The Night of the Sorcerers (1974)

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The Night of the Sorcerers (1974) ** (out of 4)Mildly amusing film from director Amando de Ossorio takes place in Africa where various voodoo ceremonies are taking place. As the film opens we see a woman captured and have her head cut off. From here we're introduced to a new group of people who have come to do some research and before long they are taken one by one to the voodoo grounds.THE NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS has a lot of the right ingredients for a good movie but sadly it falls well sort of putting everything together and turning it into something memorable. I say this because the story is an interesting one, there's plenty of gore to be found, the cast is attractive and there's even a kinky sex scenes. All of this should have led to a much better movie but we've got a lot of flaws that keep it from being better.I think one of the biggest flaws in the movie is the use of slow-motion. If you're familiar with the director's Blind Dead series then you know that he's a fan of using the slow-motion but it just doesn't work here and in fact it looks pretty bad. Just check out the scenes where the woman are chasing someone and the way the slow-motion has them bouncing (slowly) is just comical at times. It certainly kills any chance of suspense or tension.Another problem with the film is that the story itself is rather spotty as it basically just sets up the next victim without too much detail or anything else. A character shows up, gets captured and then killed. As I said, the film has some good qualities including the setting, which was nice and I'd also argue that the cast was a lot of fun. The film is mildly entertaining but there's no question that it should have been better.

Eerie and creepy film titled Night of sorcerers or Woodoo - Inferno des Grauens (1974) from our cult film director Amando De Ossorio . This chiller in minimum budget packs thrills , chills , nudism , some good action , gore , horror and few funny moments . Plenty of lots of blood and gore , including repellent images when happens beheading , biting and other gutsy moments . The picture starts in Bumbasa 1910 , there a team of scientists go to Africa to study the wildlife . The group of researchers travel into the African jungle to study the mysterious disappearance of animals in the area , however it turns out the wildlife is vampires . Meanwhile a bunch of playful natives indulging themselves in dancing and partying while engaged in one of their favorite pastimes , beheading women . As a Zombie tribe rises from underground to wreak havoc upon some beautiful Euro-babes and unfortunate victims . After that , Zombie Leopard women go on the hunt to bite some hapless . This is pretty entertaining Zombie voodoo stuff . Atmospheric horror movie contains terrifying scenes when appears the tribe of voodoo-zombies and takes place the brutal killings . The tribe rises from the ground , take the women , whip them and slice their heads off on an altar in lousily made scenes , including primitive special effects . You will watch it and think it is either awful , hilarious, a masterpiece, or all three . It's a slight fun with passable make-up , naive special effects , acceptable set decoration and functional art direction . The fable is sometimes silly and laughable , though a few effects and action are professionally made . Some illogical parts in the argument are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the Leopard women running in slow-moving , though sometimes are a little bit cheesy . While not a hit during its original run, the film became successful when reissued nearly 30 years later . In the film appears known Spanishtrash actresses as Barbara Rey or King , Kali Hansa , Maria Kosti and Loreta Tovar . And two Eurostars as Jack Taylor and Simon Andreu ; both of them starred several exploitation films during the 60s and 70s . Creepy and frightening musical score especially when the appearance the leopard women , being composed by Fernando Garcia Morcillo . Colorful and evocative cinematography filmed on location in some African place and in Aldea Del Fresno , Madrid . And being recently mastered in high definition from the original negative . The motion picture was professional though regularly directed by Amando De Ossorio . Amando began in films as a writer and assistant director and continued his career by making short films and industrial documentaries . He was one of the main directors of the Spanish horror boom in the 70s, specially for his quartet of films about the living dead Templars which started with his first great success and immensely popular ¨Tombs of the Blind dead¨ which to be continued by a trilogy : ¨Return of evil dead¨ , ¨Ship of Zombies or Blind dead 2¨ and ¨Blind dead 3 or The night of the sea gulls¨ . Amando owns his own studio and created and/or designed many of the simple special effects sequences you see in any of his many imaginative undertakings . Amando who recently passed away was a good craftsman who realized a lot of amusing as well as entertaining films . He displayed a varied career and specialized on all kind of genres as Western in "Rebels in Canada" and "Grave of the Gunfighter" , Monster movie as ¨Serpent of sea¨ and , of course, Terror as ¨Malenka¨ , The possessed¨ and ¨night of witches¨ . Ossorio also studied painting and photography , moreover, he also made his living as a painter of creepy images of the Knights Templar in his later years.

