BroadcastChic
Excellent, a Must See
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Celia
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Janis
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Leofwine_draca
Although I've heard a lot about the films of cult director Ted V. Mikels over the years, I'm not sure I've actually sat down and watched any of his work - until now, at least. Having just endured the cinematic mess that is BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS, I suspect that his career is based on a string of classic exploitation titles that the reality of the movies themselves can't hope to match.Certainly BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS is nothing like it sounds as a movie. Incredibly this film earned an 18 certificate here in the UK, even though there are only two or three mildly violent scenes in the whole thing and the American rating was PG. However it stands, this is a low budget mess of a film, in which very little happens. Mikels seems to be going for a pseudo-documentary approach at times, having a greybeard professor narrating various 'facts' about witchcraft to his assembled audience, which makes for exceptionally boring viewing.The 'horror' comes from a couple of black mass sequences that are full of alternate chanting and screaming, although they're filmed in such a way that's completely devoid of excitement, danger, or horror. Mikels is clearly hoping to emulate some of the exploitational 'witch finder' films made a few years previously, particularly MARK OF THE DEVIL, with a couple of moments of tame witch torture, but the histrionic acting and extremely low production values render such moments laughable rather than horrifying.
Michael_Elliott
Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973)* (out of 4) This Ted V. Mikels film came after THE ASTRO ZOMBIES and THE CORPSE GRINDERS so if you've seen either of those films then you should know what to expect. Mara (Lila Zaborin) is using black magic and some sexy women to kill off some men who are trying to put an end to her but she then has to worry about a couple magicians who plan to use their powers to put an end to the Satan-worshiping. I really love those exploitation gems that would play third on a triple feature at a drive-in. Among the things I enjoy is reading how many films would bomb at one drive-in but they'd change the title, play it again at the same drive-in and this time the film would be a hit. Those who follow exploitation films from this era will know that there are some pretty kinky and wacky titles out there and Mikels certainly hit a grand slam with this one. BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS is a marvelous title but sadly that's pretty much the only good thing going on. There's not any blood. There's no orgy. And there's really not too many she-devils on hand. The title promises sex and violence but the film is actually PG-rated and features very little going on. I'm really curious who this film was meant for because it's certainly a little too dark for kids but at the same time it's way too tame for adults so who on Earth was Mikels making this film for? I can see many people pulling out of the drive-in or hoping into the back seats with their girlfriends because there's just nothing happening here. For the majority of the running time we see Mara giving speeches about the greatness of Satan and usually she's talking in some weird language where you can't even understand what she's doing. The magicians are just downright boring as are all the victims. The film is pure boredom from start to finish simply because there's not a life of energy to be found. Mikels has gained a cult following over the past several years as more and more people check his weird filmography out. I think there's some mild charm about the guy but at the same time there's no denying that he's created some really bad and pointless films and this here is one of them. The best part of the film just happens to be a flashback sequence where several of the people on screen are still wearing clothing from the 1970s.
rufasff
You can believe Ted Mikels did in fact reserch witchcraft quite a bit before making "Blood Orgy Of The She Devils"; it has a lot of ideas jumbled into a non-plot trying to get Ted a piece of The "Roosemary's Baby" dollar.Alas, it is all very lame, lacks any unintentional humor, and has none of the bounce of "The Girl In The Gold Boots". Much of Mikel's cast from that klutzy charmer are back, but even the wonderful Leslie McRae gets no chance to display any of the vunerable warmth and charm She had in that film. Hollywood sadly overlooked this stunning beauty who could have been a contender.The rest is just cheap, absurd Ted, though played at a slower speed. On the DVD he talks a lot about his celebrated "castle"; where most of this was shot.
cofemug
Let's get the basics down first. I grew up in a white-bread, almost totally homogenized town. I am only 19. And, so, I haven't seen too many exploitation films. However, due to a recommendation from "Cult Flicks and Trash Picks," I bought this piece of trash a few years ago. I have watched it twice. The movie is good, and better than most.*SPOILERS* The movie is almost incoherent, and shall be for most films. A group of sacrificing witches do rituals. Their head witch is hired to kill a politician, and then is killed, but reincarnates herself. She also does seances. She decides to extract her vengence on the two who attempted to kill her. We also have flashbacks of torture scenes from history's witches (some of the more disturbing images on screen). And, it ends with a bunch of witch hunters coming to kill her. The movie is funny in parts, sometimes downright hilarious. However, it does have moments of disturbing images, much worse that Last House on the Left, if you need a comparison. The movie somehow got away with a 'PG' rating, probably because it does not show anything. So, I found it kind of entertaining, even if it was a little tedious.7/10