The Devil's Plaything
The Devil's Plaything
R | 01 January 1974 (USA)
The Devil's Plaything Trailers

Three women head home to collect their inheritance, but they stumble upon a group of witches trying to bring their vampire leader back to life.

Reviews
Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable
GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
christopher-underwood As has been suggested by others, this is rather disappointing. I've enjoyed all the films of Joseph Sarno, that I've seen and I suppose the most attractive common denominator in the US ones is the normalcy. If not in the characters, necessarily then certainly in the way that the sexual activity is shot, there is a certain frisson for the viewer because we believe into the activity. Here with a vampire tale we are already somewhat distanced and the way this is shot (more like a witch's tale than vampire one) this has to be fantasy. So, vigorous, though the sex is and effective though it is, the one thing it lacks is believability. There are some decent scenes and much nudity but this is no great shakes as a vampire movie - we don't even get a bloody bite till over an hour in - instead there are the constant comings and goings of the coven, sorry vampire lair, and just occasional scenes of visceral action.
missmonochrome Der Flutch der Schwarzen Schwestern (called by it's UK release title The Devil's Plaything, on my copy)is an experiment in eroto horror that never really takes off.What plot there is to be had involves the spirit of a vampiric baroness whom has been kept alive by her cult of attendants, so as to possess the body of a young woman and be reborn. Once resurrected, she can continue her bloodlust eternally, provided she drinks the blood of the descendants of her executioners.The stilted dialogue and even worse acting make the storyline damned hard to follow (worsened by a very poor audio mix and no subtitles).It's pretty evident the plot is a wash about 15 minutes in, and had there been enough half clothed starlets, all would've been forgiven.Instead there's random cut scenes of naked girls dancing to bongos(while wearing body paint reminiscent of extras from Laugh In), lots of spell induced heavy breathing in sheer nighties(resembling those shampoo as orgasm Herbal Essences commercials) and a weird incest subplot, with the girls being fairly below par overall (The castle's housekeeper/leader of the cult is probably the worst of the lot, looking like a man in drag in most camera angles) This movie is fence sitting between the two genres, and it's lack of commitment to either is what makes it a lot less interesting than it could've been. There's too little plot to be scary (having actors look about aimlessly is not an effective suspense building tool) and too little quality skin to be sexy.3 stars. (1 for genuine castle setting, 1 for the god awful shadow puppet special effects in the bat attack scene, 1 for an interesting but wasted premise)
goblinhairedguy Sounds like a natural -- a 70s female vampire opus from 60s erotica master Joseph Sarno. His best suburban exposés of the Eisenhower/Kennedy era featured smatterings of the occult, and one would think that the loosening of standards would set his art free. Don't get your hopes up too high, though. First of all, Sarno's favoured technique is to build up tension between characters using short dialogue scenes -- but here, the thick German accents and stiff acting render the script unfathomable. And Sarno doesn't really have the intense visual style (at least not with this cinematographer) requisite of the genre, despite the authentic Bavarian castle background. Nonetheless, Sarno fans will be amused by the recycling of his favourite tropes (candles, bongo drums, ceremonial chants and dances, carnal compulsion and betrayal), and vampiric completists may be amused by his idiosyncratic and more realistic take on bloodlust conventions. Just don't expect a lost masterpiece, and be prepared to put some effort into the viewing.
Charles Modzinski Well, if you are looking for a great mind control movie, this is it. No movie has had so many gorgeous women under mind control, and naked. Marie Forsa, as the busty Helga, is under just about everytime she falls asleep and a few times when she isn't. One wishes they made more movies like this one.