EyeAskance

A malevolent female demon is cast out of a possessed teenage boy by a devout Christian couple. His brother, however, is possessed by The Devil himself, who proves to be a far more formidable adversary.

Clearly prompted by the runaway success of THE EXORCIST, this church-funded scare film was produced expressly for a Christian audience, and rarely screened outside of churches. You won't find any 360° head spins or pea soup vomit here, just a lot of preachy dialog and a Satan-possessed young man providing an amusingly bad Anton LaVay type of shtick with monotone speech and menacing chuckles. Sadly, the film lacks the fire and brimstone which makes old-school religious scare films like IF FOOTMEN TIRE YOU, WHAT WILL HORSES DO so oddly enjoyable. It could conceivably medialize a minor cult viewership if it were to become better-known, but it's just too subdued and dragging to be of interest to most.

A devout Christian couple come charging to the rescue whe an all-American teenage boy is plagued by a malevolent female demon who forces him to speak insultingly to people talk in a shrill, raspy voice. The demon is successfully driven out, but the boy's brother ends up possessed by The Devil himself. With a sinisterly-smooth Anton LaVey affectation, he shirks away from crosses, laughs coldly at those of The Faith, and rambles on about how he's never letting go of the young man's body and soul. Will the Lord Jesus Christ save the day? You bet your sweet ass, he will.

This lackluster church-funded Christian scare film plays out like a dull Jack Chick comic tract. No excoriated possession victims with spinning heads or pea-soup upchuck here, just a lot of preachy backchat and too little fire and brimstone to keep it lively. I suppose it could possibly medialize a minor cult fanbase should it become better-known, but it's nowhere near as much fun as THE GRIM REAPER(1976), or the brain-melting IF FOOTMEN TIRE YOU, WHAT WILL HORSES DO?(1971).

On second thought, it might make a perfect co-feature to the gay XXX Exorcist clone SEX DEMON(1975). Okay, okay...I repent.

The brief chronology of a young bohemian folk singer during the nascent phase of his career is more-less a skeletal narrative provided to interweave a succession of musical performances and epigrammatic vignettes centered around the colorful staff and patrons of a Left Bank style coffeehouse(chiefly beatniks, surf-rats, folkies, and other young nonconformists of the time).

DIRTY FEET, a very independent little film produced on breadcrumb rations, was in urgent jeopardy of becoming lost to the Lethe of cinema oblivion until somewhat recently, when a limited home viewing sufficiency was made available. It's an interesting curio, eagerly effectuated by an amateur personnel at every juncture of production, and spotlighting some wonderful music talent from the beat/folk undertow. All this lively hurly-burly takes place at a long defunct California establishment called, in true beat fashion, THE PRISON OF SOCRATES...a eclectic venue of considerable lore which is now remembered with rhapsodic wistfulness by its living clientele.

I can't imagine this film being well received by mainstreamers, but it's unlikely that they'd ever merge with it in the first place. Conversely, those of us who appreciate the creative brio and enthusiasm which fuel grassroots cinema should find it well enjoyable. It captures a zeitgeist of its time in a firsthand and very naturalistic way...rather surprising, as this particular subculture has been habitually misrepresented in media depictions to a nigh Vaudevillian extreme, and is today somewhat misunderstood in consequence.

6/10.

A fairly uncommon soundtrack LP exists.