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Italian diabolical possession films: their English language alternate titles, directors, and years of release

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Italian TitleEnglish Title/sDirector/sTheatrical Release Outside Italy? Y/NTheatrical Release in How Many Countries[1]Month of Domestic ReleaseNarrative Type[2]
1974     
 Chi sei?The Devil Within Her; Beyond the Door; Behind the Door; A Demon Beyond the Door (US – promotional only)
Ovidio G Assonitis/Roberto D’Ettore PiazzolliY8OctoberUC
L’anticristoThe Antichrist; The Tempter; Blasphemy (poster only)
Alberto De MartinoY11NovemberPY(F), UC
L’ossessaThe Eerie Midnight Horror Show; Enter the Devil; The Devil Obsession; The Sexorcist; The Tormented
Mario GariazzoY3NovemberPY(F), DA
      
1975     
L’esorciccioThe Exorcist: Italian Style
Ciccio IngrassiaY2?PY(F), PC(M), DA
La casa dell’esorcismoThe House of Exorcism/Devil in the House of Exorcism
Mario Bava; Alfredo Leone (reshoots)Y5April(Adult Possession, Female), DA
Il medaglione insanguinatoThe Cursed Medallion; The Night Child; Together Forever
Massimo DallamanoY3AprilPC(F), DA
Un urlo dalle tenebreThe Exorcist III: Cries and Shadows; The Possessor; Naked Exorcism; Cries and Shadows; The Return of the Exorcist
Angelo Pannacciò; Luca Damiano (uncredited)  Y4AugustPY(M), DA
      
1978     
L’osceno desiderio – Le pene nel ventre
Obscene DesireGiulio PetroniY2/3DecemberUC
      
1979     
MalabimbaPossession of a Teenager; The Malicious Whore
Andrea BianchiY3SeptemberPY(F)
Un’ombra nell’ombraRing of Darkness; Circle of Fear; Satan’s Wife
Pier CarpiY3OctoberPC(F)
      
1980     
Patrick vive ancoraPatrick Still LivesMario LandiN MayPY(M)
      
1982     
La bimba di SatanaSatan’s Baby Doll; A Girl for Satan
Mario BianchiN JulyPY(F)
Manhattan BabyEye of the Evil Dead; Possessed
Lucio FulciY8August
      
1988     
La visione del sabbaThe Witches’ Sabbath
Marco BellocchioY4FebruaryPY(F)
Il fantasma di SodomaSodoma’s Ghost; The Ghosts of Sodom
Lucio FulciN (TV Movie)
Aenigma
 Lucio FulciY4September
      
1990     
La casa 5Beyond Darkness; House 5 (video catalogue only)
Claudio FragassoY3July
Demonia Lucio FulciN October (Video Only)

[1] NB. This is within five years of the original Italian theatrical release, thus excluding revival screenings or festival screenings much later.

[2] PY = Possession of a Young Person (M=Male; F=Female); PC = Possession of a Child (M=Male; F=Female); UC = Unholy Conception; DA=Diabolical Art

Notable films made outside Italy:

Spain

El Juego del Diablo (Jorge Darnell,1975), released in English as Devil’s Exorcist

Exorcismo (Juan Bosch, 1975), released in English as Exorcism

France

Les possédées du diable (Jess Franco, 1974), released in English as Lorna the Exorcist; and Linda

West Germany

Magdalena, vom Teufel besessen (Walter Boos, 1974), released in English as Magdalena, Possessed by the Devil; The Devil’s Female; and Beyond the Darkness

Die Liebesbriefe einer portugiesischen Nonne (Jess Franco, 1977), released in English as Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun

Turkey

Seytan (Metin Erksan, 1974), released in English as Seytan the Exorcism Incident; and Turkish Exorcist

Grief, love beyond the grave and the coastal Gothic in Neither the Sea Nor the Sand

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Horrified Magazine has today published on their website a new article that I have written about Fred Burnley’s 1972 film Neither the Sea Nor the Sand: “‘We are an elemental people’: Grief, love beyond the grave and the liminality of the coast in Tigon’s Neither the Sea Nor the Sand”.

The penultimate film by Tigon British Film Productions, Neither the Sea Nor the Sand was based on the novel by (ITN newsreader) Gordon Honeycombe. Those of us of a certain age will remember him, no doubt. The book is at its heart a reworking of the premise of W W Jacobs’ iconic short story ‘The Monkey’s Paw’.

