IL DEMONIO

 

IL DEMONIO is a black & white 1963 Italian film concerning a young woman named Purificata, called "Puri", played by Daliah Lavi. The story shows how Puri's strange and unearthly behavior upsets her family and her fellow villagers in a small backwater town in rural southern Italy. 

Puri is angered after being rejected by a former lover named Antonio (Frank Wolff). Puri does everything she can to disrupt Antonio's marriage, and her outlandish actions cause her family to have her exorcised and the townsfolk to chase her away. Puri winds up at a convent, but she sows discord there as well. She and Antonio wind up having a final confrontation. 

IL DEMONIO is a very unconventional film, in that while it has suggestions of terrible and supernatural events, it is not a standard horror movie. The production was filmed entirely at real remote locations in Italy, and most of the other characters are played by non-professional actors. IL DEMONIO has a documentary-like feel about it (at the beginning of the film is an intertitle stating that it is based on a true story). Director and co-writer Brunello Rondi (who was a frequent collaborator of Federico Fellini) avoids the usual scare tactics and instead keeps the focus on Puri's aberrant behavior, and the bleakness of her village and the surrounding countryside. 

Daliah Lavi (best known for starring in Mario Bava's THE WHIP AND THE BODY and several James Bond knock-offs) gives an amazing performance as Puri. It's a physically demanding performance as well--Puri is whipped, bound, sexually assaulted, attacked, and chased down. She also undergoes self-mutilation and several instances of weird body contortions. (In an interview for VIDEO WATCHDOG magazine, published in 2012, Lavi stated that she actually met the young girl who was the basis for the film.) 

One of the most notable things about IL DEMONIO is that it doesn't try to explain why Puri acts the way she does. There's no flashback giving an insight into Puri's mind, there's no "expert" that shows up and gives a diagnosis of her problems. Is Puri mad? Is she acting like she is mad?? Is she really possessed, or do the villagers think she is because she is a beautiful young woman who does not act properly? (The males in this story fear Puri, but they desire her as well.) 

One explanation is that Puri may have been driven mad by the people and the circumstances around her. Director Rondi goes out of his way to show that Puri's village is ruled by superstition and religious ritual, and that the people who reside there act just as bizarrely as she does. Puri lives in an area that is cold, sparse, poor, and depressing--an attractive woman like her wouldn't be too excited to spend the rest of her life in such a place. 

I viewed IL DEMONIO on the Tubi streaming channel. The print looked outstanding--a very sharp black & white widescreen presentation, uncut, with the original Italian soundtrack and English subtitles. 

IL DEMONIO certainly sticks in the memory. Despite its lack of gore and explicitness, there's an unsettling air about the entire affair. Some have defined it as an early version of "folk horror", although I don't think it fits into any easy categories. I will say that fans of Euro Cult cinema need to check out the excellent version of it provided by Tubi.