Exorcisme (1974)

Country of Origin: France / Belgium
Year of Production: 1974
Running Times: 66 mins     87 mins     90 mins
Format: colour
Ratio:
Sound:

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Eurocine / Cetelci
Executive Producer: Daniel Lesoeur
Producer: Marius Lesoeur

SCRIPT
Script: David Khunne (real name: Jesus Franco), James C. Garner, Henri Bral de Boitselier

DIRECTION
Director: James P. Johnson (real name: Jesus Franco)
Assistant Director: F. Somet, Pierre Cateson (real name: Richard de Conninck)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Directors of Photography: Etienne Rosenfeld, Jesus Franco
Stills: Ramon Ardid

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editors: Pierre Querut (real name: Jesus Franco, Ramon Ardid)

MUSIC
Music: Andre Benichou
Mus Producers: Andre Benichou, Jacques Nicolet

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Monique Van Linden
Costumes: P. Van Leenart

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Ilona Kunesova

CAST
Lina Romay (Anne)
Catherine Laferriere (Martine)
Lynn Monteil (real name: Nadine Pascal) (Rose)
Jess Frank (real name: Jesus Franco) (Paul Vogel, aka Radeck, aka Mathis)
Pierre Taylou (Raymond Franval)
Roger Germanes (Malou)
Monica Swinn (Countess)
France Nicolas (real name: France Roche) (Mrs Carter)
Sam Maree (David Carter - cut from hardcore version)
Francois Guillaume (Martine's lover - cut from hardcore version)
Carole Riviere (real name: Caroline Riviere) (Gina)
Philippe Lebrun
Olivier Mathot (Inspector Tanner)
Richard de Conninck (butler - uncredited)
Claude Sendron (Count - uncredited)
Ramon Ardid (hotel receptionist - uncredited)
Claude Boisson ('Bidoille' - uncredited)
Daniel J. White (doctor - uncredited)

HARDCORE INSERTS CAST
Christine Chireix
David Atta

PLOT SUMMARY

Psychotic ex-priest turned journalist Vogel secretly witnesses a staged "black mass" at a party thrown by his editor, Raymond Franval, and his secretary Ann. Believing the sado-masochistic act to be the real thing, the unhinged Vogel believes that the participants have been possessed by demons and sets out to exorcise them by torturing them to death...

Benelux
Video Distributor: Redemption Benelux

France
Video Distributor: Cine 7; Budget Video

Italy
Video Distributor: Italtape

UK
DVD Distributors: Arrow Film Distributors (FCD136)

USA
DVD Distributor: Synapse (SFD0014)

UK
Rating: banned. The film was submitted to the BBFC for classifation by Redemption Video in August 1994 but was rejected on the following grounds: "This was another shocker from the 70s, from a film-maker most of whose cinematic work appeared to revel in the tying up and abusing of naked women. Here their bodies were liberally splashed with blood, stage blood, in rituals acted out as a turn-on for audiences in search of sexual arousal. Later each evening, we see the rituals re-enacted sadistically and homicidally by a criminal psychopath (played by the film-maker himself), whose deeds perform the same function as the video viewer. The Board considered whether cuts could make such a work acceptable, but given its multifarious images of women stripped, inverted, bound, gagged, manacled at ankles and wrists, with blood smeared on bodies, especially breasts, and with blades driven into flesh, we concluded that cuts would have been so extensive as to leave little of the misogynistic framework intact. This might have been no loss on artistic or social grounds, but it would have left an unviable video comercially."

Arrow Film Distributors subsequently resubmitted the film in December 2003 under the title Exorcism - Demoniac and the BBFC allowed it to be released on DVD, but only after 2 minutes and 25 seconds of cuts were made: "Company was required to make four compulsory cuts to scenes of sexualised violence, under BBFC Policy, Guidelines and the Video Recordings Act of 1984. An uncut certification was not available" - from the BBFC website.

TIMELINE

1994
August
10: UK - rejected by the BBFC

2003
December
8: UK - DVD release (Arrow Film Distributors (FCD136))
17: UK - rated 18 by the BBFC (for DVD release)

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Exorcism - Demoniac - UK DVD title
Exorcisme et messes noires - Belgian title
Experiences sexuelles au château des joisseuses
Les possédées du diable
Sexorcismes - hardcore version title
Le viziose - Italian title

LINKS

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
El sádico de Notre-Dame (1979)

REFERENCES

BOOKS

Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 pp.126-127
credits, review

Obsession - The Films of Jesus Franco p.108
illustrated credits, review (by Lucas Balbo)

KEYWORDS

black masses, journalists, porn, sex, torture

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009