AN ANGEL FOR SATAN (1966)
Label: Severin Films
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 92 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English and Italian 2.0 Dual-Mono Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Camillo Mastrocinque
Cast: Barbara Steele, Anthony Steffen, Claudio Gora, Marina Bert, Mario Brega, Ursula Davis
An Angel For Satan (1966) was the last of the Italian Gothics starring icy Goth queen Barbara Steele (Nightmare Castle); handsomely directed by Camillo Mastrocinque (Crypt of the Vampire) who up a fever-dream of supernatural seduction and Gothic period atmosphere. Set in a lakeside Italian village in the 19th century Steele plays Harriet, the noble-blooded niece of Count Montebruno (Claudio Gora, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids) who has just returned home from college. In short order we learn that there is a family curse involving a beautiful Montebruno ancestor named Belinda (Steele in a dual-role) who was quite a bewitching beauty, she is said to have seduced all the men of the village. Her beauty was so great that a statue of her was sculpted and set to overlook the nearby lake. Unfortunately, her less attractive sister was none to pleased by her sister's beauty and cursed the statue, and tragically died herself while pushing it into the lake.
Just before Harriet's return home the statue had been recovered from the lake by a pair of fisherman, and the Count Montebruno has hired sculptor Roberto Merigi (Anthony Steffan, Django the Bastard) to restore that statue to it's former glory. The superstitious villagers however believe the cursed statue's return will bring the evil-eye upon the village... and they might be right. Not long after it's found the fishermen who found it drown in a strange boating accident.
Roberto asks the Harriet to model for the restoration as she bares an uncanny resemblance to Belinda, and they hit it off quite nicely. As they begin to fall in love the statue seems to have an effect on her and she begins acting quite strange, straining their relationship. Uncharacteristically she using her ample feminine charms to seduce the men of the village, causing a wave of murder and violence to wash over the formerly tranquil community. It seems the curse is real and the evil-eye has fallen upon the village just as the superstitious villagers feared.
Marina Berti (Night Train Murders) also appears as the Count's housekeeper and secret-lover Ilda, who from the start seems a bit nervous about Harriet's return and the resurfacing of Belinda's statue. Seemingly believing that the family curse has been triggered Ilda warns the sculptor away from any romantic entanglements with Harriet lest he unleash the full force of the Montebruno curse. Barbara Steele was one of the most iconic beauties of 60's euro-cult, with her large seductive eyes and a thin-lipped Cheshire smile, her haunting beauty captivated many a movie fan over the past fifty years, and here she gets a tasty dual-role that's not dissimilar from that of one of her first Italian Gothics, Mario Bava's seminal Black Sunday (1960). She switches from sweet to Belinda-possessed femme fatale with ease, setting about seducing her maid's schoolteacher beau (Vassili Karis, Giallo In Venice) which drives him to suicide, and sending the village gardener (Aldo Berti, Hey, Amigo... Rest in Peace!) on a rape-kill spree, even convincing the village strongman (Mario Brega, The Great Silence) to murder his wife and small children by setting their house on fire! Everywhere she goes she leaves a wake a lust, murder and suicide, and it's got a wonderful twist at that end that is so deliciously preposterous!
Audio/Video: An Angel For Satan (1966) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Film with a new 2K scan from the original negative, presented in 1080p HD and framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. The Gothic black and white chiller lensed by Giuseppe Aquari (The Killer Reserved Nine Seats) looks sumptuous in HD with excellent looking grain structure that supports strong fine detail in close-ups of period textures and finer points of facial detail. Blacks are good and deep and the grayscale and contrast are layered and nicely nuanced throughout, there are a few small spots where the quality drops a smidge but overall a fantastic watch. The source is in terrific shape and blemishes are kept to a minimum with only some white speckling and a few stray hairs on the lens.
Audio comes by way of both DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono Italian and English-dubbed, with optional English subtitles. Apparently this is the first legit English-audio version of the film ever on home video, so that's very cool. Both tracks are solid, but I give the edge to the English track, though there is slight background his on both. A definite highlight of the track is the atmospheric score Francesco De Masi (The Hanging Woman) that settles over the film like a cold chill up your spine.
Extras kick-off with a new Audio Commentary With Actress Barbara Steele And Horror Film Historian David Del Valle and Severin's David Gregory. Del Valle keeps things quite lively with the trio gettiong into Steele's Gothic 60's films, noting this was her last one she shot, the dodgy home video history and plenty more. We also get a second new Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author Of 'Daughters Of Darkness' who talks about how the film compares to the Hammer/Corman Gothics of the era, Steele's importance to the sub-genre, her Euro-cult legacy, and plenty of notes about the cast and crew. These are two solid commentary tracks, if you're a fan of tuning into commentaries you will not be disappointed.
Up next is the 18-minute The Devil Statue — Interview With Actor Vassili Karis, with an appearance from film historian Fabio Melelli. Karis talks about his early career, his general dislike of horror film, a story about Bruno Mattei, and how talented director Mastrocinque was. Melelli also gets into what a talent the director was, how he was a craftsman who knew how to expertly frame a shot, and how its unfortunate he didn't make more horror films, this being his last film before he died.
Another cool bonus is the 10-minute Barbara & Her Furs (1967) Short Film by Pierre Andro which is based On “Venus In Furs”, an abstract sort of glam film starring Barbara Steele with weird narration. This includes an optional partial commentary by Steele. The disc is buttoned-up with a 2-min Trailer and a 2-min Extended Trailer for the film, plus a cool 2-minute Easter Egg. The single-disc release arrives in a spiffy-looking black keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, plus a nice thick cardstock slipcover that looks great.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Actress Barbara Steele And Horror Film Historian David Del Valle
- Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author Of "Daughters Of Darkness"
- The Devil Statue — Interview With Actor Vassili Karis (18 min)
- Barbara & Her Furs — 1967 Short Film By Pierre Andro Based On “Venus In Furs” Starring Barbara Steele With Optional Partial Commentary By Steele (10 min)
- Trailer (2 min)
- Extended Trailer (2 min)
- Easter Egg (2 min)
As Italian Gothics go An Angel For Satan (1966) is top notch stuff; a lush black and white film steeped in atmosphere and the supernatural beauty of Barbra Steele. It doesn't get much better than this, and is the second best Italian Gothic after Mario Bava's Black Sunday. Severin's Blu-ray is an absolute stunner that should be on the shelf of every Barbara Steele and Euro-Gothic fan out there, this just might be one of my favorite releases for the year from them.
Screenshots from the Severin Blu-ray:
