Devil's Kiss (Blu-ray)

From the film vaults of Eurociné—the mind-boggling company that brought you Zombie Lake, Crimson, and Orloff and the Invisible Man—comes this riotous French/Spanish co-production, originally titled La perversa caricia de Satán (“The Perverse Caresses of Satan”)! When the Countess de Moncourt (Night of the Howling Beast’s Silvia Solar) is left destitute by the suicide of her husband, she resumes her former identity as Claire Grandier—comely Goth and medium! Teaming up with Dr. Gruber (Eurociné regular Olivier Mathot), a down-on-his-luck telepath, they accept an invitation from an eccentric duke to stage a séance at his candle-lit castle, as a follow-up to a funky fashion show of hilarious “avant garde” wear. Impressed by Claire’s command of the supernatural, the duke invites her and Gruber to room at his chateau. Working from a dank cellar with the help of a lascivious dwarf, Claire—aided by Gruber’s telepathic powers—succeeds in reanimating a pauper’s mutilated corpse and sending it on a mission of revenge…but how will she control this doddering zombie should Gruber succumb to his weak heart? Devil’s Kiss was the first and only horror film directed by “Georges Gigo”—the French pseudonym of Spanish-born Jorge Luís Gigó Aznar, who can be seen as the fashion show announcer. A moody mélange of Frankenstein, Dracula, Lovecraft, and Munster cheese, it’s the sort of atmospheric, lecherous, ultimately insane witch’s brew that could only come from the cauldrons at Eurociné! – Tim Lucas