She Beast is a 1966 Italian horror film about a centuries-old witch who returns from the dead by possessing a modern woman. Mixing supernatural horror, folk-horror elements, dark comedy, and revenge themes, the film centres on a newlywed English tourist and an eccentric Transylvanian Count must work together when the former’s beautiful wife is made the bodily host of a horrific witch.
Also known as The She Beast; The She-Beast and Revenge of the Blood Beast. The Italian title is Il lago di Satana (“The Lake of Satan”).
The movie was written and by directed British Michael Reeves (The Sorcerers; Witchfinder General) making his feature directorial debut. American writer Charles B. Griffith (Doctor Heckyl & Mr. Hype; A Bucket of Blood; The Little Shop of Horrors), a frequent collaborator with Roger Corman, was the 2nd unit director and provided some comedy scenes some of which 
were deleted from the final edit.
The film stars Barbara Steele, John Karlsen, Reeves’ school chum Ian Ogilvy (also in The Sorcerers and Witchfinder General), Jay Riley, Richard Watson, Ed Randolph, Peter Grippe, and Lucrezia Love. American actor and director Mel Welles (Maneater of Hydra) has a cameo role as Vladisvar Groper, a voyeuristic landlord.
Plot [contains spoilers]:
The eighteenth century. Villagers capture a feared witch who has terrorised the region through murder, torture, and black magic. She is condemned and brutally executed by being drowned in a lake. Before dying, she curses the villagers and their descendants, promising revenge from beyond the grave.
Two centuries later, newlyweds Philip and Veronica travel through Transylvania on their honeymoon. Veronica is beautiful and cheerful, while Philip is somewhat sceptical of local superstitions.
As they drive through the countryside, they encounter hostile locals and hear stories about the infamous witch who was drowned in the nearby lake exactly 200 years earlier. The anniversary of the execution is approaching, causing unease among the villagers.
While travelling along a road beside the lake, Veronica loses control of the vehicle. The car plunges into the water. Philip survives and is rescued, but Veronica disappears beneath the lake. Searchers eventually recover her body. Everyone assumes she has drowned. However, unknown to them, the spirit of the executed witch has awakened within the lake.
After Veronica is recovered, something horrifying happens. The witch’s spirit possesses her body. Veronica physically transforms into a monstrous creature resembling the ancient witch rather than herself. The transformation is complete: Veronica’s personality disappears and the resurrected witch begins wandering the countryside once again.
The witch immediately starts taking revenge on the descendants of those who executed her centuries earlier. Several villagers are murdered in brutal attacks, creating panic throughout the region.Philip desperately searches for answers and encounters the eccentric Count von Helsing, a local nobleman with knowledge of occult matters. Von Helsing recognises that Veronica is no longer herself but has become the vessel of the ancient witch.
Together they attempt to track the creature before more people are killed. Meanwhile, the local authorities prove largely incompetent and provide much of the film’s comic relief. Their attempts to capture the monster repeatedly fail.
As the body count rises, it becomes clear that the witch is systematically targeting descendants of those responsible for her execution. The killings fulfil the curse she uttered at her death. Philip is horrified to realise that Veronica may be trapped inside the creature, unable to control her own body. He refuses to give up hope that she can be saved.
Count von Helsing concludes that the only way to save Veronica is to destroy the witch’s spirit. He and Philip lure the creature back toward the lake where the original execution took place.
A confrontation follows in which the witch’s supernatural power begins to weaken. Through occult rituals and physical struggle, the resurrected witch is finally defeated. As the witch’s spirit is expelled, the monstrous form collapses. Veronica reappears in her normal human state, freed from possession.
With the witch finally destroyed, the centuries-old curse comes to an end. Veronica survives and is reunited with Philip. The newlyweds leave Transylvania, having escaped the fate that nearly claimed them.
Release:
In Britain, this twenty-one-day quickie-shot horror homage was distributed by Miracle Films, specialists at circulating European-lensed horror and naughty titles but for US cinema release it went the rounds with Venice-set Italian mystery-thriller The Embalmer as She Beast.
Although largely unseen for many years, renewed interest in Reeves’ short directorial career in the 1990s ensured that battered 16mm prints began to be circulated as VHS copies. These seemingly public domain versions pop up on the internet but their quality makes them almost unwatchable.
A restored widescreen version of the film was finally released on DVD in 2009 by Dark Sky Films with an audio commentary by producer Paul Maslansky (Race with the Devil) and stars Ian Ogilvy and Barbara Steele.
Buy Dark Sky Films DVD: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
On January 17, 2017, Italian company Raro Video released the film on Blu-ray.
Featurette by Nocturno (a documentary on the making of the Film)
A fully illustrated booklet | New HD transfer | New and improved English subtitle translation
Cast and characters:
Barbara Steele … Veronica
John Karlsen … Count Von Helsing
Ian Ogilvy … Philip
Mel Welles … Ladislav Groper
Joe ‘Flash’ Riley … Vardella the She-Beast
Comrade Police Lieutenant
Edward B. Randolph … Man on Scooter/Man Wearing Red Sweater
Peter Grippe … Policeman
Lucretia Love … Groper’s Niece
Ennio Antonelli … Truck Driver
Kevin Welles … Boy in Flashback
Woody Welles … Boy at Cockfight
Charles B. Griffith … Policeman
Trailer:
Free to watch online on YouTube [1080p]:
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