Satánico Pandemonium: La Sexorcista

The best you can get out of a Catholic country.

After quite a while not talking about actual B movies I return to my dirty with several reviews I had in mind long ago.  This week we'll deal with a couple of great Nusploitation flicks, one comes from Mexico and the other from Italy. Let the killing begin...

"Satànico Pandemonium" may not rank high on the exploitation Heaven, but it manages to deliver horror like no other Latin American movie has. The religious slang used in the film adds a macabre vibe that only those who speak Spanish will enjoy fully. Dubbing and subtitles tend to lose the core essence of the religious language only used by the Catholic church's Latin roots fluently present  in the Spanish & Italian languages.

Believe it or not, Mexico, being an almost 100% Catholic country, produced several nunsploitation flicks in the 70's. Before censorship took a big role in Mexican movies, there were many, many exploitation flicks like today's entry.

Murdering nun.

I'll pray for Satan!

So, is Satanico Pandemonium worth the try?

Definitely! it's not like you get to watch a 70's exploitation movie made in a Latin American country. Besides, having been filmed in Mexico gives it an added value that takes you into a darker ground knowing the Catholic church is extremely powerful in Latin America to these days. Watching it is like "Fuck the catholic church, they're all a bunch of pervs and Satanico Pandemonium is not afraid of showing the dark side to the audience" So, if you're not a church believer as yours truly, you will most certainly enjoy the ride.

The acting is average at most but, that is not necessarily a bad thing in  a film of this genre. However, the lead role, Sister María is played by Cecilia Pezet delivers a brave, solid performance. She definitely could have had more leading roles in her brief career. Too bad that this was her farewell movie. She was just too beautiful to be involved in Nunsploitation films I guess. In addition,  Veteran t.v. and movie actor Enrique Rocha gives a strong performance as the Devil with a baritone voice that is convincing alone. The rest of the cast is more like "filler material" but, as they do not play a relevant role I guess they're fine with me.

Pay for your sins.

Lesbian nun sex, oh dear!

The musical score is very convincing and also quite disturbing, providing the proper atmospheres to the quieter scenes where not much seems to be happening. The director, Gilberto Martinez Solares,  relies heavily on classic theater techniques that do not give the film a dynamic pace. The camera angles are boring sometimes, and some events truly last longer than they should. For example, when Sister Maria takes care of a sick cow, you're like "c'mon we've seen enough already!" Also, when sister María realizes she's been possessed by the devil nothing much seems to be happening and you could easily fall asleep if it were not for the magnificent score composed by Gustavo César Carrión. 

Despite the fact the film has scenes that seem longer than necessary, the opening scenes lead us quickly to the plot. A young beautiful nun meets with the devil a random afternoon while enjoying a rest. The devil dissapears and Sister María feels instantly sexually motivated enough as to approach a teen boy who's fishing nearby. Unfortunately for her, the kid is too scared to continue with the idea and runs away. Later she starts a roaring rampage of lesbian sex and murder that will please gore & sleaze fans. 

Sex & Blood.

Party hard!

The movie deals with quite a lot of controversial topics, I mean it was 1975 in a deeply Catholic country! Sister María sins include, masturbation, torture, lesbian sex, raping an underage boy (holy macaroni!) burning down an elder lady, convincing a black of nun of committing suicide and the list goes on. 

As the story develops you get a sense of "hey, something's wrong with continuity! there are scenes that don't make sense" However, that is exactly what the director wants you to think in order to be taken straight to the most unexpected final scene. I won't spoil it to you because Satánico Pandemonium is the kind  of movie that requires me to keep secrecy to make it interesting for you to watch it in case you haven't.

Today, the film has become somewhat a cult item in the nunsploitation genre; it's even been referenced in Robert Rodríguez vampire tale "From Dusk Till Dawn". 

"Hi, I'm Satan. Pleased to meet you"

Overall, a great entertaining movie that is heavily inspired in the international success The Exorcist had. The film itself has nothing to do with what The Exorcist dealt but, it somehow resembles the idea of an innocent being seduced and/or possessed by Satan.  For the faint of heart this may not be your cup of tea as we're explicitly shown with lesbian sex, brutality, murder and even a child abuse scene that would be too much even for today's standards. 

Here's a 7 minute extended trailer. Spanish language knowledge required: