Lucifer's Women (1974)

Back in the dark ages, before the advent of VHS and the subsequent dawn of home entertainment, films. particularly low budget independent productions, could be given limited theatrical releases, then, after a few weeks, simply vanish.  If they were lucky, they might be sold to TV and enjoy an afterlife in the late night schedules.  But for those with the sort of content that wouldn't meet network restrictions, oblivion beckoned - or sometimes something worse.  So it was with Lucifer's Women (1974) which, after a brief theatrical run under the title Svengali the Magician, reappeared under the later title for another brief run in 1977.  After which it found itself sold to producer Sam Sherman, whose frequent collaborator Al Adamson subsequently cannibalised it to provide footage for Doctor Dracula (1978).  The original was consequently considered 'lost' until it reappeared for a Blu-Ray release in 2008.  It isn't difficult to see why the original never got a TV sale - lengthy scenes of sex, subjugation and Satanic rituals, all accompanied by full frontal nudity, effectively ruled it out as far as the networks were concerned: cut those scenes and you'd basically have no movie,  The presence of this content is hardly surprising - director Paul Aratow, at this point in his career, was associated with erotica, (he later became a writer for TV).  Here, the adult content becomes somewhat problematic as it tends to feature at the expense of the film's horror and mystery aspects, something that both of the film's titles seem to want to capitalise upon.

As the original title clearly signals, the film is a loose adaptation of George Du Maurier's much filmed novel 'Trilby', updated to more contemporary times.  Or even a sequel, of sorts.  The main plot involves an academic, Dr Wainwright, who has written a book about infamous mesmerist Svengali and is now performing a magic act in the guise of Svengali - except that the various gory tricks he performs, such as a bloody sawing in half of a woman, are actually a demonstration of his power to hypnotise his audiences and manipulate them into thinking that they are seeing these acts.  According to Wainwright, his abilities are the result of having studied Svengali's techniques, however, he then confides to his publisher, Sir Stephen Philips, that he is actually the reincarnation of Svengali.  The publisher responds that he too is a reincarnation of a past soul, but his hold on his current body is weakening and he needs Svengali to sacrifice a young girl for him in seven days time in order to strengthen it.  (It transpires that both the publisher and Svengali are part of an order of immortal souls who exist by possessing the bodies of others, a process that requires regular blood sacrifices).  The girl chosen to be the sacrificial victim is a nightclub performer called Trilby, (surprise, surprise), who  Svengali goes about seducing and bringing under his influence.

There is also an intersecting sub-plot involving Trilby's flat mate, whose boyfriend/pimp has his own designs on the girl, which ultimately clash with Svengali's plans.  There are also several Satanic orgies, where young girls are deflowered and subjugated by Sir Stephen and Dr Wainwright's true personality begins to reassert itself and fights Svengali's invading soul for control of his body.  This latter development brings the latter part of the film into Jekyll-Hyde territory. with the two warring personalities confronting each other, (in scenes vaguely reminiscent of a similar situation in Hammer's Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)).   Unfortunately, the various sub-plots give the film a listless feel, as it switches behind them, giving the impression that it has no clear idea of where it is going.  The underlying sub-text is obvious, though: the subjugation of women to a patriarchy, with the ultimate aim of them sacrificing themselves to it, whether literally, or sexually.  In fact, it it is rammed home pretty relentlessly, with even the apparently upbeat ending still implying that they are always going to lose out.  

The film actually looks pretty good for a low budget production, the whole thing having a superficial gloss that gives it a feel of faded glamour.  While director Aratow stages a lot of his set-pieces - the magic act, the nightclub performers, the Satanic rituals - reasonably well, overall the film never really seems to get going, failing to establish any pace or real sense of direction.  It just can't seem to decide what it wants to be: horror, mystery or erotica.  It has elements of all, but fails to integrate them.  Not surprisingly, the only scenes where it really sparks into life are the sex scenes, otherwise, Aratow's direction seems somewhat distanced from the action, failing to fully engage with the drama unfolding on screen.  The film's lack of identity is reflected in the fact that it pretty much fails to register that it is actually a period piece.  It is supposed to be set in 1954, but there is little to reference this fact - sets and costumes have little sense of era and the lack of references to any events outside of those occurring in the film deprives it of any historical context.  Apart from John Hankey, a prolific character actor who is still going today, in the lead as Wainwright/Svengali, the rest of the cast are pretty much unknowns, without any kind of other credits, (I suspect they were mainly adult movie performers).  While Hankey actually gives a decent enough performance, the rest of the cast are, in the main, merely OK, (although Norman Pierce - not be confused with the British character actor of the same name - is pretty damned sleazy as the publisher).

In the end, Lucifer's Women feels like something of a missed opportunity.  It has an intriguing enough premise, that could have made for an enjoyable modern day horror take on Svengali.  Unfortunately, a lack of focus and pace undermines the project.  Still, whatever the film's shortcomings, it is still better and more coherent than Al Adamson's Doctor Dracula, which recycles around half of the footage - the sex scenes are excised and new footage with a different cast, headed by John Carradine, is added, along with a completely different plot.