I turbamenti sessuali di Maddalena

I saw this film under the title Magdalena and enjoyed it for what it is. Most complaints can be answered the same way.

Magdalena is a stupid film - Yeah, it's by the guy who made the Schoolgirl Report films.

The horror element is weak - Yeah, it's by the guy who made the Schoolgirl Report films.

The film is unmemorable - Yeah, it's by the guy who made the Schoolgirl Report films.

The film is technically inept - Yeah, it's by the guy who made the Schoolgirl Report films.

There are only two questions one needs to know the answers to. Does Magdalena deliver on the exploitation goodies? Yes. Is it boring? No. I don't know what else to write. The girl gets possessed, kicks at invisible dogs, plays the piano naked, gets men to kill for her, and vomits up a plastic snake. Good times!

A modest German Exorcist rip-off that never really gets going properly. Director, Walter Boos, it seems was more used to the Schoolgirl report type films which consisted of faux documentary sequences, ostensibly warning parents of what their daughters might be doing and then enacting the said doings. Simple sexploitation. Here faced with a full length movie he seems to run out of steam every now and again and have to think of something else. Dagmar Hedrick as the possessed one is good enough, she gets naked a lot, she does the blasphemy bit, seduces in very blunt language and generally does her bit but nobody else does. Its largely drab, silly and done without any enthusiasm or feeling for what is being depicted. Lots of running about, various people being got into trouble for no reason and the most fantastic cop out ending possible. Did I mention that there is a lot of nakedness though!?

An old man is found crucified by a streetwalker in a German village. Miles away at a boarding school in Munich, the man's granddaughter begins to exhibit very strange behaviour as if she were, I don't know, possessed by Satan. . . I admit, I LOVE European "Exorcist" rip-offs. None them really equals the power of the original (they're more like "The Exorcist" if it had been directed by Ed Wood Jr.). But actually the term "rip-off" is a bit of misnomer since few of them really tried too much to equal the big-budget spectacle of the Hollywood blockbuster. They could actually be quite creative and very different from both their inspiration and each other.

I had kind of high hopes for this one since it was directed by Walter Boos, one of the men responsible for the long-running German "report" films (i.e. "hausenfrau-report", "schulmadchen-report"). I didn't think it would be good, but I thought it would be an interesting collision of genres (kind of like the old Reese's commercials: "Hey, you got Satan in 'report' film!" "Hey, you got schulmadchen in my devil possession movie!"). Boos does follow the familiar European exploitation route of making the possessed girl several years older than "Ravin" in "The Exorcist" (and played by an actress obviously several years older than that). But this isn't quite the "barely legal" sex romp of Boos' "schulmadchen-report" films. In fact, he seems at times to be doing a fairly earnest (if very inept) imitation of the actual "Exorcist", which is not exactly his forte.

This does have some interesting elements like the crucified grandfather or the scene where the possessed "Magdalena" tears a bible in half with her bare hands. She's actually not much more foul-mouthed than your usual teenager, but you got to laugh at the scene where she tells a priest she wants to take communion, but not in her mouth! Interestingly though, satanic possession turns her not into a crazed nympho, but rather a virginal tease from hell who gets grown men killed fighting over her. The lead actress Dagmar Henrich, though German, has a real early 70's teen look about her, kind of like "Marcia Brady" or "Laurie Partridge" gone horribly bad (she's not nearly as cute as Maureen McCormick or Susan Dey actually, but she has a lot more full-frontal nude scenes). Due to the severe budget limitations, she has to work a lot harder than Linda Blair to convince anybody she's possessed. And whereas, Blair was dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge, she gets dubbed by the usual gang of Euro-idiots who dubbed these things. This certainly isn't a bad performance all things considered, and as a movie this not totally un-entertaining.

On Ash Wednesday old Joseph Winter is found murdered. He has been crucified on his farm gate by unknown killers. As the plot unfolds it becomes apparent that a supernatural force is the cause of it all. A nubile virgin, Magdalena Winter (Dagmar Hedrich) orphaned at a boarding school for girls become violated and possessed by an invisible demon which exits the corpse of a recently deceased Satanist. Possessed by the evil spirit she acts blasphemy to the church by tearing a Bible apart and asking for communion not in her mouth but straight in her pussy. She also shouts obscenities to people and walks around naked a lot of times.

Does it ring a bell, of course, The Exorcist (1973). This German flick is a pure rip-off of The Exorcist but it was directed by sleaze director Walter Boos of Schulmadchen Report franchise. Dagmar Hedrich never made into the scene but here she all has to do it on her own, voice and acting. a thing Linda Blair never had to do. Her voice was dubbed. Dagmar only made 2 flicks.

Is it watchable, yes it is but only if you are into sleazy sexploitations. By language and acting it goes a lot further then The Exorcist but of course the effects never made it a classic in the (s)exploitation genre. Still, being hunted down by the geeks it's a really hard flick to get your hands on. It isn't out on DVD or Blu Ray, it's only available on VHS and even then it's extremely hard to get. Now and then it pops up on TCC VHS, a Japanese release. fully uncut. but highly priced. Through networks I was able to catch that release.

There isn't that much of blood in it, once she spread her legs in front of the camera two guys have to fight to make love to her, one is stabbed and that's the only time you will see blood. It is sometimes a bit boring in the parts were doctors are talking about Magdalena. I can understand that some will be offended by the words of Magdalena. The rape scene's by the invincible creature, the sound of the fly, a bit of animal cruelty, grindhouse galore.

English dubbed, German credits

Gore 0/5 Nudity 2,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

A young virgin,Magadalena(Dagmar Hedrich),orphaned at a boarding school for girls is raped and possessed by an invisible demon which exists the corpse of a recently deceased Satanist.Possessed by the demonic spirit Magdalena spews obscenities and runs around naked."Magadalena,Possessed by the Devil" is loaded with delicious sleaze and exploitative elements.The film is fun to watch and quite blasphemous,so fans of outrageous exploitation cinema will be enthralled.The acting is terrible,the plot is weak and there is no suspense whatsoever,but I don't care.I wanted sleaze and nudity and that's what I've got.So if you like sleaze cinema give this one a look.Highly recommended especially hand in hand with "Malabimba" by Andrea Bianchi.