Lorna, the Exorcist
***
Admittedly, I wasn't sure what to expect from Lorna, the Exorcist (or Jesús Franco’s Les Possédées du Diable (1976)) as I have read a mix of positive and negative about it from those who have seen this. I hadn't seen a film that I would consider a definitive Lina Romay performance that left any type of impact with me (Franco's fans love Female Vampire, but it didn't do anything for me) until Lorna. I would prefer to just call it Lorna, without the added "the Exorcist" as the additional title does the film no justice. Mining the success of another film when yours isn't anything like it reeks of desperation and, I felt, in the case of Lorna, unjustly victimizes it as a piece of exploitation that needs to leech off the infamy of another film in order to be successful. That said, Lina Romay has a sympathetic character that is robbed of her innocence thanks to a pact her pops made with a "witch" (I'm not sure what her definite label should be, but the over-the-top make up hints at her malevolence) for affluence and luxurious living. Before long, pops will realize the error of his ways but it won't keep Lorna, the witch, from going out of her way to claim what is technically hers due to the pact. In France, pops (Guy Delorme) takes his wife and daughter on vacation for Romay's 18th birthday and this provides Lorna with the opportunity to seize upon what she rightfully considers her property. The film contains what I felt was a "deflowering process" and total takeover. The tragic element of the film is that Lorna was sacrificed before she was even born. Pops obviously placed very little confidence in witchcraft or his pact with Lorna. However, as she besieges Lorna (and her fantasies/dreams) in an erotic fashion (there's this "breastfeeding" moment and use of a dildo that left me quite taken aback), it becomes quite clear that Pops made a big mistake fooling around with a woman he never was convinced was a witch. The loss of innocence certainly comes into play during the use of the dildo as Lorna licks the blood from its tip with considerable pleasure. What I found fascinating was how the film treats the father whose family falls into upheaval thanks to Lorna. He isn't necessarily a hero because he brought this all on himself and, in turn, left his family in tatters. His wife falls victim to the crabs (literally), as his daughter is taken over by Lorna, with his own life in jeopardy, too. Not just that but he is unable to resist the advances of Lorna and even attempts to fuck Romay, paying a price for that bit of taboo-destruction. It is not as easy to empathize with pops because he's the one who invited all of this to the family. Lorna is played by Pamela Stanford with quite an air of seductive danger. Even when up against loud make-up, eye lashes, and wig that practically paints her as a carnival freak/clown, Stanford somehow still maintains an allure. Pops fell to it and eventually Romay does to. The inclusion of a patient also tortured by Lorna with doctors (including one played by a disinterested Franco) tending to her (exhaustively, to say the least) re-states just what can be left behind by this witch once she seems through with conquests. I didn't think we really needed this, but it tells us what might just be in store for Lorna in the future. As you might expect, there's plenty of in-your-face snatch, but I can't deny that Romay's work with Stanford was quite arousing to me. The first scene was a type of "invite" to Romay by Lorna to participate, with other encounters initiated and dominated by Lorna. By the end, Romay is under siege by an evil that she cannot overcome. Tossing and ravaged, eyes bugging out and heaving the seething evil wrought within her, Romay explains to us while on a bed with her body naked and exposed (as well as her emotional decimation) that the fight is no longer in her favor. When Pops even tried to sexually embrace her, it was the final betrayal. Romay does well to show by film's end that Lorna's "influence" has become all-consuming and all-encompassing. The mouth wide with this wicked laugh, and eyes that fail to hide a maddening unleashed, and pops unable to truly vanquish Lorna, although a gunshot seems to tell him he could, Franco ends his film in haunting, tragic fashion. I think, despite its technical flaws and abuse by right-to-censor, with the occasional photographic disappointments, this is one of Franco's best 70s films....this would certainly be my pick for Romay's best work with him.
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