Mas Não Livrai-nos do Mal

I don't know if I can actually add anymore to what has already been said. The film is raw and amateurish at times. It certainly is no polished piece of work. The editing is abrupt at times which to me says the editor didn't have a lot to work with.

This is not a cerebral piece of work that will linger with you for days or weeks after you've seen it. Certainly won't change your life much. However, there were moments when I felt really uneasy about what was happening on the screen. It's understandable when you are watching a scary thriller or horror flick that you might not want to watch. This isn't a scary movie. It's just disturbing. When it comes to harming animals or babies most people won't want to watch. It's a bit troubling that someone on the set didn't draw the line at some point but this was 1971.

Does the film make a point? The girls here don't have much love in their lives. All they know are rules and the adult world is ugly indeed. They create their own fantasy world but when that turns ugly there is only one way out.

Hard to recommend but there are some moments of curiosity.

I was part of an extremely fortunate bunch of people who got to see this rare gem of euro-cult cinema on the big screen; moreover inside an authentic old-fashioned grindhouse type of theater where the walls threaten to fall down at any given moment and the equipment has surely seen better days already. I can assure you these rather primitive viewing conditions add a large portion of raw atmosphere to an already gritty and unsettling film. But nevertheless "Don't Deliver Us From Evil" suffers a little from its own controversial reputation, as it has got a lot more to offer than just graphic shocks and gratuitous nudity. The film poster proudly announces, in letters that are far bigger than the title itself, that this is the only French film to be banned in France. It's a nice promotion stunt, but it only forces potential viewers to anticipate a non-stop sleazy and exploitative smut flick, whereas Joël Séria's film is primarily a beautifully dark and almost poetic depiction of how adolescents of high social descent deal with boredom and sexual curiosity. The script may be loosely inspired by the real-life Parker-Hulme murder case (the same case Peter Jackson used for his "Heavenly Creatures") but I strongly believe Séria also used the opportunity to criticize the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church as well as the unfair French social classification system. During the long & boring nights at the boarding school, 14-year-old Anne becomes interested in salacious literature and she quickly convinces her friend Lore to join her into exploring the exact opposite of all the Catholic mumbo-jumbo that is forced upon them by the nuns and their deeply religious parents. It all starts with naughty, yet harmless games and the discovery of their own bodies & sexuality, but the situation escalates into something genuinely malice. When summer vacation begins, and the girls spend two months away from authority, they perform a ritual to become accepted as disciples of Satan and cross the line for good. Their innocent games are gradually replaced with the the dangerous seduction of mentally unstable men, vicious rites of animal cruelty, arson and eventually murder.

Séria's criticism towards the Catholic Church and the authorities' obnoxiousness is mainly illustrated through the lack of response by the adults! The film exclusively revolves on the acts of the two girls and never at one point suggests that the grown-ups in their surrounding are even aware of the evil they commit. Anne and Lore actually even bring themselves down in the (downright staggering and jaw-dropping) finale because they THINK they'll get caught. The performances of Jeanne Goupil and Catherine Wagener are simply amazing and also very courageous. It's almost unbelievable to accept they 19-20 years old during filming as they honestly look like inexperienced girls who barely hit puberty. Their age and especially the nude sequences they're in often make "Don't Deliver Us From Evil" a terribly difficult film to watch. It feels incredibly wrong to watch at these girls as they're parading in their panties and provocatively seduce men, but it more or less remains a tasteful film at all times. The impact of the message Séria brings probably was a lot more shocking in the prudish France of the early 1970's – which is undoubtedly why the Church insisted on censorship – but it's still intense enough to upset audiences even today, and particularly the end-sequence will haunt your thoughts for several days afterwards. It's a beautiful film, with enchanting cinematography by Marcel Combes and an excellent 'La La La' theme song that regularly gets repeated during the most essential sequences.

'Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal' ('Don't Deliver Us From Evil') is a French film from 1971 loosely inspired by the Parker-Hulme murder case, the subject of Peter Jackson's 'Heavenly Creatures' two decades later. However, if you've seen 'Heavenly Creatures', it's not much of a spoiler, because the story plays out very differently.

The film revolves around two teenage Catholic schoolgirls who have a close relationship and a penchant for pulling very nasty pranks. The two seem feed off of each other and the chaos, as their games become more dangerous.

