Don't Deliver Us from Evil (1971) Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal (original title)

Director:

Joël Séria

Writers:

Joël Séria (dialogue)
Joël Séria (scenario)

Release Date:

December 1971 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

At First It Was Just a Game

Plot:

Anne and Lore, neighbors and best friends, barely into their teens, board at a convent school where they have taken a vow to sin and to serve Satan...

Plot Keywords:

Summer Vacation | Seduction | Convent School | Nun | Communion Wafer

Cast

Jeanne Goupil	...	Anne
Catherine Wagener	...	Lore
Bernard Dhéran	...	L'automobiliste / Motorist
Gérard Darrieu	...	Émile
Marc Dudicourt	...	L'aumônier
Michel Robin	...	Léon
Véronique Silver	...	La comtesse / The Countess
Jean-Pierre Helbert	...	Le comte / The Count
Nicole Mérouze	...	Mme Fournier / Mrs. Fournier
Henri Poirier	...	Monsieur Fournier (as Henry Poirier)
Serge Frédéric	...	Le curé / Priest
René Berthier	...	Gustave
Frédéric Nort	...	Le facteur
Jean-Daniel Ehrmann	...	Le commissaire (as Jean Daniel Ehrmann)
Dominique Ney
Nicole Gueden
Francine Istel
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ann Lewis

Directed by
Joël Séria

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Joël Séria		dialogue
Joël Séria		scenario

Produced by
Bernard Legargeant	....	producer
Ken Legargeant	....	executive producer
Romaine Legargeant	....	executive producer
Joël Séria	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Claude Germain
Dominique Ney

Cinematography by
Marcel Combes

Film Editing by
Philippe Gosselet

Costume Design by
Simone Vassort

Sound Department
Philippe Gosselet	....	sound

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Simone Vassort	....	costumes

Production Companies

• Société Générale de Production (co-production)
• Productions Tanit

Distributors

• Antony Balch Films (1971) (UK) (theatrical)
• Dex Entertainment (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Kadokawa Herald Pictures (1972) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Bildstörung (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Dex Entertainment (2008) (Japan) (DVD)
• Mondo Macabro (2006) (USA) (DVD) (director's cut) (French language version)
• René Chateau Video (2006) (France) (DVD)
• René Chateau Video (????) (France) (VHS)
• StudioCanal (2006) (France) (DVD) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal" - France (original title)
"But don't deliver us from Evil" - Europe (English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

102 min | USA:110 min (DVD version)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Dolby 2.0) (DVD version)

Certification:

France:(Banned) (original rating) | France:-16 (re-rating) | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | Canada:18+ (Québec) | UK:X

Company:

Société Générale de Production

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Satanic Mass and the following Lake Scene, the two girls wear see-through dresses. During the Mass, one can easily notice that Lore is wearing black panties, but, during the Lake Scene, she evidently wears nothing under her dress.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hellish Creatures (2006) (V)

Don't Deliver Us from Evil (Joel Seria, 1971) ***

I recently made a binge of DVD purchases, and among these were 6 Mondo Macabro releases I had been eyeing for some time. This is the first one I checked out, and it's a stunner - for several reasons! I had never heard of the film before its DVD announcement - but now I feel that it's been seriously neglected and, hopefully, Mondo Macabro's wonderful "Special Edition" can give this title a new lease of life.

Inspired by the same events which were eventually treated directly in Peter Jackson's HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994), the film is a perverse little item with rampant anti-Catholicism at its fore and which, unsurprisingly, was banned when it emerged; with this in mind, I love the way Mondo Macabro ended their description of it on the back cover: "It's a film that should be viewed only by those with very open minds"! Concerning two teenage girls' rebellion against their repressed upbringing by making a Satanic pact, in which they dedicate their lives to committing evil, it reminded me of other notorious "Chick Flicks" from the same era such as ALUCARDA (1975) and TO BE TWENTY (1978). The film doesn't have much of a plot and is deliberately paced, but it's held firmly together by the deliciously malevolent performances of the two leads (and particularly the untrained Jeanne Goupil, from whose viewpoint the events are related, and who subsequently hitched up with first-time director and former actor Seria!).

It seems to me that the reason the film is so obscure is that, when new, it was ahead of its time but, even now, it would be almost impossible to make (despite the ostensibly graphic nature of French cinema today) - featuring any number of shocking and potentially offensive images, which I won't spoil here for the uninitiated! Still, I have to mention the disturbing double rape inflicted - or, rather, invited - upon Catherine Wagener (though playing under-aged, the actress was actually 19 at the time) and the incredible finale, set inside a crowded school auditorium, which is sparked {sic} by the two girls' recital on stage of a strange poem by Baudelaire. The simple yet haunting music - performed on the organ or as a cantata - is highly effective, and the DVD extras (featuring, among others, separate interviews with Seria and Goupil) complement the film very nicely indeed.