The Demons (1973)

A group of nuns become possessed by demons and are then tortured in a dungeon of horrors during the inquisition.

Director:

Jesús Franco (as Clifford Brown)

Writer:

Jesús Franco (as Clifford Brown)

Stars:

Anne Libert, Carmen Yazalde, Doris Thomas

Cast

Credited cast:
Anne Libert	...	Kathleen
Carmen Yazalde	...	Margaret (as Britt Nichols)
Doris Thomas	...	Mother Rosalinda
Karin Field	...	Lady De Winter
Cihangir Gaffari	...	Lord Justice Jeffries (as John Foster)
Luis Barboo	...	Truro
Howard Vernon	...	Lord Malcolm De Winter
Alberto Dalbés	...	Thomas Renfield
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rosa Palomar

Storyline

As the scarlet flames lick her pale and desperate face while the feeble body is eager to succumb, a vindictive unrepentant witch doomed by the Grand Inquisitor Jeffries and Lady de Winter to die at the stake vomits her last malignant and sulphurous curse to all those guilty of her ordeal. As a result, petrified and with the curse of demise upon the accusers' heads, Lord and Lady de Winter set out to trace the witch's dark bloodline, and in particular, her daughters Kathleen and Margaret who have been raised as Sisters in the Blackmoor convent since childhood. But within the nunnery's thick stone walls, rabid desire and evil possession govern, furthermore, only one daughter is the curse's true heir. Which one is granted the power of retribution?

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Plot Keywords:

murder of a nude woman | murder | nudity | woman murders a woman | murderess | 

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Taglines:

Let the Exorcist Beware, the Demons are Here!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France Portugal

Language:

French

Release Date:

5 February 1973 (France)

Also Known As:

She-Demons

Company Credits

Production Co:

Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP), Interfilme

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min (restored) 118 min (Directors Cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was rejected for UK cinema in 1972 and eventually passed fully uncut for DVD in 2008 on the Redemption label.

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Connections

Featured in Trailer Trauma 2: Drive-In Monsterama (2016)

User Reviews

Rubbish demonic horror/witchcraft effort

Jess Franco at his very best can compete with the best of the cult filmmakers; but catch a bad effort and you'd never believe it in a million years. Les Demons represents a really bad effort for the prolific Spanish director, and that's really putting it lightly. The film would be best be described as demonic horror involving witches. The plot has something to do with a witch being burned at the stake, but really it's all so boring that I spent more time concentrating on my desire for it to finish than the actual plot. Luckily the version I saw was the chopped down seventy eight minute version, and although maybe they cut all the good bits out; I have to say I'm glad I saw the short version as I don't think I could have stomached almost two hours of this nonsense! As is usually the case for films like this; Les Demons is packed with sex scenes and most of them appear to serve no relevance to the plot whatsoever, and they're not even well filmed. The only thing that this film has going for it is that it's well shot at times and the music creates an effective mood. My opinion of Jess Franco changes according to which version of the director I'm watching; if it's good Franco then I'm a big fan, but if it's the Franco that made this film; I usually wish I hadn't bothered. Not recommended!