While I can't say I enjoyed 'Don't Deliver Us from Evil', director Joël Séria does do an admirable job pf creating beautiful, memorable images. The film has a timeless quality and because it's a period piece, it's hard to tell when it was shot. It feels like it could have come out this year.

My issue with the film is, it lacks heart and a certain logic. Yes, it's difficult to create an emotional connection to despicable sociopathic characters. But we have to care about them, or at least understand what motivates them. Religious oppression? Dysfunctional family? Domestic abuse? There's nary a hint as to why the girls are acting out in such extreme ways.

And so 'Don't Deliver us from Evil' delivers on the evil in spades, but it all ends up seeming pretty pointless. Yes, nihilism is a thing, but even nihilism needs an impetus in human behaviour. It's a shame, because everything else is so well executed.

I recently made a binge of DVD purchases, and among these were 6 Mondo Macabro releases I had been eyeing for some time. This is the first one I checked out, and it's a stunner - for several reasons! I had never heard of the film before its DVD announcement - but now I feel that it's been seriously neglected and, hopefully, Mondo Macabro's wonderful "Special Edition" can give this title a new lease of life.

Inspired by the same events which were eventually treated directly in Peter Jackson's HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994), the film is a perverse little item with rampant anti-Catholicism at its fore and which, unsurprisingly, was banned when it emerged; with this in mind, I love the way Mondo Macabro ended their description of it on the back cover: "It's a film that should be viewed only by those with very open minds"! Concerning two teenage girls' rebellion against their repressed upbringing by making a Satanic pact, in which they dedicate their lives to committing evil, it reminded me of other notorious "Chick Flicks" from the same era such as ALUCARDA (1975) and TO BE TWENTY (1978). The film doesn't have much of a plot and is deliberately paced, but it's held firmly together by the deliciously malevolent performances of the two leads (and particularly the untrained Jeanne Goupil, from whose viewpoint the events are related, and who subsequently hitched up with first-time director and former actor Seria!).

It seems to me that the reason the film is so obscure is that, when new, it was ahead of its time but, even now, it would be almost impossible to make (despite the ostensibly graphic nature of French cinema today) - featuring any number of shocking and potentially offensive images, which I won't spoil here for the uninitiated! Still, I have to mention the disturbing double rape inflicted - or, rather, invited - upon Catherine Wagener (though playing under-aged, the actress was actually 19 at the time) and the incredible finale, set inside a crowded school auditorium, which is sparked {sic} by the two girls' recital on stage of a strange poem by Baudelaire. The simple yet haunting music - performed on the organ or as a cantata - is highly effective, and the DVD extras (featuring, among others, separate interviews with Seria and Goupil) complement the film very nicely indeed.

Banned in France for Blasphemy back when it was made in'71 "Don't Deliver us from Evil" was a very controversial film at the time mostly because of it's unconventional plot based on two innocent looking teenage catholic school girls who devote themselves to Satan and go on very mischievous (for lack of a better term) adventures and at times sexually arousing (teasing) much older adult men which in effect works against them and we witness some very shocking scenes of sexual assault which left me wondering while watching whether this film is actually legal due to the fact the girls are playing 14 and 15 year old girls. Thankfully I learned when reading about the film afterwords that the girls are actually 19 and 20 years old in real life. The ending is truly brilliant and has to be seen to be believed! It will stay with you for quite some time. One of the things that make this such an effective film is the fact that the acting is very well done by everyone specifically the two girls playing Anne (Jeanne Goupil) and Lore (Catherine Wagner) anyone else and the results would have been much less effective IMO. Although, as notorious as this film maybe I can't say other than a few scenes I mentioned above this would be a really shocking watch to anyone who's into European exploitation films of the 70's or anyone like me who's grown up in a time of modern day horror films when pretty much everything has been done. Still, if you were to show this to the uninitiated or the religious type in theaters today you might have more than a few people walk out completely offended. Legendary DVD label Mondo Macabro released this obscure gem quite awhile ago on DVD and did a fantastic job making this film look amazing as only MM can do with very informational extra features as well. Very beautifully shot and would go great as a second feature to Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. One of my favorite movies of all time! 10/10