Enter the Devil (1978)

Wonderful character development!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Strange and demonic. The devil raises more than his evil head. A beautiful art student (Stella Carnacina) eyes an ancient sculpture and her soul is possessed by Satan (Ivan Rassimov). The life-like sculpture comes to life and rapes the young woman causing her to lose control of her sexual thoughts and actions. Her body becomes a battlefield as an exorcism adds fuel to the old battle of good versus evil. Not everyone's cup of tea; interest is haphazard. A graphic rated R early 1970's style.Directed by Mario Gariazzo. The cast also features: Luigi Pistilli, Lucretia Love, Chris Avram, Piero Gerlini, Gianrico Tondinelli and Gabriele Tinti.

Another Italian rip-off of an American hit, this time it's THE EXORCIST. A young art student (Stella Carnacina) falls under the spell of a wooden statue found in the ruins of a desecrated church but the figure on the cross isn't Jesus (thank God) and when she's alone with it, the religious icon comes to life and rapes her. Soon she can't stop masturbating and puts the make on her father before becoming a lascivious, low-budget Linda Blair in this super sleazy slice of erotic horror "based on a true story". The second half of the film couldn't possibly live up to the first half but no matter, the shocking segment just described lingers long after the movie's over. Good lord.

Lovely and innocent young art student Danilla (a fearless performance by foxy brunette Stella Carnacina) is tormented by vivid and disturbing dreams of being nailed to a cross. Things get really strange and intense when the crucifix she's dreaming about comes to life and possesses her body, thus turning sweet Danilla into a shameless raving nympho who masturbates and tries to seduce her staid father Mario (a suitably uptight portrayal by Chris Avram). Director Mario Gariazzo and writer Ambrogio Molteni take the blithely lurid story seriously, do a sound job of creating and maintaining a scuzzy atmosphere, and, of course, deliver a few jolting moments of bloody'n'brutal violence along with a handy helping of kinky sex and yummy female nudity (the set piece with the statue making love to Danilla is quite sizzling and depraved). The solid cast of familiar Eurotrash cinema regulars helps a lot: the luscious Lucretia Love as Danilla's sadomasochistic adulteress mother Luisa, Gabriele Tinti as Luisa's sadistic lover, Luigi Pistilli as the intrepid and determined ace exorcist Father Xeno, and, in a deliciously wicked turn, Ivan Rassimov as a cackling lascivious Satan. Moreover, this flick has an inspired sense of warped lunacy to it: The statue coming to life stuff is weird and original and a sequence in which Danilla attempts to escape from a church is positively hysterical. The groovy music, ghastly 70's fashions, and disco dancing give the picture a certain campy retro charm. Carlo Carlini's cinematography makes effective occasional use of overhead camera shots. Marcello Giombini's wonky shuddery score does the shivery trick. Good sleazy fun.

WOW! What a horrible, hideous waste of time this celluloid atrocity turned out to be. I remember seeing it years ago and thinking it was fun but now...it's just plain silly. Not to mention the fact that it is a blatant rip-off of "The Exorcist" to the point where it was re-released at one point under the title "The Sex-orcist". The only real difference is that the producers have the gall to further discredit themselves by slapping on the claim that the events in the film are REAL! Who in their right mind would actually believe such a bold faced lie? To make matters even worse, there was a video release in circulation with cover art that blatantly tried to cash in on the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" by throwing a pair of lips on the cover! How low could one possibly sink? Do not be fooled by the false claims, blatant lies or title rip-off because you will be SORELY disappointed if you do!