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Devil's Kiss (The) AKA La perversa caricia de Satán AKA The Wicked Caresses of Satan
R0 - United Kingdom - Arrow Video Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (7th October 2011). |
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The Film
 Arrow Films have somewhat re-established themselves recently, becoming one of the more interesting independent distributors the United Kingdom has to offer. Although they have released a lot of their recent output previously, they are now making a big(ger) name for themselves with the overall packages. Lesser-known gems of horror, some established giallos and even some good old fashioned action have all been faithfully brought to DVD and Blu-ray with a few things fans just love... booklets... a choice of up to five cover artworks from Arrow's own to original poster art... well thought out extras... it's not often titles that aren't big studio titles are given so much love. Sure, picture quality is sometimes harder to work on due to the nature of the titles, but Arrow really should be commended for bringing these titles to market. Recently, they started a low budget range called ArrowDrome, a range from which "The Devil's Kiss" comes from. The synopsis from Arrow reads: Claire Grandier (Silvia Solar) is a medium with one thing on her mind... blood drenched vengeance. She’s a psychic black widow who’ll stop at nothing to destroy the Duke De Haussement (Jose Nieto), the man she holds responsible for her husband’s untimely death. After charming her way into the creepy basement of the Duke’s crumbling castle on the promise of revealing occult secrets, she sets to work with a sick professor and a twisted dwarf, creating a demon-possessed Frankenstein zombie who’s programmed to kill in this demented and mixed up Spanish classic from director Jordi Gigo (Porno Girls). Outrageous 1970s fashion and bizarre devilry collide with every cliché in the gothic horror manual for a wild ride into sleazy retro Euro-terror. Unfortunately, no matter how much a company tries, you can't make a bad film good, and "The Devil's Kiss" is a bad film. Directed by Spanish 'erotic' director Jordi Gigó (best known for "Porno Girls"), the film is lacking that spark that makes eurosleaze so fun. It manages to lead up to nudity/sex/horror but forgets to actually add enough of either element and that is the feature's major downfall. How can you make a film that includes a dwarf, murder, a Frankenstein-type monster, a funky soundtrack and a psychic widow into something so boring and poorly paced? Who knows, but Gigó has certainly managed to do it. Even at the start, there is a bizarre fashion show scene taking place in a gothic mansion that feels horribly misplaced and takes away the possibility of a reasonable start to the film and gives the wrong impression of what we are in for. Did Gigó film this scene purely so he could cameo? Despite the poor pacing, dodgy script and pointless opening scene there are a couple of things that fans of eurohorror/sleaze will enjoy. Most importantly there are a few appearances from some great genre actors including Cannibal Terror's Silvia Solor and Oliver Mathot, The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue's Jose Ruiz Lifante and Curse of the Devil's Maria Silva. I also enjoyed the music score consisting of a good mix of upbeat tunes to the more tension stirring and atmospheric terror tones. It's a shame I can't get past the lack of ambition and poor structuring as I really want to like this film but it just fails to spark. I'm sure the only people who will enjoy this are those who have already seen it or those with a massive interest in any of the particular stars.
Video
Arrow have provided "The Devil's Kiss" with an anamorphic transfer in the original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The first scene didn't look good and seemed poorly damaged and at that point I was sure it would be that way throughout but it quickly improves and although a lot of grain is noticeable, I'm sure fans of the film will be happy with the transfer.
Audio
Two audio options have been provided here, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono track and a French Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono. A little scratchy at times, it is adequate and the dialogue is clear throughout with volume levels consistent for 99% of the time. Optional English subtitles are included but I found them problematic. I originally started off with the French track and the subtitles on and switched a little of the way through to the English track to get a feel and noticed the subtitles had been severely dumbed down and shortened a lot of the dialogue far too much. The subtitles were clear and free from error though.
Extras
The disc starts with a quick promo for Arrow as a whole showing how they are keeping an edge in the market. Worth watching considering it's essentially an advert. The only 'real' disc based extra is a Eurocine Trailer Reel which includes: - "Female Vampire" (1:14) - "Orloff and the Invisible Man" (1:42) - "Oasis of the Living Dead" (2:59) - "Zombie Lake" (2:46) - "Sadistic Baron von Klaus" (3:41) Not included with my screener copy, but mentioned on the press release is a booklet and a reversible cover.
Overall
A film lacking in most areas receives a reasonable transfer, adequate audio and minor extras. If you're a fan of the film, I guess you'll be happy with this release and with a low price (at time of writing, up for pre-order at Amazon for a fantastic £5.99) those who are unsure won't really lose out by giving it a try (and selling if they, like me, dislike it).
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