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Review

A rare stab at the contemporary – for its time at least – for Spains irrepresible premier genre star Jacinto Molina, or as he is better known to most genre fans Paul Naschy. Best known for his myriad shockers patterned after the Universal monster opuses of yore and his attempts to ape the gothic horrors of Hammer, the former Olympic weightlifter takes a break from prancing around in crap werewolf make-up to co-write and star in this obscure and wholly disreputable knock-off of William Friedkin’s classic The Exorcist. The astounding financial success of Friedkin’s film would prove the catalyst for a slew of cheapjack European imitations – mainly emanating from Italy – which tended to emphasise the most lurid and exploitative aspects of Friedkin’s film in order to rake in a quick buck. Exorcism predictably recycles the most superficial aspects of the satanic possession cycle, only in this instance bogged down with tiresome additional “whodunit” elements more typical with the Italian giallo format.

The rather lovely Grace Mills stars as Leila, the youngest daughter of the aristocratic Gibson family, who in search of new and voracious kicks attends drug-addled satanic ceremonies together with her scumbag beau Richard Harrington. High on drugs following a druggy ritual on the beach the couple suffers a serious road accident but both miraculously walk away from the smash with only minor, superficial injuries.

With this being a cheap Spanish possession flick this can of course only mean the intervention of Old Scratch himself (or else we wouldn’t have a movie). Sure enough lovely young Leila begins to demonstrate rather alarming personality changes as she begins using torrents of foul language and displays great hostility to both her family and visitors to their house. Leila’s concerned brother John calls in the local vicar and family friend Reverend Dunning (our man Naschy) to sniff around. The well-meaning priests intervention coincides with the gruesome murders of both John and Richard Harrington. Both men are found with their heads twisted around a full 180 degrees.

When he himself comes under police suspicion for the murders, Reverend Dunning launches his own investigation into the ghoulish goings on. Eventually he uncovers a debauched black magic sect operating within the ruins of a nearby castle and orchestrated by the Gibson families sinister bald chauffer Udo (Induni), who is also the perpetrator of both murders.

Upon his arrest Udo hurls himself through the police station window and crashes to his death. However Udo’s demonic soul survives his physical dearth and promptly possesses young Leila leaving Reverend Dunning with no alternative but to attempt an exorcism in a last ditch bid to save the girls soul.

Somehow you just know that Exorcism is set to be cheap nonsense right from the opening scene – a murkily shot satanic ceremony on a beach which is so badly photographed that the viewer gets a nasty case of eye strain from trying to make out just the fucking hell is going on. Indeed all suspicions that this is going to be a shoddy, flea market level riff on the theme of The Exorcist (replete with some seriously awful English dubbing) are soon confirmed. In actual fact a more appropriate title for this pile of silly rot would probably be Father Naschy Investigates. The first hour of Exorcism is more akin to a half-baked, ineptly plotted giallo as Naschy saunters around wittering on endlessly as he attempts to come up with an explanation for the diabolical goings on.

Exorcism is actually surprisingly low on the exploitative elements one would expect for a film of its ilk, save for a liberal smattering of salacious nudity. This might have made for a refreshing, plot driven approach but unfortunately Exorcism offers nothing of substance in exchange for the projectile pea soup vomiting and religious obscenity that aficionados of this particular subgenre have come to expect. The most horrific thing on display here is Naschy’s beard, otherwise the dubious highlight is a lusty satanic lesbian orgy in which Mills and several other nubile ladies paw each others naked bodies whilst tooth grating experimental music squeals away in the background.

Exorcism is also hurt by its seeming total lack of anything resembling a budget. The Gibson’s are supposedly wealthy folk, but you wouldn’t guess it from the endless scenes of mildewed passageways that resemble the impoverished world of a Charles Dickens novel more than the home of moneyed aristocrats. Likewise, the Gibson’s bedrooms consist of no more than blank white walls and a few flimsy looking furnishings. Perhaps the Gibson’s are staging at early attempt at minimalist design?

Adding to the films woes, the “mystery” element of Exorcism is tedious and uninvolving due principally to a lack of any interesting protagonists and an over realiance on an array of lazy, predictable red herrings. In a prime example of the films utterly banal plotting Reverend Dunning becomes prime suspect for no reason other than the fact that he has a distinguished background as an athlete and strongman. On the subject of Naschy, his is a seriously self-indulgent performance even by his standards, which is quite something when you stop to consider that most of his films seldom amount to much more than an excuse for him to showboat around in naff monster make-up. The lions share of Exorcism is gobbled up by dull scenes of Reverend Dunning engaging in longwinded, probing conversation with the other protagonists (who are nearly all either completely talentless or extremely bored judging by their lousy performances), spouting lots of pseudo-religious claptrap usually with his pipe in one hand and a stiff drink in the other. Naschy’s depiction is really less akin to an intense Max Von Sydow-like exorcist figure than it is to an amiable, cut-rate Sherlock Holmes with a dog collar. Inadvertently Reverend Dunning comes off as something of a self-righteous curtain twitcher as supporting protagonists conversations are constantly (and maddeningly) interrupted by Naschy’s head popping up from behind the rhododendrons to butt in with yet more religious waffle.

After the killers identity is finally revealed messrs Bosch and Naschy finally remember that this mess is being billed as a satanic possession potboiler and change the whole tack of the film entirely and with a jarring abruptness, Unfortunately however, there is no time to take this anywhere meaning that Exorcism settles instead for the predictably risible as Mills sports a decidedly unconvincing make-up job and starts throwing herself against the walls like an epileptic at a strobe lighting exhibition. Naschy promptly arrives on the scene to save the day by bellowing verse and sprinkling a drop of holy water about the place while beds levitate and furniture flies around the room. In a daft twist ending Udo’s spirit then possesses a previously placid Alsatian dog which proceeds to attack Naschy in an unintentionally hilarious climactic struggle between man and beast. It beggars belief that anyone could ever have imagined this to be a good idea for a conclusion.

With its British setting and heavy emphasis on tiresome, talky exposition Exorcism actually feels les like your typical continental satanic shocker and more like a comically misappropriated attempt at knocking out a Conan-Doyle flavoured drawing room mystery with an opportunistic possession thrown into the mix to ensure its commercial viability. Unfortunately the direction of Bosch is too plodding, uninspired and pedestrian. This combined with the typically dodgy dubbing, Naschy’s amusingly rubbish turn and an inexplicable lack of the requisite exploitation factor makes this tedious talkfest set against an endless backdrop of dusty bookshelves one Iberian snoozer to avoid for all but the staunchest aficionados of garbled Euro-nonsense. In a ridiculous postscript it should be noted that Naschy would eventually go on record to ridiculously claim that he wrote the story for this film some time before William Peter Blatty wrote The Exorcist. The phrase “if you believe that, you will believe anything” springs immediately to mind!

Also Try… The Antichrist / Beyond The Door / The Sexorcist / House Of Exorcism / The Exorcist / The Blue Eyes Of The Broken Doll / The Hunchback Of The Morgue / Curse Of The Devil.

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