Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973)

Although there’s enough amateur-hour weirdness in Blood Orgy of the She-Devils to tickle pleasure centers in the brains of bad-movie fans, the picture never quite achieves catastrophic wrongheadedness. Sure, it’s dumb and incoherent and schlocky, but it’s quite restrained for a horror picture with a sexy title—thanks to the PG rating, the promise of an orgy goes unfulfilled—and for the most part, the picture is simply boring. Things get off to a good start with some groovy mechanized music and psychedelic FX during the opening titles. Then writer-director Ted V. Mikels shifts to a ritual scene featuring scantily glad dancing girls, a high priestess festooned with glitter, and bizarre cutaways to a beardy dude wearing a furry hat. The fun fades once Mikels commences storytelling, because the film quickly devolves into dull, incomprehensible nonsense. Patient viewers can eventually discern that the high priestess is up to no good, and that two young people—together with a professor of some sort—wish to derail the high priestess’ schemes. Scenes with the villainess, Mara (Lila Zaborin), have some camp value, especially when she goes into trances and speaks like a stereotypical Native American: “You take big shiny bird across big water! You come make little white squaw happy!” Also good for an occasional laugh are the cheaply superimposed effects, such as laser beams emanating from the professor’s hands. Yet even the one scene that almost works dramatically, a horrific flashback to Mara’s abuse in a previous life, gets undercut by anachronistic costumes and silly acting. On the plus side, those who soldier through to the ending get another ritual scene, and this time the dancing girls add spears to their routine.

Blood Orgy of the She-Devils: LAME