The Eerie Midnight Horror Show/Review

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< The Eerie Midnight Horror Show

Review of The Eerie Midnight Horror Show

The most interesting thing about EERIE is that it believed that if you can't rip off your audience, then try, try again . . .

The movie was originally released in 1974. It was released in its origin country of Italy under the title L'OSSESSA. In the U.S. it was entitled both THE TORMENTER (in heavily-edited form) and THE SEXORCIST [The latter title was also used for a full-on porn film released the same year . . . Again with the name game!] EERIE proved to be a box office failure and disappeared into obscurity. Cut to a few years later when THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW came onto the scene. The producers took a second bite at the rip-off apple by releasing the film under the similar title of THE EERIE MIDNIGHT HORROR SHOW. This was despite the fact that not a single frame of new footage had been shot to giving it even the slightest resemblance to the cult hit. EERIE was still nothing more than EXORCIST knockoff, now years past its prime. Needless to say it once again failed to light up the box office.

Like THE ANTICHRIST, the movie starts off on its own terms before veering into the well-trended territory of possession films. The intriguing set-up starts with Italian art student Danila (Stella Carnacina) visiting a deconsecrated 17th century church in order to choose artifacts worth saving before its demolished. She is instantly transfixed by a life-sized sculpture of one of the thieves who was crucified alongside Jesus and has it transferred back to her apartment.

Later that night, Danila is working on her own painting when the thief (Ivan Rassimov) comes to life and violently seduces her. She re-awakens several minutes later and dismissive the traumatic experience as just a plain old nightmare. Danila, however, discovers herself to be changing, developing an insatiable sexual appetite and masturbating compulsively. An even more disturbing nightmare of herself being crucified sends Danila over the deep end.

Her wealthy but dysfunctional family are too preoccupied in their own sexual proclivities -- Danila's hot mother Lucia (Lucretia Love) is cheating on her cuckolded husband, Mario (TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVES’ Cristea Avram). Her lover is a sleazy character (Gabriele Tinti) who involves her such sicko S&M games as whipping her bare torso with the thorn-covered stem of a rose. Its hinted that her decadence may have led to Danila's bedevilment.

As her condition worsens, Danila becomes verbally abusive, exhibits stigmata and attempts to seduce her own father -- "Come on daddy. Or are you afraid it would be wrong? There's no such thing as incest, it's just an invention of priests. Make love to me!”

The usual useless collection of doctors and psychiatrists are called in to study a now fully-possessed Danila. Lucia and Mario consult the Church for help, resulting in Danila being sent to a secluded cabin to be exorcised by Father Xeno (THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE’s Luigi Pistilli). She switches into hottie form and attempts to seduce the priest, which he deeply struggles to resist. A little self-flagellation puts his head back in the game and a fairly kickass exorcism kicks into high gear.

Reviewed by Angel Orona

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