Exorcismo (1975)

Boring

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Something is wrong with Leila (Grace Mills) and Father Adrian Dunning (Paul Naschy) is called in to evaluate the situation.Some may call this a ripoff of The Exorcist with Linda Blair, but I'd rather see the flesh displayed here than some special effects. The fact is that The Exorcist was not seen in Spain before this film came out.Anyway, it's a Paul Naschy film, and I am a completest.You won't see amazing special effects, because they didn't exist. So it looks fake at times, but it was a good story and an interesting film.Paul Naschy stole the show. I wasn't his finest hour, but he was head and shoulders above the rest. The makeup was good, and one could ignore how the film seemed to go all over the place just to see Naschy.

"Exorcism" is a rather interesting and at times really fun entry in the genre.**SPOILERS**Suffering a car accident, teenager Leila, (Grace Mills) suddenly begins acting very differently, much to the detriment of her family, her mother Patricia, (Maria Perschy) as well as step-siblings John, (Jorge Torras) and sister Deborah, (Maria Kosti) who sense something is wrong. Getting to the point where they call on Father Adrian Dunning, (Paul Naschy) to make a visit, he doesn't think it's that bad and down-plays the whole situation. Following a death in the family, the strange situations continue and soon more murders arrive to them. The more time he spends around the family, the more he becomes convinced that something has happened to her, eventually finding that she has been possessed by Demonic forces. Intent on trying to get her back to her normal self, he wages a powerful war against the forces inside her to release the evil inside.The Good News: For an exorcist film, this one isn't that bad. One of the nice things about this one is that it changes around the rules that had previously been used. There's the whole issue of whether the spirit is of demonic origin or of familiar descent, which is something new to the whole affair. It raises them nicely and uses some really clever clues to help them out, with each side of the argument getting a fair share of the proceedings and never being overlooked. It's a nice addition to be able to see this from such a film, and it's handled quite nicely. Once the film switches over and becomes an actual possession film, there's rarely little that it gets wrong. The make-up look here is simply outstanding, as the body becomes grossly discolored, full of bruises, sores and cuts as well as the single creepiest and most memorable set of eyes ever. They look remarkable and nearly impossible to describe, being completely otherworldly and inhuman. It even goes the extra mile to incorporate a transformation sequence showing the marks appearing on the body, which is a great touch and really helps to make it feel that much more terrifying. There isn't a whole lot of scenes showing the possessed doing anything, the few times there are do give some good scenes. The lone priest in the house tormented by supernatural forces as they're preparing for the final battle is pretty good, with the hallucinations taking place, the furniture levitating and attacking as well as the forces coming out in even more powerful effects, as the wind blowing and eerie voices are heard to great effect. The Satanic orgy that takes place towards the end is where the film gets it's quota of nudity and impressive imagery, using them all in a great sequence that's sleazy, fun and quite exciting. That there's a really nice amount of scenic shots on display is something to behold, especially early on with the family wandering around the house and a later sequence where one is attacked by a figure wearing a demonic mask and a black cape, giving this one some really nice visuals here and there. All in all, this one here isn't that bad.The Bad News: This one does have a couple of flaws present. Most of them relate to how dull it is. There's a large portion of the film in the very beginning where nothing at all happens, and it gets to a really weak point eventually. A lot of it is based on the fact that the priest here has to suspend a large amount of pretty convincing evidence merely to keep the plot going. The first visit is obvious, but by the second and third visits complaining of the same thing, only in larger doses. These are done for a long time in the beginning to make it seem longer than it really is, but all it does is grow on the viewer with how repetitive it is as well as feature nothing of real interest later on. The subplot about the police investigation does nothing of importance either, being just a way to get more into the story rather than doing nothing to explain it or featuring anything of substantial interest, only going so far as to provide more scenes of dullness that the other scenes already feature. The infamous dog scene as well will get a rise out of some, merely for the cruelty it exhibits as well as the fact that it occurs right at the end, breaking up the pivotal scene in the film somewhat slightly. It's not all that bad, but these here are what keep the film down.The Final Verdict: A halfway decent entry in the exorcism genre, this would be better had it not been as slow to start. There's far worse to be had in this genre, and is a must-watch for fans of European Horror, Naschy or Exorcism-film fans, while those who aren't into any of those won't find much with this one.Rated UN/R: Graphic Language, Full Nudity, Mild Violence and mild animal violence

Why every horror director wants to imitate "The Exorcist" is a complete riddle to me, as William Friedkin's "classic" is a very overrated film and, in my opinion, not all that tense or shocking. And yet here's another clean rip-off, a Spanish one this time, that shamelessly repeats the story of a young girl that gets possessed by pure evil and turns against her own family. Paul Naschy (who I must admit looks quite hot here) plays the honorable priest who gets approached by John Gibson because his sister Leila's behavior changed drastically since she met her new boyfriend. At first the priest doesn't believe it but when John's body is discovered with its neck twisted, Leila's demonic behavior becomes more noticeable... "Exorcism" is not only very unoriginal, it's also an insufferably boring film! Here Naschy and director Juan Bosch had an open opportunity to make a religiously themed exploitation flick full of shocks and gore, and yet the result is a tame and overall bloodless drama that'll nearly put you to sleep! The last twenty minutes contain some atmospheric moments, albeit very stupid, and there's quite a lot of stylishly filmed female nudity and sleaze. The absolute lack of budget is no real excuse since Paul Naschy already proved before that he has enough imagination to make up for a shortage in money. This is just an awful film, end of story. Other European "The Excorcist" rip-offs are "The Antichrist" and "Beyond the Door" and they suck as well!

shameless rip off of the exorcist and one of the worst movies ever made it has virtually no budget in my opinion awfully written terrible direction laughable acting and dialog there is one good thing however that would be the great make up effects they do a great job on the posession stuff other then that zilch zip the characters are very annoying and the script gets annoying and a true blatant rip off of the exorcist which is awful in every aspect please avoid it with your life!!!!! BOMB out of 5 it's lucky to get that! and very BORING and the ending is terrible get that fast forward button handy folks you will need it! in other words don't rent it!