Exorcism Review from Synapse Films!
Ahhhhh, that one name you can utter in any conversation between a group of knowing horror and cult lovers… the one name which will start so many debates and laughs of joy or repulsion. That name is… Jesus Franco. Will Severed Cinema lose a few followers if I admit I don’t mind his films? I’m not an avid rabid fan. In fact he’s so hit or miss that I’ve seen far more misses than hits. But when he hits, he hits right. He put out over 200 films (some are actually re-edited soft and hard variations), see, and yeah, a lot would have been using his name alone and selling techniques to get money from investors (in fact I read in an interview with an actor how Jess won money, a lot of it, once and shouted through to his wife, Lina, “We can make more films now!” Apparently she was having a bath and wasn’t amused about being disturbed.
That shows in fact his love of making movies. The guy lived and breathed for the art, unfortunately he didn’t always apply the talents he obviously had correctly. Jess worked cheap, was probably low cost to hire, and could turn out a quick film and make a steady bit of cash for people involved. Formula for success – zooms, gore, nudity… loads of nudity, violence, and usually Lina Romay.
Exorcism is kind of in the middle of the road and career time for Jess. His biggest hits of the ‘60s and very early ‘70s were gone because the market had way too many films on the shelves that kind of pushed in front of his. Yet, 1974 was around the stage where he was throwing out an average of seven films per year. People were watching them, sweaty hands were exchanging money for tickets all over the place due to catchy titles and good old fashioned eye-catching posters plus taglines.
This time ‘round he isn’t messing. He starts off Exorcism with the ol’ dirty S&M show that ‘70s crowds expected from him. Lina is all chained up, bush out and nude whilst another lady whips her then daubs the blood of a dove on her breasts, all for a paying audience. As a really cool catchy keyboard driven tune plays, the show goes on, then the players exit. Lina plays, Anne, by night a sado performer, by day she’s an office worker.
We meet Vogel, a writer for the magazine, who specialises in sadomasochistic stories based on fact. “We must know evil to fight it.” Vogel says to Anna and her editor. “They tell me you used to be a priest once.” Anna enquires, to which he gets quite defensive. Afterwards he becomes a little obsessed by Anna and her work mates, going so far as to renting an apartment across the room from her and her girl, watching across the street as they do the typical Euro nude women workout together. He tracks down and takes one of the circle to his apartment where she mentions they have a black mass once in a while. What he isn’t aware of is that it’s faked for show and entertainment. He kisses her, “I must know. Tell me more!” After this, he terrorises her, chains her up — naked of course — and brandishes a knife. “I will exorcise you. I will tear the Devil from out of your heart!” stab stab stab.
Vogel heads over to the place where the mass is being held and quietly watches in absolute dumbfounded horror, a woman being sacrificed. He leaves, mind all over the place, and misses the end of the show which reveals it’s all fake – oh, and a really big writhing orgy looking like a ton of miniature humans have been splattered to the floor. Vogel is at a loss, in his head he must do what is right. Ex-priest or not, he has to rid the world of this evil.
He kills another woman, and spies a bit more on Anna, then we’re introduced to the formula that spoils the potion. Two bickering cops. The older supposed wiser one, and the young fresh from college one (he looks like a young Boris Johnson!) who kind of works everything out but isn’t believed. Lengthy stupid scenes with these two absolutely shatter any kind of excitement that could build up.
Vogel continues his murder spree and finally kidnaps Anna, stripping and chaining her, slapping her, then biting her. All the while, Anna’s last surviving friends and the idiot police are closing in for a truly anticlimactic showdown.
I think Jesus Franco was the kind of person to knock on your door and if you told him to go away, he’d knock again, wait silently for a while, knock again, wait, then knock, until you gave in and opened the door. He’d stand there smiling as if nothing was wrong. Exorcism seems quite personal, like he’s exorcising his Roman Catholic feelings, and winning no friends there, by portraying, Vogel. The character comes across as quite lonely and lost in his torments. His madness is eating him up within. Lina does what Lina always does, lose her clothes and pout a lot, then scream. The rest of the cast are simply obstacles around their love affair spilt into a movie.
The film has a nice soundtrack, and terrific location choices. There’s also some nifty gore here and there for good measure. Hang on, let me backtrack here. The soundtrack is nice aside from a club scene with music playing and dancing vibes out of date in the mid-‘70s by about six years or more. A bit of jazz now and then doesn’t hurt proceedings either.
What undoes whatever gesture of grandeur Exorcism may have built is the conclusion. All I will say is this, it’s too quick, and why do the police drive off? I won’t spoil any more. I can’t ruin the excitement for you. I think that’s the problem with a lot of Jess flicks, like for instance, The Girl from Rio, all good fun ‘til the final act.
Synapse Films release of Exorcism has brought us a commentary by Jess Franco, and alternative pointless clothed sequences. I mean, this is as close as we’ll get to a complete version, with tacked on nudity here and there, so why bother? Jess discusses the genesis of the story, what he brought from his own background, the different shots for different markets, and of course bits and pieces about the locations, etcetera. He’s hard to understand but is very open and talkative.
Look, you don’t go into a Jess Franco movie expecting too much do you? For instance, think of Oasis of the Zombies (see review of Oasis of the Zombies here) — you watch it to switch off and smile a bit. I’m a fan of horror and weird films. I don’t sit and dissect each and every issue in a flick to make a name for myself or join the crowd of folks who disrespect certain directors. Granted this is one of his more approachable creations and it certainly has a few flaws in its make up, but so what? There’s always somebody who will yawn at any film by any filmmaker, no matter who they are.
Exorcism is one of those to buy at a reasonable price and see for yourself. It’s an interesting beginning to venture on for anyone yet to break their J.C. virginity. Does Exorcism sum up his whole huge career? No, not a chance, but it is fun.
AKA: L’eventreur De Notre-dame, El exorcista diabolico, Exorcisme et messes noires, Chains and Black Leather, Demoniac, Exorcisme, Nackte Haut und schwarzes Leder, Exorcism and Black Masses, El sadico de Notre dame, Exorcisms
Directed by: Jesus Franco |Written by: Henri Bral de Boitselier, Jesus Franco, James C Garner | Produced by: Daniel & Marious Lesouer |Cinematography by: Raymond Heil. | Editing by: Pierre Querut | Music by: Andre Benichou, Daniel White | Special Effects by: Jakob Peier | Cast: Lina Romay, Jesus Franco, Catherine Lafferiere, Oliver Mathot, France Nicolas, Sam Maree | Year: 1974 | Country: Spain | Language: English (Dubbed) | Color: Color | Runtime: 1h 34min
Distributor: Synapse Films
DVD SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Region: NTSC R1
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
– Audio Commentary with Jess Franco
– Trailer
– Alternative Clothed Sequence
– Stills Gallery
