Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

This movie is literally the center of the Venn Diagram that would be made of the movies that I love the most.Italian ripoff of a successful film — This movie is obviously trying to be The Exorcist.Satanism — This film has some of the goofiest and most awesome devil tricks of any of I've seen.Exploitation — No one in this film acts like a normal human being and reality has been supplanted by insanity before the demons even get involved.Multiple titles — This film is also known as Sexorcist, The Tormented, Devil Obsession, L'Ossessa and was later re-released post-Rocky Horror midnight movie success in 1977 as The Eerie Midnight Horror Show.And the title card that comes up before the movie begins: THIS FILM IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY.Daniela is an art student in Italy who is so respected by her teachers that she gets to join them as they acquire religious sculptures from a church due to be torn down. That church was deconsecrated way back in the 1700's because the priests and nuns decided that they would turn against God and start having orgies in the church. And one of the statues, an incredibly lifelike display of one of the thieves crucified next to Jesus, catches Daniela's eye. She is told that it was pulled directly from a tree, that it was already inside the wood and all the sculptor had to do was bring out the details. However, many tourists have had mental breakdowns just looking at this sculpture.Daniela's life is weird even before the crazy gets started. Her rich parents throw a party and we learn that her mother isn't just cheating on her husband, she's doing it pretty much in public. Yep — Daniela catches her mother getting whipped by the thorns of a rose — a scene that Becca just randomly walked into and asked, "What are you watching?!?"Our heroine leaves for her studio at the university. As she paints, the sculpture comes off of its cross in a scene that can only come from the deranged mind of Italian exploitation filmmaking (director Mario Gariazzo wrote Sister Emanuelle and directed Very Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind). Of course, that revived religious icon then has sex with her, sex that appears to be a dream as she runs from the studio.Later that night, as Daniela climbs the stairs to her family's apartment, she keeps thinking she is alone, but the sounds of her footsteps don't match up. She hears a demon whisper her name and she runs in fear before the demon overcomes her, forcing her into a state of sexual mania and a dream where she is crucified. She spends the rest of the movie trying to get anyone to have sex with her while stigmata appears on her hands and she does all of the tropes of exorcism rip-offs.And then Ivan Rassimov (All the Colors of the Dark, Shock/Beyond the Door II, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key ) shows up as Satan, giving Daniela her beauty back so that she can work with him to tempt all of the priests, like Father Xeno (Luigi Pistilli, Oliviero from Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key). She tries to seduce him, so to forget that she has tempted him he self-flagellates.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/10/20/enter-the-devil-1974

After the release of The Exorcist in 1973, it was really only a matter of time before somebody realised that 'ex' sounds a bit like 'sex' and ended up coming up with a film called 'The Sexorcist'. Unfortunately that person was Mario Gariazzo; and while he may well have gone on to contribute to the script of the best Emanuelle film (Sister Emanuelle) and direct the seriously sleazy 1979 Giallo Play Motel - he apparently is not so well suited to ripping off The Exorcist, and The Sexorcist will surely go down as being one of the most pointless Exorcist rip offs of all time; and in a 'genre' that includes films such as Exorcismo and Naked Exorcism - that really is saying something! The trouble in this film starts with a strange wooden statue that is apparently Satan on a cross. It comes alive and a young theology student by the name of Danila ends up getting possessed by the devil. The Devil doesn't seem to have any particular plan in mind; he just gets the young girl masturbating and making sex offers to anyone who will listen...but hey, what else could you expect from a film that puts an 'S' in front of 'Exorcist'? Actually, that's one of the film's main problems. It's the SEXorcist and there's very little sex to speak of! There's a ton of scenes involving vomiting, loads of religious gabble, scenes set in churches and even a priest being whipped with a chain - but where's the sex that the title promises? Naturally the plot is really very stupid and the director makes no secret of the fact that this film exists simply to cash in on The Exorcist. The Sexorcist is not without plus points, however. The film does feature a rather sleazy atmosphere and a lot of it is set in churches, which blends well. There's also a delicious cast which is headed by the pretty Stella Carnacina - and she gets back up from the likes of Ivan Rassimov (playing the very horny Devil, no less), Gabriele Tinti and Luigi Pistilli who ends up performing the sexorcism. I mean exorcism. The scenes in which the leading lady vomits and prances around 'possessed' are also worth watching. However, at the end of the day; The Sexorcist just doesn't live up its promise and what we end up with is just a really pointless Exorcist rip-off that isn't much worth bothering with.

