THE DEMON

Lucania in the early sixties: a girl is considered prey of the devil due to her strange behavior. When a series of misfortunes begin to befall her village, she is held responsible. Subjected to magical rites and an exorcism, she will end up being killed by the man she loves. Unreleased Italian horror film, never distributed on cassette and practically never broadcast on television (except for RaiTre's "Fuori orario"). Halfway between Fulci's "Non si sevizia un paperino" and Friedkin's "The Exorcist," the film has the merit (not small) of being one of the first films ever made in Italy, and in the world, on the "uncomfortable" subject of demonic possessions and the popular beliefs connected to them. To the modern viewer, it may seem rather slow, but it remains a well-directed work and masterfully performed by its female lead. Anthology-worthy is the "spider walk" of the possessed during the exorcism in the church, there was no way to know how it was possible to achieve it so effectively (probably a circus contortionist was used). Just think that even Friedkin gave up, in his first version of "The Exorcist," to include Regan's famous "spider descent" because it was not achievable in a sufficiently credible way with the special effects of the time; if one thinks that this "Il demonio" was made several years earlier and with much less revenue.. A cult film to rediscover.