Thanks to "Mr. Lobo's Cinema Insomnia" and Alpha DVD (oldies.com), collectors have another exciting, "misunderstood" submission to seize: "Xenia, Priestess of Night".
The 1976, San Francisco-based "Xenia" was (per roundabout, though no doubt misleading screen attribution) directed by Andre W. Wiers and scripted by Randolph Pitts, but was it rather Bob "Creature Features" Wilkins' cameraman, Gary Tomsic, who brought it all together...perhaps even elusive, directorial talents, Dana M. Reemes and Dennis Edwards? No matter who's responsible, "Xenia" is quite an experimental piece as it combines black-and-white and color photography to tell its haunting tale. At its harrowing heart, this arthouse production is also reminiscent of "Dracula's Daughter", "Vampyre" and "Queen of the Damned", though set within a movie-within-a-movie structure as in "How to Make a Monster (1958)", "Anguish (1987)", "Wes Craven's New Nightmare", "Gingerdead Man 2" and "Masters of Horrors' Cigarette Burns".
Theodora Blasko is the eponymous, raven-maned, belly-dancing seductress, who's viewed in an obscure, unfinished film shown at a Crest Theatre private screening. That film's director was said to have gone mad. Actors were said to have died during the filming (more or less in the "Poltergeist" vein, though its circumstances nowhere near as noted).
The accursed product is, therefore, as much a character as those who watch and star in it. The film-within-a-film soon adapts a parasitic life of its own, and when its secret is unleashed, watch out! Art, like terror, can birth the most biting conclusions.
Mr. Lobo's interludes (most served with droll melancholia to complement his dystopic, Lynch-esque, "Returncoming" wraparound) are gratifying, especially when blessed by his charming guests, Ro-Mana, Countess Bloodsugar and "Carol Channing". In addition, there are many silly in-betweens (Bob Wilkins and John Stanley leading the charge) to garnish the presentation.
https://www.oldies.com/product-view/1149D.html.
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