"L'Ossessa" (released in English under many titles and the eeriest of them certainly is "The eerie midnight horror show") is one of the best Italian rip-offs of "The Exorcist". To really appreciate this film you should have a sense of humor. "L'Ossessa" is at the same time sleazy (but naive), pathetic and sometimes even moving.Danila (Stella Carnacina), an art student, goes to an old church to see the statue she's going to restore. It's a wooden statue of Christ, a demonic Christ, maybe already overcome by evil, or fighting against it, or perhaps planning dark deeds. The face shows infinite torment. The statue dates from the 15th century. Danila is impressed by the mastery shown by the sculptor - the statue seems almost alive! She lives with her parents. Her mother Luisa (Lucretia Love) lives a dissolute life and doesn't care too much for keeping up appearances. Her father Mario (Chris Avram) observes everything with disenchanted eyes.The wooden statue will soon assume a human form (Ivan Rassimov) and possess Danila in the carnal and spiritual sense. An amazing scene! The poor Danila, from now on, will suffer the torments of hell.Danila (the lovely Stella Carnacina) was ravished, violated, possessed by the devil and now following his orders, she will try to seduce others. Ain't she emulating her sleazy mother Luisa (Lucretia Love) who feels great pleasure when her lover whips her with a bunch of roses? There is a scene so ridiculous as to be sublime and moving, when Stella Carnacina runs in despair through the narrow streets (possessed by the devil, remember?) of a small Italian town screaming her heart out. Luigi Pistilli is a very good exorcist. His performance is, as usual, intense. The exorcism scenes (particularlly the final battle) are very, very amateurish, but this will only enhance the fun (and/or emotion?) if you've really got a sense of humor.Stella Carnacina is beautiful and looks fresh and innocent, and that's a factor that adds to your pleasure when she's naked, but I think that the film could have explored more her natural beauty. Lucretia Love is a very good sleaze companion (her nude scene with the roses... well.:) Other Italian exorcist rip-offs I would like to recommend for you are: Malabimba (very sleazy and released uncut and digitally restored) "Evil Eye" (Malocchio) - "The Exorcist" was the main source of inspiration for "Evil Eye", but others films, like, for instance, "Rosemary's Baby" should also be taken into account. "Evil Eye" is completely over the top. Not that sleazy but with plenty of gorgeous Italian and Spanish actresses. You'll be drooling all over the film. The film is ridiculous, the story doesn't make any sense, but if you see it in the right mood you might feel moved! - a diabolical sect, possession, murders, despair, love, investigation and beautiful women all around. A wild ride! If you liked "Evil Eye", see also "Ring of Darkness" (Un'Ombra nell'ombra). This film can be found in the alternative market. Search this title in the IMDb. There are good reviews about it.P.S. - "L'Ossessa" has many different faces. It's exploitative, but it can also be serious and moving. It's cheap, cheesy... sleazy (but not that much) and it has an underlying "moral" message. This strange brew can sometimes be very funny. We all already know that "L'Ossessa" is an "Exorcist" rip-off so why can't we see it on its own terms? Yes, Mario Gariazzo was trying to earn a fast buck, but he was able get the most out of a shoestring budget. The story is well told, the film is atmospheric and overall the actors are committed to their roles. See the film with an open mind and you may discover two or three new things.

Maybe it was because I grew up under power-lines, but I have a strange affection for all these foreign "Exorcist" rip-offs. Most of these movies, truth be told, really aren't any more stupid plot-wise than the original "Exorcist", but they lacked the budget, the talent, and the raw visceral power to make them effective horror movies and usually ended up being merely risible. Still, with a few exceptions (i.e. the Turkish "Seytan"), they weren't as blatantly unoriginal and imitative as many critics (who obviously never watched them on their own terms)have claimed. The Italians, for instance, managed to add a ridiculous sexploitation angle to the proceedings in films like "L'Anticristo", "Malabimba", and this one.After watching her high society mama (the ubiquitously naked Lucretia Love) being whipped by flowers (yes, you read that right) and engaging in other perverse sex acts with her lover (Gabriel "husband of Laura Gemser" Tinti), a pretty young artist (Stella Carnacina)becomes upset and falls under the spell of of an Etruscan demon/Christ type statue she is helping to restore. The statue comes to life (as the creepy Ivan Rassimov),strips off her calico dress, and "possesses" her in more ways than one. The rest of the movie involves her cursing and attacking her mother, trying to seduce her father, and finally getting exorcised by no less than Luigi Pistilli. Oh yeah, she also vomits green goo, but only at the very end, almost as an afterthought.By no means is this movie good, but it sure is entertaining!It makes no sense at all, but never slows down to allow you to contemplate its sheer absurdity. And what an exploitation cast! Lucretia Love, who looks to be in her mid-30's, is obviously not old enough to be the mother of the twenty-something Carnacina, but that's not the point, is it? And you also have male character actors like Tinti, Rassimov, and Pistilli all doing what they do best. "Malabimba" has more sex and Mariangelo Giordano, so it perhaps slightly edges this one out, but this is definitely my second favorite European "Exorcist"/sexploitation rip-off ever. Check it out.