The Eerie Midnight Horror Show (Italian: L'Ossessa/ The Exorcism; also known as Enter the Devil, The Sexorcist and The Devil Obsession) is a 1974 Italian horror film Exorcist clone directed by Mario Gariazzo, and starring Stella Carnacina and Chris Avram. Ivan Rassimov played Satan in the film.[1][2][3] A hardcoreversion called Sexorcist Devil was also released.[4]
| The Eerie Midnight Horror Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Mario Gariazzo |
| Screenplay by | Ambrogio Molteni |
| Story by | Mario Gariazzo |
| Starring | Stella Carnacina Chris Avram Ivan Rassimov Luigi Pistilli Gabriele Tinti |
| Cinematography | Carlo Carlini |
| Music by | Marcello Giombini |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Language | Italian |
Plot
editDanila, an art student in Italy, visits an abandoned, deconsecrated church to view life-size wooden sculptures of the crucifixion uncovered there. Along with her art professor, Danila purchases one of the sculptures and brings it to the campus art studio. That night, Danila attends a house party held by her parents, where she witnesses her mother engaging in sadomasochistic sex in one of the bedrooms with Mario, her lover. Disturbed by what she has witnessed, Danila returns to the art studio to work. While painting, she has a vision of the statue of the man coming to life and seducing her.
After, Danila meets her boyfriend, Carlo, for dinner. Upon returning home, she is accosted by something unseen in the stairwell. Upon entering her apartment, she begins masturbating furiously. Her parents later find her in bed, writhing and scratching herself violently. She attempts to initiate sex with her father, after which he slaps her in the face. After being sedated, Danila dreams of driving with her parents into the countryside, during which their car has a tire blowout near an abandoned cathedral. As her father repairs the tire, Danila wanders into the cathedral, where an artist is performing restorations. Danila wanders into catacombs, where she has a vision of three women sacrificing another for the man she earlier witnessed manifest from the statue; the cultists address the man as Satan. Danila drinks from a cup offered to her, before the man crucifies her.
Danila awakens from the dream, violently screaming. Her parents summon a doctor, who finds stigmata on Danila's hands; however, the wounds miraculously disappear the next day. After a priest determines Danila may be possessed, she is taken to a remote Catholic convent in the mountains to undergo an exorcism. When the nuns recite Latin prayer in the chapel, Danila goes mad and flees, but is stopped in town. Sequestered in the mothers superior's quarters, Danila is approached by Father Xeno, a priest, and she attempts to seduce and fellate him. In his room, Father Xeno flagellates himself as penance.
In a second attempt to exorcise Danila, Father Xeno is attacked by her with a chain, which she repeatedly whips him with. She begins to violently foam at the mouth upon seeing his crucifix. Father Xeno ultimately dies during the exorcism, but Danila is saved.
Cast
edit- Stella Carnacina as Danila
- Chris Avram as Mario
- Lucretia Love as Luisa
- Ivan Rassimov as Satan
- Gabriele Tinti as Luisa's lover
- Luigi Pistilli as Father Xeno
- Gianrico Tondinelli as Carlo
- Umberto Raho as Psychiatrist
- Piero Gerlini as Rev. Antonio
- Giuseppe Addobbati as Doctor
References
edit- ^ Luca Rea (1999). I colori del buio: il cinema thrilling italiano dal 1930 al 1979. Molino, 1999. ISBN 8890035900.
- ^ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 1991. ISBN 8876059695.
- ^ Marco Giusti (1999). Dizionario dei film italiani stracult. Sperling & Kupfer, 1999. ISBN 8820029197.
- ^ Paul, Louis (2015). Italian Horror Film Directors. McFarland & Company. pp. 280–281. ISBN 978-0786461134.