LES POSSÉDÉES DU DIABLE (aka 'Lorna l'Exorciste', 'Lorna the Exorcist') was filmed by Jess Franco in 1974, and was one of his last films for the French producer Robert de Nesle (other notable films Franco made for de Nesle's company include EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN, LES DEMONS, SINNER and LA COMTESSE PERVERSE - many of his best films). I'd wanted to see this film ever since reading Phil Hardy's review of it in the 'Aurum Encyclopedia of Horror', in which he describes it as "...one of [Franco's] most revolting pictures to date" and as "...the last interesting film" of Franco, together with LES AVALEUSES ('Female Vampire'). Sadly, it's also one of the most difficult Franco films to get hold of from the early 70's, never having being released with an English soundtrack (as far as I know anyway). Bootleg tapes can be found with English subtitles though, and that's the version under review here.

Guy Delorme plays Patrick, a construction magnate. His wife Marianne (Jacqueline Laurent) and daughter Linda (Lina Romay) accompany him on a trip to the French Riviera. Patrick is being pursued by Lorna Green (Pamela Stanford), a weird sort of witch/seductress who he met 19 years ago. At that time, he was struggling financially and met Lorna at a casino, where she helped him win money. He then slept with her, and promised her that she could have his (yet to be conceived) daughter when she turned 18. Lorna tells him that he will now return to his wife and make love to her, the product of this union will be a daughter who she will return to claim in 19 years time. Sure enough, Patrick goes home and makes love to Marianne, and they have a daughter. However, Patrick isn't so keen to hand her over now that the time is up and refuses. Lorna casts a spell on Marianne, the result being that when she becomes sexually aroused, horrible little crab monsters crawl out of her vagina, and she eventually dies. Lorna possesses Linda, but Patrick kills Lorna and her servant (Howard Vernon). He returns home to Linda, who embraces him, before stabbing him in the back of his neck. She laughs and cries hysterically, proclaiming "I am Lorna".

Obviously, the above summary doesn't really tell you that much about the film - after all, it's Franco. The plot makes little sense, and it's never clear exactly what Lorna is, or from whence her powers derive (she speaks of her 'master', and tells Patrick that she is sterile, "like all people where I come from"). However, there are some startling scenes, most notably the very unpleasant crab-like creatures that emerge from Marianne's sex. These scenes are really disturbing and seem almost like an early form of the body horror that Cronenberg would explore in his films, starting with SHIVERS several years later. There are a lot of lesbian sex scenes, as you'd expect from Franco, and some of them are fairly explicit. There's also a nice, subtle score (not by Daniel White for a change) and some attractive scenery. Towards the end of the film, Franco starts to indulge somewhat in his trademark zooms and out of focus shots, but it really doesn't matter.

There are obvious comparisons with much of Franco's earlier work, especially SUCCUBUS (1967)and FEMALE VAMPIRE (1973). The title's use of the word 'exorcist' seems to be a completely throwaway reference to Friedkin's film as Lorna is in no sense of the word an 'exorcist'. Apparently, there is a scene missing from all video prints. This occurs during Lorna's seduction of Linda, and involves penetration by dildo and Lorna licking blood from it afterwards. Sadly, it wasn't to be found in the version I watched either. Certainly, LORNA lived up to my expectations and is probably one of Franco's best films. The early 70's was the period during which Franco's work seemed to be most consistent and original, and I think those people who are so fond of bashing Franco's work should see more of his films from this time. It's a shame more of these films aren't available on DVD, but perhaps in time...