This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Those viewers who believe Patty McCormack's Rhoda Penmark character, in the 1956 classic "The Bad Seed," to be the nastiest, most diabolical little girl ever shown on film might change their mind after seeing the 1979 Italian offering "Satan's Wife." This latter picture was originally released under the title "Un'ombra nell'ombra," or "Ring of Darkness," but for once, I prefer the American appellation, as it is both more memorable and more suitably descriptive. An engrossing though hardly essential example of Eurohorror, the film should certainly prove of interest to the jaded fan of such fare who is looking for something different.In the film, the viewer meets a very attractive, middle-aged mother named Carlotta Rhodes. Thirteen years earlier, Carlotta and several other women had danced and participated in a Satanic ritual...and even, shades of Rosemary Woodhouse, had sexual congress with ol' Lucifer himself. And now, the result of that union, 13-year-old Daria, is beginning to evince signs of her demonic daddy's, uh, DNA. In several well-done and unsettling sequences, Daria--who I suppose my main gal Ann Wilson would call a "dirty demon daughter"--shows an intimately uncanny knowledge of Charlemagne's sorcerous activities, draws a pentagram on a tennis court, prophesies her estranged father's death, compares the eating habits of "humans" to hyenas, and scorches a young suitor's chest by a mere laying on of the hand. But when the meddlesome adults in Daria's life start to suffer horrible ends, Carlotta comes to realize that a priestly exorcism might be the only hope of rescuing her devilish offspring....A tad slow moving in parts but always of interest, "Satan's Wife" has been directed by Pier Carpi for maximum freakiness. Utilizing a negative-image dream sequence, echo effects, long stretches with no dialogue and a mesmerizing score consisting of synth, bass and percussion (by Stelvio Cipriani, whose work on the 1978 giallo "The Bloodstained Shadow" had recently impressed me), Carpi manages to engender a decidedly strange, borderline surreal atmosphere. And he is here abetted by the very fine performances of his three leading ladies. English actress Anne Heywood, who many will recall as Sandy Dennis' partner in the 1968 film "The Fox," manages to steal the film as the distraught Carlotta. Heywood, 47 years old in this picture, still looks stunningly beautiful (how appropriate that her name at birth was Violet Pretty!), almost on the order of the middle-aged Jeanne Crain (and those IMDb readers who have perused my reviews for such films as "State Fair" and "Dangerous Crossing" already know what I think of Jeanne Crain's remarkable looks!). Whether dressed in prosaic street clothes or garbed in Satanic robes, Heywood looks simply smashing here, and offers up an effective performance. As her best friend Elena, Valentina Cortese (the former Mrs. Richard Basehart) also offers up a convincingly agonized portrayal. And in the crucial role of Daria, 14-year-old Lara Wendel, from Germany, is quite chilling indeed. Surprisingly, the film requires this young actress to appear topless in its final showdown sequence, as mother and daughter square off for a supernatural battle royale. Those viewers who were bothered by Mariora Goschen's topless appearance on that classic Blind Faith album cover, shot when the young gal was only 11, might be similarly appalled by the spectacle of the topless Wendel here, but I suppose no harm was done, and Wendel continued to enjoy her acting career for over a decade more. Though inevitably reminiscent of "Rosemary's Baby" for a bit of its running time, ultimately, "Satan's Wife" feels more and more like a cousin of "The Omen," as it becomes apparent that our little devilish spawn is virtually unstoppable. Indeed, the film's final image (WARNING: Spoiler ahead!), of Daria approaching St. Peter's Basilica, leaves the viewer with the sure knowledge that a showdown between the Devil and the Church is about to commence; what a sequel this picture could have had, if the filmmakers had chosen to continue! Little Daria vs. the Pope...the mind reels at the possibilities!Unfortunately for home viewers, "Satan's Wife" today seems to be only available on DVD from an outfit known as Mya. Just recently, I watched another of the company's DVDs, for another Italian horror film from 1979, "Island of the Fishmen," and was pleased with the print quality and adequate dubbing in lieu of subtitling. "Satan's Wife," however, is another matter, with very inadequate dubbing and a print quality that is decidedly fuzzy and scuzzy. Still, I suppose it will have to do until something better comes along. The experience to be had with this DVD incarnation is a marginally watchable one, but the film itself is surely of interest, and, as mentioned, should assuredly find acceptance in the eyes of all fans of 1970s Eurohorror....

"Ring of Darkness" is a pretty controversial Italian horror movie due to Lara Wendel's underage nudity.Lara Wendel starred in 1977 in scandalous "Maladolescenza",so during shooting of Pier Carpi's movie she was no more than thirteen year old.This sleazy Italian "The Exorcist" clone features plenty of full-frontal nudity provided by Carmen Russo,Marisa Mell,Sofia Dionisio,Dirce Funari and Sonia Viviani.There are some memorable scenes in "Ring of Darkness" including the coven rituals,Marisa Mell confronting Lara Wendel,the exorcism and the nude mother-daughter fight.The women defy Lucifer and that's why Lara Wendel's character becomes aggressive and murderous.Satan is using her as his instrument to get revenge on the brides that have betrayed him.7 out of 10.

After the release of The Exorcist in 1973; ripping that film off became so popular in Italy that "the Exorcist rip off" almost became a genre. It turns out that Italian filmmakers were still at it six years later and Rings of Darkness is one of the later rip offs. It seems that director Pier Carpi was not happy just to rip off William Friedkin's film, however, and this one also features elements from other Satanic classics such as The Omen and Rosemary's Baby. I have to give the film some credit actually for the plot, as it does feature one of the more interesting ones; although it is rather messy. The basic plot focuses on three women that made a deal with the Devil. However, the Devil has decided to target their young daughters instead; prompting the women to fight back against their master. Unfortunately, it has to be said that this film is something of a missed opportunity and nowhere near as good as it could have been. The atmosphere is really rather good, and while the music is a bit too over the top at times; it does work well. The plot soon becomes indecipherable, however, and unfortunately this means that the film quickly becomes boring. In my experience, most of the Exorcist rip off's are rubbish and this isn't one of the better ones. I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to find a copy.

Many 1970's Italian horror films tried to rip-off Hollywood hits "Rosemary's Baby", "The Exorcist", or "The Omen". Well this one tries to rip-off all three at the same time, and the result is a completely incomprehensible mish-mash. As near as I could follow, the film is about a coven of middle-aged female Satanists who begin to have buyer's remorse over the deal they made with the Dark Prince after he targets their nubile teenage daughters(perhaps this is supposed to be a metaphor for former 60's "flower children" reconsidering what the social changes of that era had wrought by the late 70's?). Three of the women band together to fight back against their infernal master with disastrous results.This movie has a surprisingly all-star European cast, but only Anne Heywood is in the film for any length of time. Marisa Mell appears suddenly in the middle of the film and disappears so fast you'd think she was just a mirage. John Phillip-Law is pretty much wasted in the role of a defrocked priest, and Irene Papas' character is similarly superfluous. Several other supporting actresses/perennial pieces of tail like Carmen Russo and Dirce Funari show up too in non-speaking (and non-clothes-wearing) roles.Gratuitous nudity seems to be the main raison d'etre of this one. It ends with a bizarre naked catfight between the decidedly middle-aged Anne Heywood and her obviously teenaged daughter (Lara Wendel). Aside from fulfilling some people's strange sex fantasies though, I have no idea what the point of this particular scene is. The ending does do "The Omen" one better though with the anti-Christ advancing on the Vatican City in a metered taxi-cab. Whatever it is, it definitely isn't boring.