El juego del diablo

I'm somewhat of a completist when it comes to European "Exorcist" knock-offs--I've seen at least a dozen of them. This Spanish film is probably closer to the original model than most of the others (but, of course, on a small fraction of the budget of the Hollywood film and nowhere near as effective). The only real thematic differences between this and the American model is that the girl doesn't seem to be possessed by a demon at all, but rather some kind of tall, evil (perhaps hanged?) priest she keeps seeing creepy visions of, and she actually murders people on screen, like her own mother (in a scene that if this movie hadn't been made a year or two earlier, I'd swear was stolen from "The Omen"--maybe "The Omen" ripped-off THIS movie?). The end also takes a pretty different turn.

I saw this mainly for Jack Taylor, but he is pretty much wasted. The main strength though is the possessed girl, played by Inma DeSantis, who actually out-acts her American counterpart Linda Blair and pretty much carries the whole movie herself. The most famous Spanish "Exorcist" knock-off, "Demon Witch Child," has a very creepy pre-pubescent girl as the possess-ee, but the more typical Euro-"Exorcist" m.o. was to cast a "barely legal" teen or adult woman in the role in order to throw in lots and lots of sex (see "The Antichrist", "Malabimba", "The Sexorcist", etc.). This movie kind of tries to have it both ways by casting a pretty but nevertheless slightly underage actress, dressing her in bikinis and skimpy night-gowns, and leering at her a lot, but never actually crossing into anything too overtly sexual. DeSantis would actually have a much racier role only a year later in Eloy Inglesias's notorious "Forbidden Love Games", and she'd go on to an pretty interesting career, but one tragically cut short by a fatal car accident in 1989.

I personally LOVE Euro-"Exorcist" films, even the really bad ones (this one just tends toward mediocre). I'd certainly recommend this to people like myself (hello? . . hello?), but it obviously won't appeal to everyone.

Exorcist Rip-off with suspense, mystery , shocks and grisly killings . This spooky movie concerns a young girl : Imma De Santis, who is suddenly possessed and sometimes she becomes violent by executing ominous events . Along the way she commits horrible crimes . A lady doctor : Maria Del Puy, takes the unfortunate teen girl to cure her and attempts to free from possesion with sinister visions resulting in fateful consecuences . As the young girl is really possessed by a malevolant spirit until a surprising and astonishing final.

This terrifying exploitation displays possession, witchcraft , eerie horror, disgusting Satanism and bizarre shots of arms extending from the walls in Roman Polanski's Repulsion-alike . Stars Imma de Santis who was a prodigy child and subsequently to play all kinds of genres , until her early death by car crash in Africa . Mary Del Puy plays the doctor trying to unravel the mystery suffering from the effects. And other secondary actors giving brief but acceptable performances such as Jack Taylor as a psychologist who prescribes electroshock treatment , Jose Orjas as a gardener , Alberto Fernández as a doctor, Luis Prendes as the father , and José Lifante in various appearances as a creepy figure . Here stands out the technician team formed by notorious professionals to have a long and successful career in a great number of movies , such as : the great cameraman Jose Luis Alcaine , the prestigious composer José Nieto and prolific editor Pablo G. del Amo . The picture was regular but professionally directed by Jorge Darnell who made a few films, such as : Veredicto final, One way, Gente conmigo, Los Tímidos visten de gris , and Tiempos Duros para Dracula also starred by Jose Ruiz Lifante .

The Exorcist by William Friedkin spawned countless imitations , as in Spain was made three at the same time : Endemoniada 1974 by Amando de Ossorio with Julián Mateos , The Spiritist 1975 with Vicente Parra, Maria Salerno and Exorcismo by Juan Bosch with Grace Mills , Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina . El Juego Del Diablo 1975 packs an atmospheric cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine shot in Peñiscola , Castellón and Madrid , though it contains some cheesy special effects and mediocre direction by Jorge Darnell . 5.5/10. Pretty grim but interesting for genre aficionados.

Teresita is the only daughter of a rich couple.A beautiful teenage girl is troubled by an unsettling visions of a tall man clad in black.She sees arms extending from the pool and walls ala "The Sentinel".Her mother is mysteriously murdered by her own daughter.The only way to destroy the devil inside Teresita is to call a priest.But it's too late for that."Devil's Exorcist" is an obscure Spanish clone of "The Exorcist" with some striking moments of suspense.The tall man dressed in black clearly reminds me more famous Tall Man from "Phantasm" series.Director Jorge Darnell doesn't display much of a visual sense preferring to keep things in stale medium and long-shots before breaking to close-ups for the final nihilistic shots.Fairly competent and watchable "The Exorcist" rip-off.8 out of 10.