La endemoniada (1975)

User Rating:

4.0/10   

Director:

Amando de Ossorio

Writer:

Amando de Ossorio (writer)

Release Date:

May 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

An old witch seeks vengence through the daughter of the politician who had her thrown in jail. Soon the little girl's head is spinning around...

Plot Keywords:

Politician | Witch | Exorcism | Girl | Priest

Cast

Julián Mateos	...	Father Juan
Marián Salgado	...	Susan Barnes
Fernando Sancho	...	Police Chief
Lone Fleming	...	Anne Crawford
Ángel del Pozo	...	Mr. Barnes
Kali Hansa	...	Gypsy Witch
Daniel Martín	...	William Grant
Tota Alba	...	Mother Gautère
Roberto Camardiel	...	Managing Editor
María Kosty	...	Esther
Fernando Hilbeck
Julia Saly	...	Barnes' maid (as La Pocha)
María Vidal	...	Simona Comodare - Mother of the first sacrificed child
Concha Gómez Conde	...	Mother of the kidnapped child
Ernesto Yáñez

Also Known As:

Demon Witch Child
El poder de las tinieblas
The Possessed (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Isaac Hernández Poncela

Trivia:

Because Linda Blair was dubbed by Marián Salgado in the Spanish version of The Exorcist (1973), director Amando de Ossorio cast Salgado as the lead in his answer to the successful American horror movie.

Pretty original "Exorcist" rip-off

These kind of movies are usually dismissed as "Exorcist" rip-offs, which is not entirely accurate as they often lacked the budget and talent to "rip-off" a mega-budgeted Hollywood spectacle like "The Exorcist" even if they wanted to. What they really did was take advantage of all the notoriety and publicity surrounding the American film to make something that usually wasn't any good, but was often a lot more original than they have been given credit for. An old gypsy witch is accused of kidnapping a baby. After she dies in custody, her daughter arranges for her soul to possess the neglected young daughter of the local magistrate. Like Ravin in "The Exorcist" the possessed young girl floats in the air and starts speaking in foul-mouthed, adult voices, but she is also far more active, leading the sacrifice of the kidnapped baby to Satan, and luring the male lover of her governess to a park where she kills him,castrates him, and gives his genitalia to his poor girlfriend as a present! Her eventual exorcist meanwhile, like Father Damien Karras, is a local priest facing a crisis of conscience, but a far more ridiculous one--a woman he earlier jilted for the priesthood has become a prostitute.

I, in no way, want to imply that this is a good movie. Amando Ossorio has become somewhat of a cult director, but while he may handle atmospheric horror well in his "Blind Dead" series (or even the much-maligned "Night of the Sorcerers"), he is well out of his element here with this kind of more visceral horror. The script is (obviously)very stupid, the special effects are generally inept, and the atrocious English dubbing makes the whole thing completely risible. The movie should be commended though for its originality (relatively speaking)and its sheer audacity (the infanticide, the castration etc.). Most of the objectionable material, it should be said, is done off-screen (probably more due to budget limitations and censorship than good taste), but it unusual to broach such disturbing subject matter at all in a commercial film. The make-up on the little girl is also pretty good, and is aided greatly by the fact that the young actress looked pretty creepy (and a lot like the old witch) to begin with.

So does all this add up to a recommendation? Well . . . I guess if you like these "Exorcist" rip-offs like I do, you could do worse.