Welcome to B-Movie Enema – the blog that likes to review movies that either have really iffy content, yikesy poster art, or titles that make you cringe into oblivion.

And, with that, this is my review of the 1972 Italian gothic horror flick Byleth: The Demon of Incest. Sigh… Now, I hear this is a very bad movie. I’m not too unaccustomed to that. I mean, this is a blog named B-Movie Enema. I’m not entirely sure what made me want to buy Byleth when it was released by our friends over at Severin Films. I definitely recognized it was Italian, so that was a plus. I probably saw the cool artwork that adorns the poster/cover of the blu ray. I guess that was enough for me to want to get into it.

I don’t think I saw that subtitle. I probably didn’t see it until I opened my package with it inside. And then, I was, like, “Oh boy. I might have made a mistake.” I shouldn’t be so high and mighty over this. After all, I have dedicated an entire month to the Ilsa series and wrote about The Beast in Heat – both featured a whole lotta Nazis (the latter even included sort of bestiality). There is something about this movie that gives me a little bit of trepidation before diving in.

Byleth was written and directed by Leopoldo Savona. Savona spent a bunch of the early part of his career as a second unit and/or assistant director. However, by the 60s, he began writing and directing his own films. He spent a good chunk of that time working in spaghetti westerns. But with the late 60s and early 70s bringing about the popularity of horror in Italian cinema, Savona decided to take a shot at it with this film. When released in Italy, the film came in about 95 minutes. However, when it was released to German theaters three years later, under the title Trio der Lust, it was cut down to a slim 81 minutes. It cut out several dialog scenes and inserted a lot more nudity.

Most home video releases of the film used the slimmed-down, boobtacular, 81-minute version. Film historian Roberto Curti said that there really isn’t that much to recommend for this movie – outside the copious amounts of female nudity. He thought it was slow, and fairly poorly acted and produced. He took specific aim at star Mark Damon for giving a really, really bad performance, even for Italian movie standards.

Mark Damon mostly works as a producer since about 1974. The first film he produced was The Arena, a fairly popular exploitation film starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov. Markov became Damon’s wife after making the movie and they’re still married today. Damon’s produced a ton of recognizable titles, some of which have been received very well. He’s either the producer or the executive producer on the following films: Das Boot, The NeverEnding Story, 9½ Weeks, Short Circuit, Flight of the Navigator, The Lost Boys, Mac and Me, Bat*21, Wild Orchid, and Monster.

While those are all fairly impressive credits for the last 50 years, he had a nearly 20-year acting career before that. He appeared in Corman’s House of Usher, which won him the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. He was in Bava’s Black Sabbath with Boris Karloff. He even appeared in an Italian James Bond rip-off called Secret Agent 777. It seems most of his career was spent in Europe. In fact, it was due to director Luchino Visconti, who was widely considered to be a great in Italian cinema, that he did leave Hollywood behind to star in 40 European films which brought him some classics like Johnny Oro and Johnny Yuma.

Maybe by 1972, Damon’s heart wasn’t in it so much anymore. Maybe that’s why this is considered such a bad performance. Perhaps he was already looking ahead to being a big-shot producer back in the States. Who knows. I’ll be the judge of his performance AND the film itself. So, let’s get crackin’.

The movie opens with a man with a 70s porn mustache going to town with a woman in bed. Seems as though his wife is more interested in abstinence than she is in pleasing him. So he has taken to a life of adultery with this prostitute. She looks at the clock and tells him he needs to beat cheeks. She’s tired and he’s been a little too exuberant in his lovemaking. When he leaves, another person comes into her room with some sort of weird three-pronged tool and stabs her in the throat.

As the movie proper begins, a man is riding into town. This is Duke Lionello (Mark Damon). Some people in town gathered around for the collection of the girl who was murdered in the cold open. Someone states she seemed to have no enemies, but it was known she was a prostitute by pretty much everyone in town.

When Lionello returns home, he’s told the Duchess has arrived. Lionello is VERY excited and runs into the home and is told she is in her room. The Duchess, Barbara, is as excited to see Lionello as he is her. They’ve been apart for a year. He thinks that has been oh so very long to be apart. She says they will never be apart again. He tells her she’s become even more beautiful in the last year. Just know one thing, though… Lionello and Barbara are siblings.

But… uh oh. Barbara got married while she was away. Lionello is pretty pissed. She didn’t tell him in any letters or anything. On top of that, he was still living under the promise they made as children to never be apart.

Lionello agrees to meet Giordano, Barbara’s husband from Rome. Giordano isn’t just an expert at making Chicago-style pizzas but is also pretty adept at picking up that Lionello doesn’t much like him. Lionello spies on the couple as they kiss and walk through the grounds. He’s basically a creep. If he was around today, I suspect he’d be chronically online and making videos on YouTube and either one of those MGTOW guys or an incel.

