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With a title like NUDE FOR SATAN (1974), you enter into a viewing of the film with certain expectations. Primarily, that there will be both nudity and Satan. While I can only say for certain that one of those things were present, I can confirm that NUDE FOR SATAN is one of the most beautiful, well shot films of the ‘70s that has fallen into obscurity; perhaps it’s the fault of the title, leaning too heavily on the erotic aspects of the story, or it’s the fault of the hardcore scenes cut into the Dutch release, scenes that detract from the overall quality of the picture, but NUDE FOR SATAN is one of those films that has not been given the respect it is due.
Director Luigi Batzella, best known for his SS-camp exploitation features, begins his masterful NUDE FOR SATAN with a slow-motion shot of the gorgeous Rita Calderoni running fully nude through a forest. The movie never pauses to address what is actually happening; rather, it sets the tone for the dream of a film that will follow. We then change gears and follow actor Stelio Candelli as he crashes his car shortly before Rita Calderoni does the same. With Rita in no state to move, Stelio takes it upon himself to hike up to the nearby gothic castle and seek help. Inside he finds another version of the girl he saved, played again by Rita Calderoni, though it’s clear by her behaviour that she isn’t the same character that he left behind.
The proper Italian release of NUDE FOR SATAN is a wonderfully erotic masterpiece of the highest order. Rita Calderoni stands out in a double performance, as the castle creates doubles of those that enter, in which she is equally naive and evil; she plays the role with a sensuality that is, as yet, unsurpassed within the erotic horror field. Antonio Maccoppi’s cinematography is made up of flowing camera movements that alternate between hiding and showing the action in a way that leaves the viewer begging for more. The manipulation of time and space leaves the castle feeling like a vortex out of time, a place that could never exist; but the ending confirms our deepest fears — that it undoubtedly must exist and is waiting for each of us.
[NSFW THEATER!] NUDE FOR SATAN (1974)
I put the film in, closed my eyes and dreamed this eerie surreal dream called “Nude for Satan”. This is pretty close to what it feels like watching a film like this. Rich in European cinematic’s, eerie characters and a plot that swirls back and forth with a numbing experience that defies most of what you are used to seeing.
