THE TOUCH OF SATAN

While traveling to California, Jodie Thompson stops for a picnic by a small lake, where he meets Melissa, whom he feels immediately attracted to. The girl invites him to dinner at her farm, and he accepts. Here, the young man meets Melissa's family, including an unsettling great-grandmother with a burned face who is kept locked in her room. Jodie decides to spend the night at Melissa's, and the next day, when the two go to the village to do some shopping, the young man notices that the villagers fear Melissa and consider her a witch. As if that weren't enough, horrifying murders begin to stain the village with blood. Released in 1971, "L'ossessa – I raccapriccianti delitti di Monroe Park" arrived in Italy several years later, when the craze for exorcism films was at its peak, creating one of those cases where the Italian distribution marketed something as what it is not. The poster announces in large letters THE STORY OF AN EXORCISM, but watching the film, one realizes that "L'ossessa" lacks exorcisms. Even the title "L'ossessa" evokes a similarly named exorcism film by Mario Gariazzo from 1974, replacing the original "The Touch of Satan," which would later be literally translated in the first Italian DVD edition of the film, titled "Il Tocco di Satana." In short, the usual confusion often caused by Italian distributions. That said, let's move on to the film's quality aspect. "L'ossessa" is a film about witchcraft, a very fascinating and underutilized theme in horror cinema, but it addresses this subject using very particular devices. Initially, we do not know that the theme is witchcraft; we find ourselves dealing with a possibly dysfunctional family that harbors a secret probably related to the elderly Lucinda, introduced with a blood-stained dress and therefore likely the author of the murder that opens the film. Little by little, as the story takes shape and all the characters are introduced, it becomes clear that Melissa is considered a witch by the villagers, and from here unfolds the film's central theme, which, through a series of flashbacks dating back 100 years, contains all the clichés about witch hunts that tradition has accustomed us to. The pace of "L'ossessa" is rather slow, marked by the phases of the falling in love between Melissa and Jodie… and surprisingly, love is another of the main themes on which the film directed by Don Henderson dwells the most. A love that at some point becomes clearly impossible and perhaps destined to succumb under the influence of evil forces. At times, Henderson's film is too rushed, both in outlining the relationships between some characters (Melissa's parents) and in describing the murders and the ensuing investigation. Apart from the character of Melissa, played convincingly by Emby Mellay (here in her first and only film), the others appear superficial in characterization, starting with the protagonist Jodie (Michael Berry), who is too left at the mercy of events. The figure of Lucinda is discreetly frightening, a withered old woman with a burned face capable of unsettling outbursts of anger, as in the scene of the murder with the butcher's hook. In short, "L'ossessa – I raccapriccianti delitti di Monroe Park" is a film that partially convinces, with good ideas and fluctuating rhythms, good actors and others less convincing, interesting directorial choices, and inappropriate devices (the voice of the Devil above all). In the end, we have an enjoyable but limited film, certainly enhanced by a short duration that makes it easy to watch. Distributed on DVD by Mosaico Media both as "Il Tocco di Satana" (1st edition) and in reprint with the correct title "L'ossessa – I raccapriccianti delitti di Monroe Park."