Because his sister won’t fuck him.

Things continue to go over like a fart in a car when Giordano asks Lionello if he likes to go hunting. Lionello hates killing and despises hunting. Giordano, now stuck in a situation where he does a thing his new brother-in-law hates, asks if he’d like to do some fencing. He knows a strike that cannot be defeated and would like to teach it to Lionello. Lionello is like, “Yeah, sure, dude. Whatever.”

The two men fence and it seems fairly spirited at first, but it starts to get a little too competitive so Barbara tries to break it up. This causes her to take a little nick on the arm from Lionello. Giordano isn’t too happy with that and thinks Lionello is too impulsive. Lionello runs away upset. Like, literally, the dude fucks right off down the hallway and goes for a cry while he brushes his horse.

Because this is a sort of titty flick, Lionello’s emotional reflection on what to do about his sister’s husband is interrupted when he spots two young lovers doing the sex in the stable. I can’t tell you who these people might be. I don’t know if they are people who do things for the Duke and Duchess or if they are just locals looking for a place to fuck or what. I do know the girl sees Lionello watching and doesn’t seem all that upset about that. I also know that Lionello has some beef with the concept of sex as music blares and He has to run away from that situation too. Dude’s got a lot of running away to do.

He goes to his room and a naked woman suddenly appears in his bed and asks him to come to her. I think this might be the same girl from the stable? I’m not sure. I can’t tell redheaded Italian women apart. Why are they all redheaded in this movie? Anyway, he can’t perform with this woman. She then asks if what they say about him is true. In response, he roughs her up and calls her a slut. He then leaves that situation. Seriously, Lionello is good at exactly two things – running away and crying like a lil bitch.

Here I am, 26 minutes into this movie, and I don’t know much more than Lionello wants to bone his sister and he can’t because she’s married some Roman dude with the same name as my favorite pizza restaurant. People have come into the movie, tits out, and I don’t know who they are. I like to be acquainted with the owners of titties in movies. Byleth is not affording me that grace. I think Lionello has issues. That’s probably safe to say. Barbara called him sensitive at one point. I think that’s also safe to say. He’s gone to some storage shed or something and has pulled out a book.

He begins reading from the book and I think he’s reciting a spell. This causes a bunch of thunder and lightning. Through that thunder, Lionello hears a horse galloping around. But then it goes back to one of the redheaded Italian women, in fact, it’s the woman who was in the stables and came onto Lionello, and a similarly dressed man to the one who killed the prostitute at the beginning of the movie comes in and kills this woman in the same manner.

The body of the second victim is found in the park. The police are starting to take an interest and believe they have a serial killer on the loose. They go to Barbara and ask to speak to Lionello. Barbara and a psychologist say that Lionello is rather upset and suffered a bit of a breakdown because I guess this particular redhead was, indeed, a member of the staff. The inspector asks if he often has these breakdowns. Barbara recounts a story from the past just after their father passed away. Lionello ran away and when she found him, he was in a state of shock and repeating a word over and over before he ultimately passed out.

The inspector sees Lionello and questions him about the murder. He asks about whether or not Lionello heard anything the night before. He says that he spent the night in the hunting pavilion on the grounds of the estate. So he clearly did not hear anything during the attack. He does mention that the one dude in the stables with the second victim knows stuff about the dead girl. They find a shirt with blood on it and arrest the guy.

It should also be pointed out that Barbara told that story about little Lionello but the word, or name, he said is not a word she recognizes. She doesn’t remember it. She just knows it was a strange word that sounded like a different language.

After a frolic, Lionello and Barbara reminisce about a day something like this one. He then reveals he has a big secret. He says some strange things are happening to him. He feels like he doesn’t have control over himself. He begs for her help. Before he can say much more, Giordano calls for Barbara and she has to leave. Before doing so, Lionello tells her she has to remember their pact and that she can’t say anything about what he told her to anyone.

Then, smash cut to Lionello in Barbara’s closet and peeking at her and Giordano making love. I’m not kidding. It’s as sudden and jarring as a smash cut that takes the movie there to the closet. No explanation as to how he got to her closet before they come into the bedroom or anything. He was just in there listening to them screw each other.

This movie kind of sucks.

After the afternoon shagging, Barbara and Giordano ride horses together. Giordano thinks it might be good for Lionello to have a little bit of a dinner party. He wants to invite his cousin Floriana. He says that she’s pretty and intelligent and that she might just be the pretty intelligent woman for Lionello. And thank fucking Christ she’s a blonde! I will be able to tell her apart from all these godforsaken redheads. Well, at least for as long as she’ll be in this movie.

During the party, the local priest and inspector meet with Giordano and reveal that they believe the murders have been committed by the demon Byleth.

