Malabimba

Malabimba is a good example about how to do a memorable film, with low budget, and stay present in the mind of the viewers. The idea is present the history of the girl (the only movie of the actress, I don't understand why), when has problems with a subtle entity... And she reacts in a very sexual manner. If you have a little money, and you want to react the Exorcist with low budget, but with dignity, the director choiced the best option. The eurotrash should return: when the people is tired of porn (is always the same, no doubt), if you present a good history with some spice, then the score is so better. I ask all the french, Italian and spanian directors: remember Bianchi, Franco, D'amato, Brass... This is the way.

This one is weird, pagan and malicious in a non-bloody way - I love it. A young girl, enprisoned in a convent-like country estate environment which is her home and has been in the family since generations, can't handle the frustration of being entrapped and not let out of the country estate area. There is a nun in the building that is to comfort and watch for this girl but I bet she wish she didn't because something lurks in this twisted girls mind... she simply can't keep her sexual frustration inside, but have to push it further... and she does.

This movie is a freaking wonderful masterpice in my opinion - make your own ;)

Surprisingly sleazy! I was expecting a giallo film for some reason, but it is not that.

After a séance in which the presence indicates itself to be foul-mouthed, accusatory and randy, things get even dirtier. A young woman exhibits the same behavior. Perhaps she's possessed, or perhaps it's her frustrations and acting out against repressed desires.

Some reviews mention a scene with a grandfather, but the video box of the copy I saw refers to the father, but the subtitles in the movie refer to Uncle Adolpho. Perhaps different copies subtitle that scene differently.

The movie takes some ideas from The Exorcist, but seems more Gothic than that, and it was also pretty explicit.

Directed by Andrea Bianchi, the man who also gave us the hilariously trashy Italian zombie classic Burial Ground and the magnificently sleazy giallo Strip Nude for Your Killer, Malabimba is a fairly humdrum tale of possession, clearly inspired by The Exorcist but given a massive shot in the arm by the presence of some serious Euro-babeage and the inclusion of several very steamy scenes, some of which even enter XXX territory thanks to the use of hardcore insert shots.

Star of the film is the rather lovely Katell Laennec who plays sixteen year old Bimba Karoli, whose over-protective father Andrea keeps her away from the rest of the world in the family castle, which is also home to several other relatives. During a séance, intended to allow Andrea to contact his dead wife Daniela, Bimba becomes possessed by the spirit of evil ancestor Lucrezia and is transformed into a sexual deviant. Apprentice nun Sister Sofia (Mariangela Giordano) realises the truth, but can she save Bimba without falling victim to Lucrezia's seductive power herself?

Lots of shots of luscious Laennec in the altogether indulging in all manner of perversion; Giordano whipping off her wimple and habit to get saucy; and busty blonde Patrizia Webley (as Bimba's nympho aunt Nais) making a couple of the men in the castle very happy chappies indeed: despite the rather mediocre plot, Bianchi's film has more than enough quality sleaze to ensure a good time, with the added explicit footage only making matters even more seedy.

In the film's predictable finale (if you've seen The Exorcist, that is), Sofia sacrifices herself by becoming the vessel for Lucrezia's corruptive spirit and promptly dives head-first off the castle's ramparts before she is able to succumb to sin. What a waste of a randy nun!

Interestingly, a virtual remake of Malabimba-entitled La Bimba di Satana (Satan's Baby Doll)- was directed the following year by Mario Bianchi (no relation of Andrea, as far as I can find out); the uncut version of that film also featured several equally explicit sex scenes but the torturously slow pacing and shoddy direction made it a far less entertaining affair than it's predecessor.

A Matchflick reviewer recommended this film some time in the past, so I took the trouble of tracking it down. It was not easy, but I finally get to see it.

It is a ripoff of the Exorcist, to be sure. It starts with a séance gone wrong, lots of things go flying through the castle, and we are to assume someone is possessed by the ex-wife Lucrezia. Most likely the teen Bimba (Katell Laennec), as she is acting particularly strange.

Dad (Enzo Fisichella) really starts to worry when she French kisses him and grabs his crotch. Maybe it's not teen phase after all.

The scene with Uncle Adolfo (Giuseppe Marrocco) was pure magic.

But, it is Mariangela Giordano as Sister Sofia that gives the best show with Bimba.

It would have been better had it not had snippets of porn placed here and there. I would have like to see the original.