Satánico pandemonium (La Sexorsista)

Satánico pandemonium (La Sexorsista)

1975

Director- Gilberto Martínez Solares

Cast- Cecilia Pezet, Enrique Rocha, Delia Magaña

From Mexico

           

   Even if you haven’t seen the film, you probably recognize the name as Selma Hayek’s character, the voluptuous vampire, in From Dusk Till Dawn. Or maybe you recognize the film’s parenthetical title as that of a White Zombie album. If you’ve seen the film, then you know how it could inspire the likes of Rob Zombie and Robert Rodriguez. If you haven’t seen the film, then prepare yourself for a treat and the best example of the so-called nunsploitation sub-genre.

            The film follows a young nun, Sister Maria (Cecilia Pezet). While walking through the woods, she happens upon the Devil (Enrique Rocha), appearing as a handsome, naked, dark haired man. She runs away and prays, but she can’t get the image out of her mind.

          

       Maria is a kind, compassionate woman. We see her caring for the village animals and comforting another sister who feels alone. But the image of the man keeps returning. The tension builds and it has an observable effect.

            

        This change is one of the themes of the film; frustrated desires, over time begin to poison us and warp our perspective as we seek to, unsuccessfully, satisfy or suppress them. Maria first tries clumsily to seduce a young boy. When that fails she tries to force herself on one of her Sisters. Eventually she progresses to an attempted rape but even that is foiled when she ends up killing the boy out of anger.

           

        At her most depraved, Maria seems to realize how far she has sank and in a truly touching moment asks God for help. She seems to have regained some her virtuousness when Satan appears again to tempt her; this time, not with the empty promise of sex but with a reprieve from the consequences of her heinous actions.  He grants her wishes and in the films orgiastic finale her desires turn to ashes in her mouth as the world around her begins to mirror her own dark soul.

            The film’s ending was left open. According to the film’s writer (and son of the director) Adolfo Martinez Solares, the ending was left ambiguous as a sort of denial mechanism in case of pressure from the church or other groups. The film has a reputation of explicitness and exploitation, but, though there is a fair amount of nudity, it is all relevant to the story and themes and not presented in a purely titillating fashion.

     Cecilia Pezet is excellent as the tortured nun. Few actors can display so

so many different motivations so successfully; piety, compassion, fear, lust, anger, rejection, regret. When she begins down her dark path, we want her to be able to make it back. Cecilia didn’t have a very long career and retired from films soon after she made this movie. It’s a shame because she really is something in this film.

Also of note is the score. Sometimes it’s an arrhythmic, discordant cacophony reminiscent of Forbidden Planet, at others it is calm, pastoral strings and hymns. Sometimes it’s both mixed together.

Anyone familiar with sex addiction can see an obvious analog in this film. Maria’s gradual rejection of her values, and the progression of the lengths she is willing to go to, is something any sex addict could identify with.

The movie often draws comparisons to Alucarda, which is fair I suppose. Both are Mexican horror films from the 70s and superficially deal with similar themes. I think this film though is much more poignant.  Alucarda is ultimately about an outsider who lashes out.  Satánico pandemonium is about the loss of self and all that is important to oneself in the pursuit of unsatisfied desires. A tragic, beautiful story.

To the Devil a Daughter

To the Devil a Daughter

1976

Director- Peter Sykes

Cast- Christopher Lee, Richard Widmark, Natassja Kinski, Denholm Elliot, Honor Blackmon

           

This film has a lot in common with its Hammer predecessor, The Devil Rides Out. Not only were they made by the same studio and both star Christopher Lee, both films were based on novels by Dennis Wheatly and they were only made 8 years apart. However, whereas The Devil Rides Out is considered one of Hammer’s best films, To the Devil a Daughter was not as well received and was one of the last films Hammer made before the end of their heyday.

            The story follows an occult writer (played by Widmark) who is suckered into a Satanic conspiracy. Christopher Lee is an excommunicated priest trying to create a living avatar for a Satanic god, Asteroth. The vessel for this avatar is a young virginal nun, Catherine (played by Kinski).

            There are a few things working against the film. It has a complicated story line that progresses slowly but the ending seems rushed. Rugged looking American Richard Widmark ,who seems at home in The Alamo, seems out of place among the British cast. 

    No doubt some viewers felt uncomfortable with the overt sexualization of an underage Natassja Kinski. Kinski, who would later go on to melt the screen in Cat People, was not well utilized in the film. Her nude scene is problematic not so much for the content, but for the context. Underage nudity was more permissible in the 1970s but it needs to make sense within the context of the film. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, for instance, features underage nudity but it fits the context of the film. The same goes for Linda Hayden's nudity in Blood on Satan's Claw. But Kinski's nude scene in To the Devil a Daughter comes at almost the very end of the film and does nothing to effect the mood or plot. It really seems like someone added it for the sole purpose of making the film more salacious.

            Despite its flaws, there are reasons to recommend it. It has a good cast with supporting roles by Honor Blackmon (Pussy Galore in Goldfinger) and Denholm Elliot (Marcus Brody in Raiders of the Lost Ark). It is obviously not afraid of challenging taboos with both its subject matter and imagery. And of course, Christopher Lee was one of the best villainous actors in motion picture history.