There’s little published material about either the film or the novel on which it is based, so this article by myself is breaking some new ground – particularly with regards Honeycombe’s references to the Fourteenth Century anti-clerical/reformist medieval poem Piers Plowman (by William Langland, a follower of John Wycliffe). Most of the material that has been written about the film (and the novel) assumes the veracity of the reference to the poet Ross Guyot, to whom the quote from which the novel’s title originates is credited – but as I say here, ‘Guyot’ was a concoction by Honeycombe to obscure his reference to the Langland poem – and in fact was most likely an allusion to the Thirteenth Century poet Guyot de Provins.

‘We are an elemental people’: Grief, love beyond the grave and the liminality of the coast in Tigon’s Neither the Sea Nor the Sand

Article – Andy Milligan’s British horror films

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For anyone interested, here’s another article by yours truly, this time for Horrified Magazine’s online outlets.

Titled ‘”A tuppence where yer ‘eart should be”: Andy Milligan’s British horror films’, this piece (approx 9000 words) takes a look at fiercely independent cult American filmmaker Andy MIlligan’s quintet of films made in the UK between 1968 and 1970.

This was quite an interesting topic to dig into; there’s little published about Milligan’s work generally, and very little about these five films he made in the UK, so this article is breaking new ground in that regard.

The films discussed and analysed include Nightbirds (1970), The Body Beneath (1970), Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970), The Body Beneath (1980), The Rats are Coming! The Werewolves are Here! (1970) and The Man with Two Heads (1970).

Though made for UK producer Leslie Elliot, these films were never distributed in the UK owing to a disagreement between Leslie, his father Curtis Elliot (who held the purse strings of the production company for which these were made) and Milligan.

‘A tuppence where yer ’eart should be’: Andy Milligan’s British horror films

Late 80s/90s Neo-Noir – A List

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Red Rock West

Kill Me Again

Delusion

Perfect Crimes/Fallen Angels

The Last Seduction

Gun Crazy (remake)

Detour (remake)

Bound

The Big Lebowski

Blood Simple

Barton Fink

Miller’s Crossing

The Terminator

After Dark, My Sweet

This World, Then the Fireworks

Palmetto

U-Turn

One False Move

Trouble Bound

New Podcast – Kill It With Fire

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Myself and some learn’d colleagues have assembled – nay, thrown together the first episode of a new podcast, Kill It With Fire, focusing on cult movies and ‘cult-ure’.

This first instalment takes a look at Larry Cohen’s 1982 monster movie Q – The Winged Serpent.

Article – Pete Walker and David McGillivray’s ‘terror’ films of the 1970s

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I’ve long been a fan of Pete Walker’s films, and particularly his collaborations with writer David McGillivray, so I was fortunate to get the opportunity to write a 8500 word piece about their films House of Whipcord, Frightmare and House of Mortal Sin for Horrified Magazine.

The article can be found here:

‘A Very Serious Relapse’: Pete Walker & David McGillivray’s House of Whipcord, Frightmare and House of Mortal Sin

Favourite Television Programmes

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I’ve been thinking about English-language television programmes (dramatic – the comedic can wait for another time, as can non-English language productions) and have tried to come up with a ‘top ten’ list that excludes ‘one offs’ and single play strands.

Here we go…

  1. Callan (ABC/Thames, 1967-7)
  2. Public Eye (ABC/Thames, 1965-75)
  3. Homicide – Life on the Street (NBC, 1993-9)
  4. The Sweeney (Euston Films, 1974-8)
  5. Gangsters (BBC, 1976-78)
  6. Cracker (Granada, 1993-2006)
  7. Southland (NBC/TNT, 2009-13)
  8. Twin Peaks (ABC, 1990-1)
  9. Law & Order (NBC, 1990-2010)

New Article: ‘This house. It’s unhealthy’: Stephen Weeks’ Ghost Story (1974)

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New Article. In time for Hallowe’en (mwa-ha-ha!), here’s an article I put together, for fledgling publication Horrified Magazine, about Stephen Weeks’ fiercely independent (and very British) 1974 horror film GHOST STORY, aka MADHOUSE MANSION.

It was a pleasure to write this as I first encountered the film via a late-night screening on the BBC in the 1980s, and it haunted me (pun intended) for many years before I had the opportunity to see it again. It’s now available on a jam-packed DVD and Blu-ray from Nucleus Films.

‘This house. It’s unhealthy’: Stephen Weeks’ Ghost Story