Who can resist a flick whose title, translated into English, is "The Sex Of The Witch?" From the first scene you know you're in for a slippery but solid ride. The aged patriarch lies on his deathbed, surrounded by his family. As he receives last rites, the camera cuts to another part of the house, where the servants are having sex astride the old man's coffin. Nothing like a bit of the old Thanatos-Eros touch to keep the workers happy.

To eliminate any possible confusion, I'll mention that the plot outline as listed on the IMDb page is incorrect: this is not about an archeology student, and there is no medallion. There is a witch, however, casting spells with the aid of potions. Here's where the trick of the film's title comes in: the witch, Ingrid, casts a spell over a young man, who becomes possessed by Ingrid's evil will, and thereby, her tool of revenge.

This film has everything the fan of Eurotrash looks for: abundant nudity and sexual situations, hallucinatory sequences accompanied by bad early 70's rock music, nonsensical supernatural storyline, tasty splash of blood & gore, moodily lit baroque settings, with the whole gorgeous package punctuated by a distinct odor of perversity. The actors & actresses are good-looking, with ultra-groovy mod wardrobe, and hooker-heavy make-up on the women. Annamaria Tornello alone is adorned with sufficient eye makeup to cover the eyelids of every actress in Italy in 1973. Acting is capable all around. We are in exceptionally good hands with director Angelo Pannacciò, whose entire career was an impressive edifice of horror, filth & exploitation. Journeyman film composer Daniele Patucchi contributes a simple yet effective harpsichord based score. Cinematographers Maurizio Centini and Girolamo La Rosa both made Eurosleaze their exclusive focus, and handle their task with stylish expertise. In all, a satisfying viewing experience for lovers of trash, Italian style! Recommended.

So wait - did this movie rip off the poster for Byleth Demon of Incest or what? Yes, while the rest of the world is asleep at 6:46 AM on a Saturday morning, I'm trying to figure out Italian horror film posters. Such is my life.

Seriously, take a look at this poster and realize - it's the exact same art.

Well, in this movie, the Hilton family gathers at their mansion as their patriarch dies. As he passes, he curses the family, who are soon beset by a witch and her killing machine who starts to wipe them out one by one, as she knows their secret.

Meanwhile, as they're giving the old man his last rites, his servants are doing the horizontal lambada on his coffin.

There's a lot of murder but plenty more nudity, including a scene where two girls make out while a goldfish is, well, played with. Then the color drops out while some hippy rock plays. And oh yeah, Camille Keaton from I Spit On Your Grave shows up and she confessed that she had no idea what the movie was about the entire time she was acting in it.

Donald O'Brien (Dr. Butcher, M.D., Mannaja, 2020 Texas Gladiators) claimed that the budget was so low that he had to wear his own clothes. That said, not many people in this keep their clothes on.

Look for Gianni Dei, who would later play Patrick in the Italian sexual reimagining of the Australian movie Patrick that would be known as Patrick Still Lives. I still have no idea how that happened.

Sex of the Witch opens in standard murder/mystery mode at the home of Thomas Hilton, where a bunch of his relatives have convened to say their last goodbyes. After the old guy pops his clogs, there's the reading of the will, the estate divided equally, with the stipulation that if any of the beneficiaries should die, then their share will be split between the others. It's the perfect set up for a Giallo - except that the film doesn't play out as one might expect...

Although a couple of people do get murdered by a mysterious unseen figure (one victim gets his head bashed in with a mace, and another has his throat slashed with a straight razor; both deaths are frustratingly tame),director Angelo Pannacciò seems more intent on delivering nudity than horror, the 'thrust' of his film being the soft-core couplings of various characters. While attractive ladies in the altogether are all well and good, the lack of a comprehensible plot and Pannacciò's torpid direction make this a total snooze-fest.

Try as I might, I soon lost track of what was happening, and who was doing who, and longed for the whole sorry mess to come to an end. We get a long, colour-tinted scene in which seventies swingers party to a crappy song (which I'll hazard a guess is called 'Yes, I Know'),some nonsense involving a pair of metal Javanese nails (the relevance of which completely evades me),goldfish fondling, Camille 'I Spit On Your Grave' Keaton looking bored (but not as bored as me),an abundance of strange bird noises, and an ending that makes very little sense: a man transforms into a woman after being shot and all of the beneficiaries are revealed to be dead.

To be honest, apart from the good-looking ladies in the buff, the only worthy thing about this film is its cool painted poster depicting a beautiful, topless red-head about to be throttled by a killer wearing black leather gloves.

*An hour after posting this review, I discover that the poster for Sex of the Witch uses the same painting as the poster for Byleth, Il demone dell'incesto, which came out the year before. Hence, I'm reducing my original rating of 2/10 by a point.