Les possédées du diable

Lorna the Exorcist (1974)

*** (out of 4)

One of cult director Jess Franco's best films, Patrick Mariel (Guy Delorme) makes a deal with his ex-lover (Pamela Stanford) that if she grants him riches that she can have his daughter when she turns 18. Now 18-years-old, the witch Lorna comes to visit Linda (Lina Romay) in a very sexual way. LORNA THE EXORCIST is around in many different versions but the recent release from Mondo Macabro presents the film with a running time of 100-minutes. This here is about twelve-minutes longer than the previous version I watched and I must admit that I preferred the shorter one. Several of the scenes in the longer version just drag on a bit too much and there's really nothing added except for the one legendary and talked about scenes that finally appeared in the film. This of course is the much discussed dildo sequence, which is perfectly executed by Franco who manages to milk every painful moment from it. The same is true for the crab sequences, which are among the most memorable and creepy from any film the director has made. These two scenes alone certainly stand out but the film offers up much more. I think the atmosphere is what the director really nails and this is especially true during the sexual scenes where we're given a dream-like quality to them. The film really does seem like a nightmare that has come to life and all the credit must go to Franco. It certainly doesn't hurt that we're given some fine performances with both Stanford and Delorme really standing out in their parts. Romay clearly steals the film as her sexuality and beauty are perfectly captures on screen and it's easy to see why her and Franco would become partners. There are some problems with the film including the already mentioned longer version but I also think that the film does drag in both versions. There's just not too much going on in the story to really warrant the extended running time. Still, LORNA THE EXORCIST is one of the director's best and most hypnotic films.

This Review Is Only For The Full 100 min UNCUT Version of "LORNA, THE EXORCIST"... Imagine a perverted old man director like JESS FRANCO (who directed close to 200 movies in his career) not having learned a thing about filmmaking in all that time. Seems unbelievable doesn't it? His last movie was as incompetent as his first. Why then did he make so many films for so many years? Probably because it was his personal perverted fetish fantasies realized in his film after film. Foreign producers were able to make profits from this deranged sick old man's fantasies and daydreams. This was his 1974 sickie known as "LORNA, THE EXORCIST". First of all, there is no exorcist or exorcism in this movie. Most of it is incomprehensible. It's obvious it's just a perverted old director's excuse to fill the screen with scene after scene of graphic fetish lesbian porn. Under the cloak of a story about some whorish witch who makes a bargain with some old creep that she will make him wealthy and fulfill his perverse desires IF he promises her his first born, the day he finally has his own child. He has one, and 18 years later on the child's 18th birthday she comes to collect. The rest of the film is director Franco's own perverted fetishes filmed. Director Franco even appears on camera as a depraved doctor. In 1974 this film could only have played in X RATED Movie Theaters for its graphic female depravities. You can tell Franco is nothing but a talentless old perv holding a camera. All the males in the film are either old or grotesque. Leaving only naked women to be drooled over and only with each other. 35 years after making this garbage Franco was still making the exact same kind of movies only he was around 90. Talk about the depraved and talentless living the longest lives. This entire movie LORNA has only 1 minute of anything you could call "acting". It is the last 60 seconds of film. I still think he gave the girl drugs to achieve the scene because at no time during the entire run of the film did she ever show a shred of talent. Final Comment : A Real Curiosity Like Visiting An Old Time Carnival Freak & Deformity Show.

The vast filmography of Jess Franco is littered with cheap timewasters that are not of interest to anyone; but among those films are some real gems. Lorna the Exorcist, however, falls somewhere between the two sets of films; it's not vintage Franco, but it's better than a lot of his stuff and does at least make for a decent viewing. I had a feeling that this film may be a rip off of another film released in the early seventies with the word 'Exorcist' in the title; but actually the film is more of a nightmarish fairy tale with some sex involved (although clearly the film is cashing in on the title!). The plot focuses on a businessman named Patrick. He takes his wife and daughter on holiday; but things turn awry for Patrick when a woman named Lorna turns up. Lorna and Patrick had relations some years earlier and it emerges that Lorna is some kind of witch that has power over various women; including his daughter, who is almost ready to turn eighteen. Lorna begins to infiltrate Patrick's life, and he tries to protect his daughter.

The main draw of this film for most Franco fans will undoubtedly be the beautiful Lina Romay who stars as the eighteen year old daughter. The rest of the cast is nothing to write home about; but there is a role for Franco stalwart Howard Vernon, as well as sometimes collaborator Pamela Stanford in the central role. The version of the film that I saw ran for just over eighty minutes, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that its cut as the film is not particularly graphic or disturbing. There is a fair bit of sex; including lesbian sex and we are treated to the entire usual trademark Franco zoom shots. The most memorable scene takes place in the bedroom and involves a really bad case of crabs! The plot itself takes a backseat to the atmosphere and sleaze elements, but it's actually not too badly worked and it does at least succeed in keeping the film interesting for most of the duration. Overall, Lorna the Exorcist is not hugely memorable and is in no way a classic horror film; but it's decent enough stuff and most Franco fans wont regret tracking it down.

This is one of jess franco's most erotic films. Contains some hardcore lesbianism between lina romay and Pamela Stanford. But overall a pretty good film but the title really has nothing to do with the film. There is no excorsism or exorcist in this film.

This is Franco so u know your In for something powerful, different, Memorizing, and Sexy! This has beautiful Cinematography I love what Franco did with this take on a Exercise type film not what you Expect very original I highly recommend it to Franco fans or to the ones that love different. 10/10.