Sure, buddy. It’s a demon. Fine. Cool. Look, I know this is the 1800s or something but are we really going to go with a demon killed these people? The priest says that the murders are committed by a three-bladed instrument that is stuck in the neck. That’s what everything says about how Byleth does murder. Okay, well, if anything has that written down somewhere, isn’t it possible for someone to do copycat killings in the same style?

Fuck it.

Anyway, it’s important to know that Byleth was the word or name that Barbara couldn’t remember Lionello repeating over and over on that strange day after their father died. Giordano returns to the priest to learn about how Byleth gets summoned and how to deal with it. The concern is that Lionello is possessed by the demon. The priest says he can do an exorcism to free the possessed soul. If Byleth is not gotten rid of, the possessed person will kill and live in incest.

Ol’ Giordano better act quick because Lionello is hanging out more and more with his cousin Floriana. It seems she is the right girl for him. He tells her as much by saying that he forgets everything else whenever he’s around her. He’s not had feelings this strong for a woman… except for his sister. Oh, and he also says sometimes she looks like Barbara. This is what you call swinging at a pitch so hard that you strike out into oblivion.

Lionello does what he does best and runs away from Floriana when she gets a little too close. She chases after him. However, Lionello sees what the priest said he would when Byleth is about… A figure riding a white horse. However, it’s just a guy. No, I’m being serious. It’s just a guy in a black outfit and a cape on a white horse. It’s not a gnarly demon-looking devil thing. No. It’s just a guy on a horse.

Meanwhile, Giordano and Barbara poke around Lionello’s private little hunting pavilion and find all sorts of stuff that would summon a Byleth. Barbara reveals that their father fled from England to escape some sort of trial. That’s when Lionello returns to the estate without Floriana. When they ask him where Floriana is and all he can talk about is a man with a black cape.

A search party is sent out and they find her body with the same marks as the other women. This leaves no other possibility than Lionello being the murderer. The authorities ask Barbara if he might have been influenced by some of those supernatural stories the priest was talking about. However, when they want to question him. it appears that Lionello has fled. Barbara is worried the police will kill him, so she begs Giordano to help him. She might have an idea of where he would hide. She also wants to try to get that secret from her brother that he told her he had the other day.

Barbara tells Giordano that he is probably hiding in the ruins of an old village. Giordano says that if he can find him, she and he must help Lionello escape the country to avoid scandal. Giordano is no fool. He plans to pack heat. When Giordano arrives in the ruins, he sees the black-clad guy on the white horse. He tries to follow saying that Barbara is waiting for him. However, Giordano is thrown from his horse.

Lionello comes home. He’s got a wound on his shoulder. Barbara asks about Giordano, but Lionello only wants to know why she left him for Giordano. She says she had to marry Giordano. Lionello finally opens up about his secret… He thinks their love should be fully realized. They kiss and we see flashes of those past murders. Then, Byleth appears to Lionello and I think it’s revealed that Barbara has been killed? I don’t know. Mark is running around with a sword and demanding Byleth fight him. Then, he’s suddenly outside. Byleth approaches and reveals he’s taken Lionello’s appearance and Lionello drops dead.

And that’s how this movie ends.

Hoo boy does this movie suck. There’s a nugget of something here that might be a decent movie. There’s a demon possession plot here. That’s interesting. I think it’s selling itself entirely on the concept of incest as the overarching taboo appeal here, but it could just be any kind of sex demon situation. I think there were ideas and seeds planted about aristocracy avoiding scandal like how Lionello and Barbara’s father had to flee from Britain over a potential scandal and Giordano telling Barbara they have to help Lionello escape the country to avoid a scandal. There’s something there. However, wherever they could sprinkle in supporting concepts around any possible depth to the movie, all that happened was tits. It’s just naked women instead of depth. I mean… I like naked women. But I also like the movie I’m watching to make some damn sense.

We are not shown Barbara’s death. We’re not shown Giordano’s ultimate fate either. I mean we see Giordano thrown from his horse but we don’t really know why. It’s almost like these ideas were tossed in at the absolute last second and they just didn’t film these things. I can’t possibly suggest anyone watch this movie. Connective tissue is missing. It doesn’t feel like the movie has any cohesive linear narrative. In fact, I can’t even recommend this movie as an experimental movie. It’s bad. It’s barely sexy in the moments it’s meant to be sexy. We don’t really ever get anything deeper than Lionello is in love with his sister to help flesh out his character. It’s a very strange, but very bad, movie.

Okay, I can finally scratch that one off the list… for better or worse. Next time, I need to scratch another one that’s been on the pile for some time off the list. Join me as I review the 1987 Freddie Francis horror film Dark Tower starring Michael Moriarty and Jenny Agutter!