No Horror fan can doubt that Spanish director Amando De Ossorio deserves great praise for his absolutely awesome "Blind Dead" series, which he began in 1970 with "La Noche Del Terror Ciego" ("Tombs of the Blind Dead"). These four films enjoy an enormous (and well-deserved) cult status and the eponymous undead Blind Templars range among the creepiest creatures ever to appear on screen. "La Noche De Los Brujos" aka. "Night of the Sorcerers" (1973) is sadly a weaker film in Ossorio's repertoire, as this little trash offering makes no sense at all and furthermore tends to get quite boring.In 1910, a tribe of savages in an African country behead a hot woman, who then turns out to be a female vampire... Decades later, two scientists (Simón Andreu and Jack Taylor) and three hot babes travel the country in order to take photos of endangered animals and happen to come to the exact same spot...In spite of a better cast (frequent Giallo leading man Simón Andreu, Exploitation regular Jack Taylor and sexy Spanish cult-siren Bárbara Rey, who also was in "Ghost Ships of the Bind Dead") "La Noche De Los Brujos" reaches neither the creepy atmosphere nor the suspense or entertainment level of any of the 'Blind Dead' films. This is not to say that "La Noche De Los Brujos" is completely without qualities, however. It is, to a certain extent, fun to watch. The female cast members are entirely hot (especially Bárbara Rey and the maroon-haired Kali Hansa), and all take their clothes off at some point. Also, in typical Ossorio manner, the gore-effects are very well-made. That's about it though, as the film is sometimes unintentionally funny and the storyline is flawed and full of holes. A Horror film doesn't necessarily have to be 'realistic', but it should have a certain inner logic, and the story-parts should connect, which isn't really the case here. "La Noche De Los Brujos" isn't a complete disaster, but its definitely not very good, and there are far better films by Amando De Ossorio to check out. 4.5/10

"Night of the Sorcerers" is a fun and enjoyable exploitation classic.**SPOILERS**Moving through Africa, Liz Meredith, (Maria Kosti) Rod Carter, (Simon Andreu) Tunika, (Kali Hansa) Carol, (Loreta Tovar) and Prof. Jonathan Grant, (Jack Taylor) stumble upon an abandoned campground in the middle of the jungle. Settling in the area, they come across local trapper Tomunga, (Jose Thelman) who explains that they're in the middle of a special place where natives would hold voodoo rituals to transform women into undead vampiric leopard women. As the women soon fall under the spell of the Leopard Woman, (Barbara Rey) and become ingrained into their society, leaving the others to wonder what has happened to them. Discovering the real intentions of the group, they race to stop them before all of the expedition members are seduced by the cult.The Good News: This here is a really impressive and interesting exploitation offering. The most notable thing that sticks out is the sleaze and nudity found in most exploitation fares. Witnessing an opening prologue where a woman is tied to a wooden archway, whipped with a bull-rope to the point that all the clothes fall off, where the male natives proceed to wrap a tarp over the body and lead to a sacrificial altar where a voodoo frenzy results in a really bloody demise is one of the greatest openings ever, getting the story laid out in a nice manner while also setting the story up. The altar itself looks really great, especially the beheading stone at the top with the clawed pit below forcing the trail of blood to flow downwards into it, making for some really fun sequences when the ceremonies are to be had. Those are full-on exploitation goodness, with the whippings, open blood flowing and the nudity coming into play and making them sleazy goodness. Mixed in along with this is all the surrealism scenes of the vampire women taking over their prey in slow-motion dressed up in leopard-skin bikinis, which is an impressive sight that is still somewhat sexy to an extent. Some of the violent kills that pop up allow for some nice gore, since this one knocks off plenty, and the free-flowing blood splatter is nice to see. The other part here is the highly impressive plot-line that this one has, which offers up plenty of good points. The inclusion of the vampire tale into the voodoo ceremonies is a new twist, and one that isn't all that expected. It's also nicely incorporated into the film, making it tie in nicely with the rest of the story without being used solely as a reason to get bare skin in the film, and to mix it in with the other twists and turns regarding the direction that it's played out in is a great point, giving it some new directions. Coupled together with a great sense of fun, this one here is a really pleasant addition.The Bad News: This here really only has one big flaw to it. That is the slow point before the middle of the film. It starts off nicely with the prologue, but then there's the just incessant wandering around the camp and setting it up, which just take forever to get through. The rest of the movie is so good that the one rough patch sticks out, and it's simply them standing around fixing up the camp and standing around deciding on what to do. That consists of just about everything that the scenes take in, and the repetitiveness of them all just gets a little too much at times. It makes that section feel way too slow and dull, not really containing anything that would stand out and might be somewhat of a red flag for viewers. Some might not like the inherent nudity and sleaze presented, but the main gripe will be the slow beginning.The Final Verdict: A really pleasing and fun exploitation classic that features enough good points to come recommended. This is easily essential viewing for those into the 70s exploitation scene or the European horror scene going on at the time, while those who aren't into the more outlandish aspects are advised to seek caution.Rated UN/R: Graphic Violence, Nudity, S&M leanings and a Rape