The Szurek Zone: BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS

Alternate titles have reputedly been ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS, ORGY OF THE SHE-BEASTS, BLOOD LUST OF THE SHE DEVILS and BLOOD OF THE SHE-BEASTS, but none of those have been utilized very often, and in most areas it's known as BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS. Made for about $10 in 1972 by Ted V. Mikels, the man behind such blockbusters as THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES, THE CORPSE GRINDERS, THE DOLL SQUAD and THE BLACK KLANSMAN, it was given such a spotty and elongated release that it was not widely seen until almost ten years later. In the Detroit area, it waited nearly that long before going direct to drive-ins as part of a five unit special also consisting of NIGHTMARE IN BLOOD, BLOODEATERS (known on video as TOXIC ZOMBIES and as I understand re-issued to a handful of theaters under that title) and re-releases of BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS and INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS.

Shot against paper-mache backdrops with a cast that keeps stumbling over its lines, some of the worst background music in years, a camera that is often unfocused and choreography that makes this look like a deliberate spoof, BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS is by no means a landmark moment for the silver screen. But the script, also by Mikels, shows surprising "so-so with good elements" potential only to be knocked on its butt by precedent-setting ineptitude and an apparent unwillingness to do it in more than one take, thespians who make it painfully obvious that they don't take their vehicle serious at all and a director who seems to have enjoyed "writing" it, but evidently fell into a coma about actually putting it on film. The dancing girls at the ritual look like go-go performers. The bongo playing "Black Token" sounds as if he's doing low-grade soul music. At least two members of the cast don't even bother to conceal their contempt for the material. Lila Zaborin as head witch Mara NEVER displays acting skill, but climbs embarrassingly far out on a limb during a "séance" sequence in which -- apparently losing sight for a moment that is not "supposed to" be a comedy -- she strains very hard for camp. Tom Pace, the incompetent non-entity who was the hero of THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES and is the hero again in this (only here he's unconvincingly passed off as a forty year-old college student), repeatedly breaks into supercilious, smartass grins at the most inappropriate moments and doesn't try to hide or muffle them. Considering his almost nonexistent acting ability, and his totally nonexistent charisma, this is the oven calling the kettle black. The meandering script occasionally dips into a tangent that looks like it's going to remain an integral portion of the plot – only to fade into limbo fifteen minutes later and one of these tangents is a feud between underground figures and "occult" ones. Mara is even murdered during this feud, comes back to life, the murderers are quickly done in my magic, and then...the whole shmeer is forgotten about. Things like this ultimately give the flick a nagging sense of pointlessness.

To his credit, Mikels laces the "action" with a focus on occult "details" – so much so that it eventually looks like a semi-documentary. And even more to his credit, as a one-time student of demonology, I was surprised by the impressive accuracy. He obviously did his homework, and was probably a practitioner or at least a student, himself at the time this was made, or BLOOD ORGY has been envisioned as exploitation for esoterica buffs. This doesn't make it a good movie, though, and 'tis a pity Mikels hadn't a quarter the expertise at filmmaking.

Briefly, Mara is a Southern California professional medium/tarot card reader/psychic adviser/astrologist. Well, those are her legitimate fronts anyway, as she projects an image of harmless eccentricity, of a con artist, at the very worst. Behind closed doors, she practices memory regression on her female clients, all of whom seemingly were executed for witchcraft in a former life and upon learning this are eager to join her cult of men-sacrificers and demon-summoning hopefuls. Mara, who's aided by a weird bearded male servant named Tourke, also operates a psychic hit man service, which is how she gets in hot water with the underworld, but after pulling a single job, she – or Mikels – seems to forget about it. Co-ed Lorraine has been following the career of Mara and, somehow convinced that the latter is not a fraud, drags boyfriend Mark (Pace) to one of Mara's séances. Although an uninterested skeptic, Mark goes along out of lust. Now, he becomes interested and wondering if Mara is genuinely gifted with occult powers or is just an exceptionally good flim-flam lady. He consults a professor who dabbles in the Black Arts himself. In between the professor's lectures on both diabolism and paganism, we cut to sequences of Mara's activities. Finally, the couple's curiosity ebbs to the point where they agree to participate in one of Mara's age regressions. The professor learns they are pawns in a demon-conjuring ritual, and accompanied by a few "white witches" dashes to the rescue.

BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS just escapes the "Good-Bad" label by not being quite strong enough in the "good" department. At least, invalids won't find it painful to watch, but that's as good as I can say.