Les
Démoniaques (The Demoniacs)
1974
Director- Jean Rollin
From France
Cast- Lieva Lone, Patricia Hermenier, Joëlle Cœur, John
Rico, Willy Braque, Mireille Dargent, Miletic Zivomir, Paul Bisciglia, Ben
Zimet
If you
are familiar with the work of Jean Rollin you may be surprised at how
relatively straight forward this film is. His films are often dreamlike, filled
with symbolism. This film has a pretty simple narrative and goes from A to B in
a pretty straight line. That’s not to say, however, that the film follows our
preconceived notions of how the story should unfold. In a Rollin’s film, many
things happen that the viewer just needs to accept at face value without
wondering why it happened a certain way or why it didn’t happen in a more
conventional way.
A group
of criminals, called “the wreckers”, make a living by luring ships into the
shore and crashing them on the rocks. They then murder the survivors and loot
the salvage. The wreckers are The Captain (Rico), his two henchmen and his
moll, Tina (Cœur). They come upon two hapless girls
(Lieva
Lone and Patricia Hermenier) that are survivors of one of their engineered wrecks.
The crew of outlaws then brutally rape the girls, beat them and leave them for
dead. However, the next day the Captain starts having visions that the girls
are still alive and becomes obsessed with finding them again and finishing the
job.
The girls,
meanwhile, have survived and sought refuge in an old ruin near the coast. The
girls, who never talk and are never named, are the typical waifs of Rollin’s
films; their desperation seems to heighten their sex appeal.
Trapped
in this ruin is the Devil (Zivomir). No horns and pitchfork here, however.
Imagine a really intense David Copperfield dressed like a 1970s superhero
(again, don’t ask questions). The Devil strikes a bargain with the girls. In
exchange for freeing him, he will grant them the power to exact their revenge
on their attackers. The girls agree and he makes love to them one after the
other, granting them his power.
The
movie then builds to a confrontation between the girls and the outlaws, but
don’t expect it to go the way you think. This is not some supernatural version
of I Spit on Your Grave. More sex, violence, and madness are in store for us
before the story reaches its conclusion.
As the
two protagonists don’t talk, a lot was depending on the villains to progress
the story. John Rico is good as the
cruel Captain driven to madness over the memory and guilt of his countless
crimes. Stealing the show however (and the person that really makes this film)
is Joëlle Coeur as Tina. She is so wild and violent. Her sexuality is
uncontrollable and she seems to take a real sensual pleasure in cruelty. I could
watch the move again just to see her crazed nymphomaniac.
Though
Rollin’s preferred subject was vampirism, this journey into supernatural
revenge, sex and violence, makes for an entertaining, arousing, and disturbing
story.
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