A group of four women are summoned to a castle in the Bavarian wilderness, under the pretext of an inheritance. They are greeted by a creepy, vampiric-looking manservant/chauffer and an even creepier housekeeper named Wanda. She explains to one of the women (played by cutie Ulrike Butz) that she is the descendant of Baroness Dania Varga, who, judging from the portrait hanging on the wall, she is a dead ringer for. Coincidentally (and for the plot, fortuitously), a brother and sister named Peter and Julia arrive at Castle Varga , having wrecked their car nearby. By the end of the night, strange paganistic drums are emanating from the dungeon, where Wanda and her four priestesses (and in at least one shot, one lucky guy) are performing what appears to be a nightly sex magick ritual. The very sound of the drums have a very strong effect on the libidos of the guests, and Julia (an expert on local superstitions) starts to suspect that the mysterious Wanda may have more on her mind than a mere inheritance. 

Born out of a meeting between U.S. sexploitation director-extraordinaire Joe Sarno and German sexploitation distributor-extraordinaire Chris D. Nebe, THE DEVIL’S PLAYTHING (orig. title VEIL OF BLOOD) was conceived as a.) an excuse to use a 12^th century castle that Nebe had access to, and b.) as a way to stay afloat during the incoming “Porno Chic” era, where hardcore depictions of sexual relations were already laying waste to adult-oriented films with less explicit content. Their solution? Make an ultra-sexy horror film where director Sarno could combine his love of Universal monster classics with his oft-explored themes of fantasy, persuasion, and sexual release/abandon. Nebe assembled a cast of mostly German locals (with the notable exception of Swedish bombshell Marie “Wowsie-Wow-Wow” Forsa, hired at Sarno’s suggestion), and shooting began. Shrewdly realizing that dubbed features commanded a lower fee in English-speaking markets, they chose to shoot with live sound, which today gives the film one of it’s many unique qualities. While the cast sometimes struggle with the English dialogue (and the viewer sometimes struggles to understand them!), it gives the film a more delirious and inclusive feeling than a dubbed audio track would have. Special kudos should be given to Nadia Henkowa in the role of Wanda (“The Evil Lesbian, as she’s referred to on the IMDB), as she really brings a sexy self-awareness to her performance that stops just short of full-on camp. In her hausfrau persona, she is the embodiment of all the sinister maids of films past (Judith Anderson in Hitchcock’s REBECCA, Harriet White Medin in Freda’s HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK and THE GHOST) and future (Franca Stoppi in D’Amato’s BEYOND THE DARKNESS), with her Hungarian accent being the perfect accompaniment to her dark looks and meaningful glances. However, when she breaks into full-on Satanic priestess mode, look out! With her hair down, and wearing make-up straight out of the Hawkwind school, she writhes and contorts her face and body in a way that is mesmerizing. The previously mentioned Marie “Built-For-Lovin’” Forsa ( a stunning little busty blonde that would soon star in Sarno’s BUTTERFLIES) does a decent job of portraying an innocent that becomes wrapped up in the occult-sex universe of Castle Varga, and the sight of her masturbating in a hayloft is not one easily forgotten. 

The cinematography by long-time Sarno D.P. (and brother-in-law) Steven Silverman is quite nice, capturing the different ambiences unique to each area of the castle (as well as the beautiful outdoor scenery) to equal effect. Editor  R.H. “Charlie” Fugunt  also does a  fine job, especially in the deliriously-assembled ritual scenes, which are also helped immeasurably by Rolf-Hans Mueller’s whacked-out synth and drum score. 

Retro-Shock-O-Rama (in a move that has elicited some controversy among fans but that was surely a business decision) have released the film to retail outlets in it’s British version, entitled (you guessed it) THE DEVIL’S PLAYTHING. This version is cut down from it’s original length of 102 minutes to 87 minutes, 41sec. and is rated R. As a bonus, purchasers are provided with a card to fill out and send (along with the clipped UPC code and $3.00 to cover s & h) to E.I. Independent Cinema for the un-rated VEIL OF BLOOD version, which (though not hardcore) is certainly more explicit than the version available for this review. SO GET ON IT, HORNDOGS!