Satanico Pandemonium: La Sexorcista

I found this film rather interesting. It's as cheesy and campy as it could be, acting is rather bad, poorly plotted and special effects are simply ridiculous. However, I got hooked by it. It is a top expression of exploitation cinema (I mean, here in Mexico this flick was named "La sexorcista") full of fake blood, male audience oriented soft core lesbianism and ludicrous dialogs that seem to be copied from a Siglo de Oro play (Spanish Renaisence Theatre).

If you like exploitation films, give this one a try. It has its "artistic" aspirations but, as the director might have, you will forget them rather quickly. Fun fact: Here in Mexico, actor Enrique Rocha has grown a respectable reputation as a prime soap opera actor. By the way, one thing that really impressed me in this one was the lighting. For a 70's Mexican movie it is incredibly well lit!

Ah yes, trashy-looking movies revolving on wicked and sexually depraved nuns…you got to love 'em! "Nunsploitation" is the most absurd and pointless sub genre of horror cinema (closely followed by Nazi-exploitation and Dwarfsploitation) but also strangely fascinating and, if you've seen one, you develop an uncontrollable desire to see them all, even though the stories are hardly ever worth bothering for. This Mexican gem is a perfect example to state the theory! "Sátanico Pandemonium" has almost no plot at all; the acting performances are quite embarrassing and isn't even that bloody! This film is just pleasantly deranged, with an enjoyable tempo and pretty stylish set pieces. We're welcomed into a convent during the Inquisition-era where the beautiful sister Maria undergoes bizarre changes. Satan himself keeps on appearing to her and she starts doing very UN-catholic things, like mutilating herself and seducing young boys that are fishing. The more Satan controls her (simply by wandering around offering her an half-eaten apple…I suppose it's symbolism), the viler her acts get, resulting in the death of several innocent people. There are some incredibly tedious parts to struggle through, but overall this is elegant entertainment for trained exploitation fans. It's not a patch on other Nunsploitation-highlights, such as "The Devils", "Flavia – The Heretic" or "Alucarda" (also Mexican), but it has the right amount of naked female flesh, enchanting costumes and atmospheric music. Naughty nuns equal great fun!

One of the most faithful nuns in her convent, Sister Maria finds herself obsessed by the Devil. Obsessed, not possessed, because Satan is an external force in this film. A strapping and vampiric lad, the Devil brings out Sister Maria's inner desires for both sex and blood. Plagued also by her devotion to God, she tries to fight these forbidden desires and lusts with prayer and penitence only to have them come back ten fold. Sister Maria is suddenly caught between Satanic submission or death.

Satanico Pandemonium is a good nunsploitation effort in the vein of, the more celebrated, Juan Lopez Moctezuma'a Alucarda. It has sex, nudity, lesbianism, child seduction, self mutilation, blood, and death(not necessarily in that order, of course). The ending is clever and surprising following a bloody and ravenous climax. If you're a fan of nunsploitation and offbeat cinema, do yourself a favor and check out Satanico Pandemonium. You won't regret it.

Even though I have ambiguous estimations about this film on the whole, I can only say for sure that "Satanico Pandemonium" is a must-see nunsploitation Mexican flick for anyone who can be pleased about these kinds of movies for their evident ridiculousness. This is one of those flicks that have too many flaws and no plot whatsoever but it's still impossible not to like them, for some imprecise cause. The acting is not exactly Academy Award material and it causes unintended laughter. The special effects in which we see the concept of Satan and temptation itself represented on a laughable guy naked, is by far one of the most hysterical things about this film, along with the outrageously shabby sound effects during these strange apparitions. The whole thing just looks too tacky and the look on the guy's face is simply priceless, so how can anyone not love it?. I know some people could take it as a reason to overthrow the director's gracious effort, but I myself, found it too silly not to like it. Without offering an actual share of real horror, "Satanico Pandemonium" manages to get the attention, even if it is by some means erroneously advertised. There are some noble allocations of gore here and there, but the film mostly focuses on the drama and eroticism. The first half an hour happens to be ineffective in a way and that would be the only reasons why I felt compelled to turn it off throughout the first minutes and leave it incomplete. It contains no dialogs, no action and for the most part only a nice display of beautiful Mexican landscapes, which is not exactly enough to make it endurable. However, it is only a matter of persistence to realize that after the big unnecessary moments of silence and boredom, the story starts to develop some of the most astonishing states of affairs, in which we see lesbian soft-core sex between two nuns, a nun taking advantage of a teenage boy and some enjoyable bloody murders inside the convent. Without anything else to add, I can only recommend "Satánico Pandemonium" to anyone who is in the mood for a decent nunsploitation drama, with some utterly random sexual scenes, a couple of nice murders to attach at least a small share of horror to the story, a badly placed background story of racism and of course...lots of sexy and sinful nuns.

Like most of these once-shocking exploitation movies, the buzz surrounding them today on IMDb comments and online forums is more captivating than the film itself. Blame it on our desensitized 21st century sensibilities but, for whatever reason, if this movie was shocking once, it's not any more, save for perhaps a few sheltered souls that are easily impressed. That's not to say it's a bad film. I just hate to see so many people seek these little known gems out with false expectations.

Another reviewer here says the main character (the nun who falls from grace) engages in "lesbianism, child seduction and heresy." Well, the first part is true, for what that's worth. The last part is a given, but then again heresy committed by a nun is not exactly a tall order. As far as "child seduction," well, here we have the reason why these films are so trumped up: modern day, brow-beaten, "politically correct" types who'll get their feathers ruffled at pretty much anything. There's no child seduction in this film, unless you consider a mildly attractive nun trying to seduce an shy and timid teenage boy who unrealistically rejects her purely for plot's sake, i.e. just to make the nun look even more lecherous.

The film moves slowly, the nudity is brief (and the protagonist's body is not exactly a knockout), the effects, though cheap, are well done, the one brief scene of lesbianism is almost arousing, and that's about it.

The film is worth watching for someone interested in a "study" of a nun's internal repressions and how they affect her view of the outer world (you are never quite sure if the events are happening or if she is deluded) but for anyone expecting some kind of feast of debauchery, ya better forget it. Unless, of course, you're a "politically correct" sissy like so many commentators here.