Interests aimed at building a tourist complex, by an architect, around a Caribbean Island, lead a group of people to a remote region of the West Indies, governed by ancient beliefs and rituals pertinent to Voodoo. The evanescent presence of a supposed "Deity" (Laura Gemser) and the manifestation of some corpses apparently returned to life, will put a strain on the group, settled (with merely speculative purposes) on the "cursed" place; a place destined to become anything but a place of tourist attraction, as in the initial intentions of the unfortunate...Stunning foray by Massaccesi into horror/erotic territories, along the lines of the famous comics then in vogue (Oltretomba, Terror). The film, with working title La Regina degli Zombi (The Queen of Zombies), was then reworked and pumped into a hardcore version (although it is not known how much, of the more explicit version on the sexual side, was already written in the script by Luigi Montefiori, Massaccesi's right-hand man at the time) circulating with different titles, designed to highlight its sexual component.
The value of the work, distorted by a "fallacious" title such as The Erotic Nights of the Dead-Living (the most famous title among several others affixed by the production), is given primarily by a plot very similar to that of the better-known Zombi 2 (a sailor who leads a couple to an Island for various reasons), as well as by good directorial gimmicks and a distinctly horror ending.
Certainly, like a good part of the productions signed by Joe D'Amato in this period, it is an object that is difficult to classify (and not only because of the fact that it circulates in double version, cut and uncut, i.e., more or less hard): both because if analyzed on the hard content side (a fellatio, a coupling and various scenes of female masturbation) it represents a pioneering example (and on the other hand it will be D'Amato himself who will "boast" the title of director of the first Italian porn, of the following year, and almost with the same cast, Sesso Nero) and far from being sterile and an end in itself (as it will be for the subsequent productions, also made by the same author); both because on the horror content side it does not skimp on splatter and gore sequences (of effective visual success).
We are dealing with a good example of cinema, which perfectly combines, with taste and circumscribed calibration of stimuli, moments of tension with others of eroticism by inserting both on the one hand, and on the other, excessive scenes, but always aimed at amplifying the climax of the film.
Excellent special effects, essential, but effective, soundtrack (by Marcello Giombini, aka Pluto Kennedy), incredibly good actors (if we think they are anything but trained in this regard), good camera technique (by Enrico Biribicchi) and curious overall atmosphere of the film. All, made with almost negligible production costs.
Some basic notes on the cast and versions of the film: the main protagonist, Mark Shannon (real name Manlio Cersosimo) was the first real Italian porn actor and, if you type his name on any search engine, you will be astounded by the amount of films he "interpreted"; but he is also a symbol: that of films made in double version and circulated in "sweetened"-or soft as you like- model and of the first incredible examples of "red light cinema." Part of this production (which invests not only horror, but all Italian genre films) is still all yet to be deciphered and interpreted, being often the result of posthumous and illicit insertions, with stand-ins, often without the knowledge of the actors themselves. The character played by Shannon in this film, we will also find in the similar production (again with a Caribbean background) ranging from Sesso Nero to Orgasmo Nero: because Joe D'Amato has always kept horror (and thriller) on an equal level with the erotic, carefully - and successfully - mixing their ingredients.
Lucia Ramirez, on the other hand, a native of the area, was recruited for the occasion, lending herself immediately (for little and without much inhibition) to play hard sequences tout-court, throughout the cycle directed by Massaccesi. Luigi Montefiori, although appearing in these productions (as in the explicit Porno Holocaust), never exposed himself to "hard" levels, as did the beautiful Dirce Funari, who on several occasions declared that she never performed any "real" fellatio (in relation to Porno Holocaust), but simulated, rather, with a fictitious member...
Laura Gemser (better known as Emanuelle) comes from the director's previous films (and will follow him even years later in productions, taking care-behind the m.d.-of costumes).
And now for the mystery of the various editions: the uncut version of the film (e.g., that of Lamberto Forni), containing the hardcore inserts, has a total length of 104 minutes, while the one circulating as Le Notti Erotiche (Avo film), while having elided the "dead-living" from the title, is purged of the sex scenes (and not the gore!) and lasts 88 minutes.
It is up to the viewer's sensibility to choose one or the other: but undoubtedly to be seen, to realize the creative, productive, and production genius of the very great (and unforgettable) Joe D'Amato...
Review by Undying1
