Malabimba (1979)

 

A wildly sleazy Exorcist rip-off from Italy. 

A seance is held to contact the spirit of the murdered wife of Andrea Caroli (Enzo Fisichella). Instead, the medium (Elisa Mainardi) summons the demonic spirit of an ancestor Lucrezia. 

Giorgio (Giancarlo Del Duca) and Nais (Patrizia Webley) the sister of his dead wife.

Lucrezia's spirit tears off her dress.

Sister Sofia (Mariangela Giordano) is in the castle taking care of aged Adolfo Caroli (Giuseppe Marrocco) when she is attacked by the spirit of Lucrezia.  But she is able to fend off the satanic force.

So, the spirit moves on to Andrea's stepdaughter Bimba Caroli (Katell Laennec).

Her toy puppy seemingly to life on its own.

Oh-so-scary; this is what nightmares are made of.

At the table the next day, Bimba isn't acting herself, saying inappropriate things.

Nais comes to Andrea's room to seduce him.

Despite her basically masturbating for him, Andrea resists his sister-in-law's temptation.

So, Nais moves on to Giorgio, having sex on a bearskin rug.

Bimba watches through the window.

Bimba goes to her room and masturbates with a stuffed bear.

Bimba makes the moves on her stepfather; Andrea scolds the child.

They hold a swanky party attended by Bimba's grandmother (Pupita Lea Scuderoni).

Bimba stands in front of the fireplace and shows everyone her bush.

Bimba's grandmother stares in horror through the A-Frame

Nympho Nais seduces a party guest (Claudio Zucchet).

Bimba goes to the bedside of her infirm Uncle Adolfo.

She gives him head, which ends up killing the dude.

Bimba looks at herself in the mirror...

For a moment she sees her reflection and realizes what she's become.

Sister Sofia rushes into the room to help her.

Sofia goes to her own room where she is visited by a naked Bimba...

Bimba puts her under her spell and has her remove her habit.

The big bit of trivia about this movie is that Mariangela Giordano was deathly ill during production, with a raging 106 fever.  But her lover, the film's producer, urged her to complete the film before going to the hospital.  You can really tell Giordano is sweaty and sickly looking.

Now that Sofia has allowed Lucrezia's evil spirit to enter her, she throws herself off the castle top like Father Karras down the Georgetown stairs.

Bimba and Andra rush to the dead nun's body.

Andrea and Bimba embrace.  The evil spirit has been vanquished... or has it? THE END

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This reminded me a good bit of Magdalena, Possessed by the Devil (1974), and there are ton of possession movies which similarly exaggerate the sleazy aspect of genre. The one problem with this is that is perhaps focuses too heavily on the erotic, and you lose any real sense of the satanic element. A little horror imagery would have gone a long way.  Without that horror vibe, it feels like a girl has just become a nympho like her aunt - no devil needed.  Despite that complaint, the sleaze was wonderfully over-the-top and the film is bursting with maniacal energy.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆7/10