La papesse

Ferocious and debauched tale of modern day Satanism set in a desolate and rocky area of rural France. Everything you would expect and more including, bloodletting, flagellation, rape, Christ like looking figures, peasants and French intellectuals. It's a bit arty/talky at first but for a French film this is non stop action.

The influence of Jean Rollin is obvious in this close-to-unwatchable trash catalog of sleaze. It's flatly shot like a porn film, which tends to be the case with French horror movies. Maybe some like that style of photography. A husband and wife get involved with an insane cult of Satanists in the countryside when they should have been drinking wine and eating cheese in a bistro overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

'A Woman Possessed' aka 'La Papesse' (1975) is a wickedly wild, magisterially malefic, psychedelically over-cooked, occult pot-boiler from Gallic sleaze-hound extraordinaire, Mario Mercier. There's more than a pungently witchy whiff of Sadeian malfeasance in director Mercier's ultra-lurid, fabulously-fleshly confection of triumphantly tasteless titillation. If Kult UK doomsters Electric Wizard ever made horror films, this would most certainly be one of 'em! With the glorious exception of personal filmmaking god, the master vampire impresario, Jean Rollin, la belle France isn't especially known for its frequent explorations into the satanic oeuvre, so that is all the more reason to warmly embrace this delightfully disreputable movie miscreant's blissfully unexpurgated trawl through the occult mire. Much of this delectable filth is riotously redolent of perverse polymath Jess Franco's no less exquisite 'Exorcism', with director, Mario Mercier having no doubt opened Coffin Joe's perfectly prurient Pandora's Box of sensationally inflamed phantasmagoria to inspire his own ignominious decent into exploitation-horror hell! And I absolutely must sing the worthy praises of the ferociously funky, wondrously, dark-vibe-inducing electronic score by Eric Demarsan, deliriously delivering some Tip-Top tuneage for this sublimely fleshly heft of salaciously Gallic, 1970s Sinema!

"La Papesse" is a laughable and sleazy account of Satanism and witchery in the French countryside.The director Mario Mercier previously made "Erotic Witchcraft",which like "La Papesse" was a psychedelic,gory and quite silly melange of sex,witchcraft and utter stupidity."A Woman Possessed" has almost everything:whippings,rapes,gore,copious amount of female nudity,naked ladies dancing spasmodically and having sex,hooded Devil worshippers etc.There is even a young macho Satanist,who is wearing heavy metal leather jacket.Hell yeah.The film lacks any morality and has a nice dreamlike quality.If you want graphic sleaze mixed with Satanism you can't go wrong with outrageously silly smut piece.7 out of 10.

Previously viewed as a video without subtitles the film then seemed to make more sense than it does now with titles.

This is probably because they are so very badly done and the script so appalling. Nevertheless, this hippy, trippy, ever fleshy, arty farty French mish mash of sexploitation, Satanism and Last Year at Marienbad is entertaining enough.

Extraordinary looking people, lashings of whippings, untold folds of flesh and some fine vigorous naked dancing/writhing.

Crystal clear picture and possibly better watched without those subtitles!