“Oh please… make the throbbing stop!”

A note to potential viewers: The Devil’s Plaything contains castles, vampires, lesbians, black magic rituals, and naked European girls, and often all in the same scene. I don’t think this is a problem for any of you (and if it is, may I inquire just what the hell you’re doing on this site?), but since all of these elements are in abundance in this German softcore horror movie from American sexploitation legend Joe Sarno, I think it’s important that the reader knows what he or she is getting into with a particular disc. Some people might want the vampires and the black magic, but not the lesbians – you never know.

The premise that blends all these elements into a thick and heady frappe of sin is the remote Castle Varga, located deep in a German mountain range. The previous owner, the Baroness Varga, met an untimely end when the locals decided that her taste for human blood didn’t jibe with their point of view, and put her to death at the stake. Before going up in flames, the Baroness vowed to return (as all good evil royalty should do) and once again take up her blood-drinking ways. Flash forward a century or two and a pair of young girls are arriving at Castle Varga: sexy young blondie Helga (played by future Swedish softcore superstar Marie Forsa), and nubile brunette Monika (Ulrike Butz). Both have been summoned to the castle to collect on an inheritance that may give one of them the rightful ownership of the joint, provided they can live there for an entire year. The inheritance, however, is more a means to an end for castle housekeeper Wanda (Hungarian actress Nadia Henkowa, who has a foxy-but-odd vibe about her a la PJ Harvey or Sharon Mitchell), who fronts a clutch of lady-loving cultists devoted to bringing back the Countess by means of nightly nude dance rituals in the castle dungeon. But a hitch in the cult’s get-along arrives in the form of occult researcher Julia Malenkow (Anke Syring) and her brother Peter (Nico Wolfsetter), whose car breaks down near the castle and seeks shelter there during a rainstorm. Julia is savvy to the whole Baroness-reincarnation deal, but Wanda puts her in check by using barely-legal Helga to put a sexual whammy on Peter. It should be noted that for most people, this pussy magick routine would be distressing, but not really a reason to take no action, but in the case of Julia, she wants to screw her brother too, so she’s, well, extra-stymied. Which is not a good thing, because as Wanda and just about everyone is wont to point out at every possible moment, the Night of the Vampire approaches…

So, The Devil’s Plaything is quality nudie vampire action, with an extra helping of booga-booga atmosphere thanks to its authentic medieval castle location, and the spookshow/softcore shenanigans are helped immeasurably by Joe Sarno’s capable direction, which uses a glacial pacing and the stiff performances of the cast to achieve a sort of woozy, dreamlike effect. He’s a little hindered by the fact that his all-European cast doesn’t seem to understand the English language dialogue, but for the most part, it doesn’t matter, since they handle the naked dance rituals and sex-ups with total professionalism. Forsa, who was only 17 at the time of filming, is probably the standout among the cast – not because of her acting (which can be best described as half-awake), but because of her spectacular body and the heavy-breathing contortions she puts it through while wrestling with the cult’s powerful spells. Hot stuff – no wonder Sarno used her several times later in Swedish softcore features like Butterflies and Girl Meets Girls (both of which, it should be noted, are available from Shock-O-Rama’s Seduction Cinema wing).

Now, for the bad news: The Devil’s Plaything is the R-rated cut of the film Sarno shot as Veil of Blood. The picture has been cut and released in several versions (as is often the case with exploitation), and the one available on this disc is probably the tamest in terms of sex. But the sweaty vibe is still very present, as is a great deal of nudity, so only the most die-hard (or hard-up) sleaze beast will be disappointed. And if that describes you, dear friend, then you actually have a couple of options: you can mail in a coupon that comes with Devil’s Plaything to get the unrated version of the film (titled Vampire Ecstasy) – or you can do some retail detective work and hope to track that version down at your local video emporium. Or, if you’ve got some long green to spend, you can pick it up as part of a three-disc set called the Girl Meets Girl Collection, which partners up Ecstasy with the aforementioned Butterflies and Girl Meets Girl, which feature a lot more of Marie Forsa, as well as guest appearances by American hardcore stars Harry Reems and Eric Edwards. Like I said, it’s not essential unless you really, really wanna see more naked girls in a dungeon (and I would not blame you in the least if you did). The Devil’s Plaything DVD is rounded out by a short interview with the jolly, grandfatherly Sarno, who talks about his directorial style, a brief boxcover burst from Mike Accomando, editor of the great Dreadful Pleasures, and typically thorough and entertaining liner notes from exploitation historian Michael Bowen (who, like Sleazegrinder and myself, was a former contributor to the long-defunct Boston review rag Video Eyeball).
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- Paul Gaita