            Some people will really dig the Satanic conspiracy story line. There are also a few interesting visuals, like a malformed demon fetus crawling over Natssja’s body. I suppose if the film needed an endorsement it would be that White Zombie thought enough of it to reference it in one of their songs, Black Sunshine, and sampled the film’s opening excommunication and Christopher Lee’s voice over (“This is not heresy, I will not recant.”) in another song, Supercharger Heaven.

            The film has merit, just don’t watch it with the expectation that it will be as good as the Devil Rides Out.

Lords of Salem

Lords of Salem

2012

Director- Rob Zombie

Cast- Sheri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ken Foree, Patricia Quinn, Dee Wallace, Dee Wallace, Judy Geeson, Meg Foster

           

The movie starts by alternating between two different stories. We see lonely Heidi Hawthorne (Sheri Moon Zombie); single, a recovering addict, whose apparent only human connection is her land lady and her two fellow DJs at the radio station. Contrasting with that is a coven of witches in the 1600s, led by Meg Foster, who are devoting themselves to Satan.

            The coven of witches eventually has to pay their comeuppance at the hands of the inquisition, but not before a curse is laid upon their town. Heidi apparently is going to be the mechanism of that curse.  Heidi receives a record at their station and decides to play it on a lark. It is a slow dirge that triggers headaches and visions in Heidi. The next day she plays the record on the air and it takes a similar toll on all the women in town who hear it.

            Heidi begins to have sinister, insane, visions coupled with paranoia and a progressive feeling of isolation. Helping her move along her path to insanity is a trio of the most cheerful witches you are likely to see (especially Dee Wallace, who is as gleeful as a kid in Disney World). This aspect of the film reminded me a lot of Rosemary’s Baby. Heidi seems so alone and depressed. The doom closing in around her seems to be fate; inescapable and determined.

            Ultimately, Heidi’s will and personality are completely subverted and she is a mere tool in the witches’ plan for revenge on the descendants of the Salem inquisitors. At this point the movie turns into a series of nightmare scenes and unsettling imagery.

            Rob Zombie is not just a competent director of horror films; he is obviously a fan and historian of the genre. Almost every actor and actress in this film has genre credits to their name, some of them quite significant. As a longtime fan of genre films I loved seeing Dee Wallace, who will forever in my mind be the tragic victim of The Howling. Likewise, Meg Foster, who was so regal and glamorous in They Live and Masters of the Universe, to see her so feral and covered in filth, was quite a shock.

       

 A lot of Rob Zombie fans didn’t like this movie. The only reason, I can figure, is that it is so very different from his previous outings, and if that’s the reason, that’s understandable. If your idea of Scorsese was Goodfellas or The Departed, you probably wouldn’t know what to make out of The Last Temptation of Christ.

Zombie’s previous films were violent and obvious. This film is subtle and brooding. The previous films featured serial killers that were larger than life threats, that seemed to take up the entire screen. Here, the threats are in the periphery, covered in shadows, barely seen or seen clearly only for a moment. When the evil does finally take center stage, it is not as expected. Satan, rather than the horned god of myth, is deformed and insane. If you like this sub-genre, then Zombie fan or not, this film is very rewarding. Pairing this film with The Witch would make for a perfect night’s viewing.

City of the Dead (Horror Hotel)

The City of the Dead (Horror Hotel)

1960

Director- John Llewellyn Moxey

Cast- Christopher Lee, Venetia Stevenson, Dennis Lotis, Betta St. John, Patricia Jessel

           

The movie begins in the colonial New England town of Whitewood with the burning of a witch, Elizabeth Selwyn. She curses the village, vowing that she would serve Lucifer for all eternity. Fast forward to the modern era and college professor Alan Driscoll (played by Christopher Lee) teaching his students about witchcraft.

            On his recommendation, one of his students, beautiful blonde Nan Barlow, travels to modern day Whitewood for research on witchcraft. What she finds is a creepy town filled with ominous warnings and suspicious characters. She finds out too late that the town is peopled with Satanists, and they’ve lured her in for a sacrifice. The coven is led by the previously burned witch, Elizabeth Selwyn, now apparently immortal due to these regular sacrifices.

            Eventually, others begin to investigate her disappearance and they are likewise lured into the trap. The story culminates with a conflict with the coven in a creepy graveyard.

            The movie is black and white which contributes to the creepiness. Christopher Lee is not the main villain, but rather a supporting character. Nonetheless, he turns in a charismatic performance that adds to the movie.  The film may seem reminiscent of psycho. What seems like the main plot of the film, the young girl being lured into a trap, is just a set up for the rest of the film. The similarity is pure coincidence as the two movies were made at roughly the same time. The only detraction is the jazz score which seems too upbeat for such a dark film.

            Most impressive is the film’s matter of fact portrayal of the forces of darkness, given when it was made. There is little euphemism or shying away from the satanic themes. There are also some interesting images, such as a Satanist bursting into flames as he is confronted by a man bearing a cross, while impaled with a sword! Metal fans may recognize a snippet of Lee’s dialogue “Superstition, fear, and jealousy” which is sampled at the beginning of Rob Zombie’s Dragula.