EXORCISEME

An ex-priest is obsessed with demonic possession after witnessing a satanic ritual during his childhood. Expelled from the Church, the man works as a collaborator for a magazine, whose director organizes fake esoteric evenings in a gloomy castle. In a fit of madness, the man decides to exorcise and punish all the participants of the diabolical meetings. Also known by the titles "Exorcism" and "The Vicious Ones," this "Demonique" is perhaps the most classic example of the "excessive" cinema of the controversial Spanish director, who presents us in one work all the peculiarities of his cinema: torture, sadism, paranoia, mysticism. Unfortunately, the film is at the same time the manifesto of the most serious flaws of the films directed by the Latin director: starting with the poor performances of the actors (it is worth noting that the protagonist is Franco himself) not to mention the screenplay, as usual incomplete and lacking in several points and ending with dialogues bordering on trash. What strikes the most (negatively) is the almost total absence of splatter or gore scenes (except for a short sequence, moreover poorly executed, in which we witness the tearing of a belly), elements that one expects to find in films of this genre. The film is easily available for sale, edited by Pulp Video, even in a director's cut version with additional minutes in the original language! Once again, one wonders if it is possible, with so many excellent "classics" to re-edit ("Four Flies on Grey Velvet," "Macabre Ballad," "The Last House on the Left" to name a few), to choose precisely the films of Jesus Franco!