An Angel for Satan (1966)

It felt GREAT to finally watch another good old-fashioned and stylish Italian Gothic tale from the golden sixties, particularly one that is starring everyone's favorite and utmost beautiful horror muse Barbara Steele! Being a tremendous fan of the sub genre, the era, the country and of course the actress, I've seen all the obvious classics (like "Black Sunday", "She-Beast", "Castle of Blood", "The Long Hair of Death") many years ago already, but "An Angel for Satan" has always been the most difficult one to track down. I can't really explain why, but somehow this title was more obscure than Steele's other cult classics. This certainly cannot have anything to do with the quality level, though! Admittedly I might be slightly biased, and I have watched a lot of miserable crap lately, but "An Angel for Satan" is a genuine horror experience that has it all: an intriguing plot, a macabre atmosphere from start to finish, sinister set-pieces and music, breath-taking women and moody cinematography. Antony Steffen ("Django the Bastard") depicts a sculptor named Roberto Merigi who arrives in a small lakeside village somewhere late in the 19th century. He got hired by the wealthy Count Montebruno in order to restore a nearly 200-year-old statue that was recovered from within the lake. Roberto immediately experiences the hostility of the superstitious villagers, as they strongly believe that the statue is cursed and will bring death & mayhem upon the community. Montebruno's daughter Harriet also arrives in town, and she bears a striking resemblance with the statue. She is the descendant of a ravishing 17th century Countess Belinda, and Harriet clearly inherited the family's good looks, for whom the statue initially was made. The countess and her lover were killed by a jealous sister who later drowned in the lake with the statue during a storm. Inevitably, the curse soon turns to be frightfully real and mysterious things occur in the little town. Harriet alternately is her lovely self, but also possessed by the heinous spirit of Belinda. As Belinda she sows unrest and mayhem in town, which quickly leads to much worse. "An Angel for Satan" is a fantastic film with a few excellent and surprising plot twists, including the denouement, but also stylishly shot footage. The film is in masterful black and white, with ominous music and sound effects, and the performances are all stellar. **Spoiler** The most morbid and unnerving scene was undoubtedly the discovery of the poor teacher's body hanging from the ceiling. How badly can you drive someone over the edge that he commits suicide in the one place where he knows he'll be discovered by the innocent children he cared so much about?

Very glad to see this after so many years just reading about it. Was still operating under the impression that it was only available without subtitles, but seeing that Netflix was offering it, I added it to my queue and was very happy to find that it arrived with English subtitles.It's beautiful, evocative, violent, and puzzling with Steele cutting quite the figure of death and destruction as Harriet fresh out of England to claim her inheritance somewhere on the Continent. For a film that I thought was going to be wearisome and talky considering its first 15 minutes or so of weary talk, it definitely found its stride and delivered on its promise once Steele's machinations--or Belinda's or...?--unfolded. A great end of the week, Friday night flick and now one of my top three favorite Steele films.

I must admit, I collect horrors from the beginning of filming, my oldest is from 1911 until now but the fifties and the sixties never were my thing. That period was filled with too much blah blah horrors were nothing happens or were filled with guys in a monster suite. Thanks to Chris in the UK I was given the opportunity to watch this flick. It is a rare film to find, strange because Barbara Steele plays in it. Wellknown for her part in Black Sunday made in 1960. The fact that it is an Italian film made it even harder to find it with subtitles, my copy has it. In fact, for me it's a ghost story. Beautifully filmed and exceptionally for an Italian flick with perfect sound, no overdubs or hiss. All actors are believable. Don't expect a gory or bloody movie. In those days most of the horrors weren't bloody. Except for the start in the states of the slashers with Blood Feast (1963). Steele plays a perfect role written for her and the plot is also really nice, it's only in the last minutes that you will know what's really going on. It's more suspense then horror, only a few seconds there is blood. There are also no effects used in this film and that's why it has his cult following, Steele is also a reason. In some way it get's you by the throat. If you can catch a copy watch it but first transfer yourself in those days. Oh yeah, it's shot in black and white which gives it an older look (40's). Start searching my friends.

This was "Scream Queen" Barbara Steele's last of nine Italian horror films (for the record, I've still got TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE [1965] and THE SHE-BEAST [1966] to catch up with) and the one that was hardest to come by until recently. With this in mind, the print on display still left a lot to be desired – panned & scanned, fuzzy picture quality and the audio filled with extraneous noise (particularly during the second half…where it seems that someone's tapping on computer keys somehow got mixed in with the film's soundtrack, recalling a similar incident found on the original DVD of SON OF Dracula [1943]!).AN ANGEL FOR Satan – the title, by the way, is a misnomer – was also probably the last of the vintage Gothic Horror outings from this country to be shot in black-and-white (imbued with a touch of poetry not easily replicated by the more delirious color titles). Incidentally, I'd watched director Mastrocinque's sole other foray (also in monochrome) in the genre – the "Carmilla" adaptation CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (1963), starring another horror icon in Christopher Lee – which I remember liking quite a bit, but whose recording (made off late-night Italian TV) I subsequently foolishly erased. To get back to Steele's European output, a common thread running through most of them is that she plays a look-alike descendant of some diabolic ancestor (beginning with the very first, Mario Bava's seminal BLACK Sunday [1960]) – and this one's no exception though, in its case, she emerges to be more of a victim (which, I guess, is what the title is ultimately alluding to). Having mentioned Bava, while his one picture with Steele was the director's official debut, his swansong – the fascinating (made-for-TV) THE VENUS OF ILLE (1978) – actually shares much of its plot line with AN ANGEL FOR Satan! Indeed, here we also have the discovery of an ancient statue bringing a series of calamities upon a small community consumed by superstition – and where the blame is placed at the doorstep of newly-arrived Lady of the Manor Steele (since the figure was made in the image of her forebear).An interesting (if unlikely) twist is that the woman of the past played by Marina Berti – who, jealous of Steele's popularity with the menfolk, had tried to destroy the statue but tumbled down along with it into the river beneath – also has a like-minded i.e. vindictive descendant (her ultimate fate, then, emerges to be predictably ironic). That said, the narrative makes it seem at first as if the old Berti has taken possession of the new Steele…until hero Anthony Steffen (the sculptor entrusted with restoring the icon) uncovers the whole scheme which also sees Steele's current guardian (Claudio Gora), enamored of Berti, involved (hypnotizing his charge into committing nefarious deeds so as to elicit the ire of the townspeople who, in getting rid of the girl, would make him legal proprietor of the estate!). Steele, in fact, is made to turn heads yet again – particularly those of the more gullible members of the community: village idiot, shy schoolteacher, his equally naïve girlfriend(!) and who also happens to be Steele's own personal maid, and the town strong-man. She seduces all (often by casually taking off her clothes in their presence – though we see next to nothing, screen permissiveness having only just been broken with the likes of THE PAWNBROKER [1965] and BLOW-UP [1966]) and 'causes' them to act in extreme ways – the first becomes a serial rapist/killer (on whom the villagers eventually turn en masse), the second commits suicide (in the classroom of all places!) as a result of the maid breaking off her relationship with him and the fourth sets fire to his own home (with the rest of the family still inside!).By now, of course, Steele was well-versed in this type of role – so, it's no surprise that she turns in a typically multi-layered performance (with her striking looks intact). However, she's matched by the brooding Steffen (later a regular of Spaghetti Westerns and Gialli) – and, equally impressive is Francesco De Masi's evocative score (it's pure happenstance that several titles I've been watching in my ongoing "Euro-Cult" marathon bear his signature!).