starred in all three of Reeves’ films, plays Philip as suave, romantic, witty and tough, like a younger version of Simon Templar, the character he’d end up playing in the TV series RETURN OF THE SAINT (1978–1979). A lot of the other actors play their roles more humorously, with a comic relief hotel owner (who does shift into sexual predator mode for a while) and Keystone Cops-style Transylvanian policemen contributing to the film’s more frivolous moments, including the speeded-up car chases that take place around various dusty roads.
The plot has the witch being brought back to life, then grappling with Von Helsing and later Philip, then being drugged and put into a freezer, then being taken away by the cops, then being retaken by Philip and Von Helsing, then waking up for another fight with Von Helsing and Philip, and then being tranquillised by the Count once more, before she wakes up again after being strapped into an old, wooden dunking stool. As you can see; the film’s plotting is hardly deep or meaningful, but it offers up many fun incidents.
The flashback at the start of the film, set in the 1760s, is a highpoint, with the hideous-faced hag getting bound to the dunking chair contraption and having a metal stake hammered through her, before she’s plunged into a lake to die.
The lumpy-fleshed, monstrous witch (played by Joe ‘Flash’ Riley under a lot of makeup) is definitely the main reason to watch this flick. This wild-haired, truly grotesque horror-hag is such an exaggerated interpretation of what a witch should look like that I think she’s bloody marvellous!
Monster Zone 