Las melancólicas

Exorcism's Daughter (1971)

** (out of 4)

After witnessing her mother die during an exorcism being performed on her, Lana (Analía Gadé) winds up in a mental hospital with various insane women. A new doctor shows up and wants to treat these women for mental issues but he gets push back from some who sees mental illness as a sign of witchcraft.

This Spanish film was released the same year as THE DEVILS and it's easy to see why this isn't better known. It was re-released after the success of THE EXORCIST and it was attempted to be passed off as a horror film but it really isn't. THis here is basically a drama with some horror elements thrown in and while the film isn't awful it's also not overly memorable either.

As with THE DEVILS, this film is basically an attack on religion and those people who are against science in favor of superstition. In this case you have a doctor who believes insane people are a mental issue and not an issue of religion, devils and witchcraft. For the most part the drama plays out pretty good and there's no question that it's an interesting subject.

Director Rafael Moreno Alba makes a professional looking film and on a technical level it's good considering its low-budget. The problem is that the film moves a bit too slow at times and there are a lot of scenes where not much happens. There are some memorable moments including an orgy sequence as well as some bizarre fantasy sequences and these help keep the film entertaining to the viewer.

EXORCISM'S DAUGHTER, a title given to it to cash in on THE EXORCIST even though this was made two years before, isn't a great film but it's certainly far from being awful. Fans of Spanish horror will want to check it out but don't go in expecting any sort of exploitation.

I've been duped. With a title like Exorcism's Daughter, I was expecting another Euro rip-off of The Exorcist, complete with a foul-mouthed possessed woman spewing green vomit. That's not what I got.

This film was retitled to cash in on the success of William Friedkin's 1973 horror blockbuster, but the original title, Las Melancólicas (The Melancholic), is far more apt: it's a dreary, depressing tale about a liberal doctor (Rafael Alba, played by Espartaco Santoni) at a rural asylum trying to cure a woman (Analía Gadé) of her madness via progressive methods, and it's incredibly boring to boot.

I have my suspicions that the film is allegorical, with the untrusting townsfolk and brutal asylum guard Fuso (Francisco Rabal) representing Franco's military dictatorship, the insane women representing the oppressed Spanish people, and Alba representing the voice of reason. Or something like that. I'm no expert in the history of Spanish politics-I wanted spinning heads, not hysterical women screaming for almost two hours about wanting freedom.

This new Code Red release is under the title "The House of Insane Women." A 1971 poorly-transferred print of the Spanish film, it makes watching the entire 95 minutes pure torture with poor color fidelity, lousy music that reminds one of the 70's Europop and erratic editing that befuddles comprehension of a plot. It appears that over the years of re-releasing the film, the scenes in the early part of movie are out of proper arrangement. The head doctor is being introduced to the "inmates" in one scene, then followed by his arrival at the institution in the next scene. The color registration is off almost through the entire mess. Most scenes are in a washed-out tint, while a couple of intense better looking moments worked in. Other reviewers have dealt with the plot line, so I will not dwell on that.

Tania, an asylum patient, is under the doctor's care while suffering raging behavioral effects that follow the death of her exorcised mother.

Who knew Spain made these movies in the 70s?

The titles are a la James Bond, but that's where the similarity ends.

Very cheaply made and the print has turned red with age so it makes for some hard watching..

Plus I saw this on Roku and you forced to sit through annoying McDonalds commercials -- the same ones over and over again-- every 12 minutes. What a downer.

The film itself is slow and boring and is not exploitative enough to be of interest to fans of the genre.

How far can you go looking at strange celluloid material, like this movie? It does better at being melodramatic than stupefyingly horrific, which explains how I ran into this title called EXORCISM'S DAUGHTER (U.S. title). Despite the misleading name, there is still reason to go nuts. This may be one of the most warped out experiences you can ever step into. Set in the 19th century time period, you're still looking at another drive-in flick where nothing possibly goes right. The biggest focus concerns bitchy asylum patients in plain cloth, played by inexperienced women without a union. They're really good at banging utensils on the dinner table, making sense. There's something so strange about Tania's character. What's going on, and why does she go bananas? The answer provides a special flashback that is the only horrific scenario about this wicked masterpiece of insanity.

The movie is worth noting on two important things. One is that it's a very early asylum - exorcism feature. Two is an actor named Francisco Rabal, who appeared in the recently discovered foreign film classic BELLE DE JOUR. A horror movie it sure ain't, but you might as well be flying over the cuckoo's nest and having a ball with this one. Unless you can stand the pure aggravation of things to come...