Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Tetrady not as good as all the hype

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

ofumalow The first thing to be said is that this silly but offbeat supernatural meller is unusually well shot for a genre cheapie of the era, and that SW's DVD print transfer is a knockout--the colors just pop, and some of the photography of the swamp is very beautiful. (The interior shots have an ordinary low-budget cheesiness. The film set in swamp country near New Orleans, and an on-screen credit says it was shot there too.) The next is that this is a rare sympathetic genre portrait of a Vietnam vet at a point when they were often portrayed as violent psychos in drive-in flicks. Another is that this movie has a lot of "exotic" interpretive dancing, always a good thing-- better still when it's naked. (And admittedly the woman who plays the snake-changeling sorceress i"Dambella" is gorgeous, with or without clothes--though her speaking voice is some weird mid-Atlantic affectation, like certain second-rung actresses of the 1930s who wanted to sound "sophisticated" aka quasi-British.) I like how once our hero has "passed over," afterlife is no different from the "before;" the old voodoo priestess' purple-grey hair; Dambella's costumes straight out of Victoria's Secret; the villain-team wife who looks like she'd have recorded for Olivia Records in 1976; and the incongruity of some home decor much more tastefully fussed-over than these deep- backwoods characters would ever have in their homes. That said, the movie is more an enjoyable regional oddity than something that actually sustains suspense or atmosphere. Unless you consider scary so much photography of slithering water snakes--kudos to the (admittedly pretty amateurish) actors for swimming in various scenes, when there were presumably snakes (and maybe alligators) about. Ick!Ultimately the plot doesn't make much sense--I have no idea what the final sacrifice/ritual/apparent resurrection means--but this is still enjoyable vintage nonsense. By the way, there's no "crypt" anywhere in sight.

Score_The_Film I was taken aback by quite a few things. The photography, especially the bayou shots, is very good; surprisingly good for a no-budget film like this. I kept thinking how even more beautiful several shots would have been in widescreen. The music in many places was also surprisingly good. It's not often that low-budget movies have anything going on that's decent with the music but this one does and there are several moments where it's very effective in building atmosphere.Maureen Ridley, who plays the witch, is absolutely stunning. She reminds me of Laura Gemser (of the Emanuelle films). Her contribution alone adds a few stars to the rating for me. HUBBA HUBBA! WOW! Now for the ugly. The writing/acting is hideous. There are a few actors that looked like they had the potential to do better if only they had better lines to deliver (like Herbert Jahncke). The rest couldn't deliver a line with a packing slip. This is supposed to take place in southern Louisiana yet no one (but one - and he tried but it was awful) had a Louisiana accent! And I'm sure some of these people were from there. I wasn't buyin' it.Overall, the film was very entertaining on a "so bad it's good" level and the fact that Maureen Ridley dances al fresco a few times. With good photography, music and eye candy it gives you more than you'd expect.The print, from Something Weird Video, is exceptionally good for a film such as this. It's on a double bill DVD with THE NAKED WITCH (which has two commentaries). The extras are several shorts and probably a dozen trailers (many of which are New Orleans themed) which are worth buying the disc for alone. For low budget/bad movie lovers this one is an unexpected find.

wilburscott This rural low-budgeter was pretty shocking for something coming from the Something Weird DVD line, in the fact that it doesn't look or feel like some softcore porn, like probably 90% of their output. Of course, Damballa is pretty hot without her clothes (which you get to see in ample amount)! The film is fairly well-made under the conditions, with some rich color photography and it moves along at a good gallop, being only 71 minutes, and could have probably gotten away with some editing out of the overly-long ritual and dancing sequences. Granted, the acting is pretty poor, but that's to be expected in something like this. All in all, worth a look if you buy a copy.

wiwind "Crypt of Dark Secrets" is a '70's horror flick, set in the bayous, concerning a legendary witch woman named Damballa, who has existed in the bayou since pre- Columbian times. Now, I would presume that this witch would be a native American, even though the actress who portrays her is white, but that's just one of the ridiculous inconsistencies that makes movies of this type so much fun. The story begins when three crooks discover that a Vietnam vet living on an island in the bayou has a little stash of money and decide to kill him. While the crooks are planning their crime they utter such words of sheer brilliance as " we have to make sure we don't leave any evidence." Duh, lady. Anyway, they commit the dirty deed and leave the poor guy dead, but guess what, Damballa comes to the rescue to revive him. The witch woman, played by the stunning Maureen Ridley, is a quite shapely young woman who strips down and does a sensuous dance completely in the bare before bringing him back to life. The two take revenge on the murderers before falling madly in love and living forever as lovers. This movie is so awful it's an absolute gas! You'll burst out laughing at the abominable acting and you'll ogle at the nudity and you will love this film!