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Chi Sei
The Devil Within Her
Beyond the Door / Behind the Door / Beyond Obsession / Diabolica
Italy/USA 1974
produced by Edward L. Montoro, Enzo Dorian, Ovidio G. Assonitis for A-Erre Cinematografica, Film Ventures International
directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis (as Oliver Hellman), Robert Barrett
starring Juliet Mills, Gabriele Lavia, Richard Johnson, Nino Segurini, Elizabeth Turner, Barbara Fiorini, Carla Mancini, David Colin jr, Vittorio Fanfoni, Luigi Marturano
story by Ovidio G. Assonitis (as Oliver Hellman), Antonio Troiso, screenplay by Ovidio G. Assonitis (as Oliver Hellman), Antonio Troiso, Robert Barrett, music by Franco Micalizzi, special effects by Donn Davison, Wally Gentleman
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Jessica (Juliet Mills) is expecting a baby, her third, even though she
has been on the pill lately - the audience knows of course it's indeed the
spawn of the devil, but neither Jessica nor anybody else in the cast know
that.
Her whole pregnancy puts her on the edge a bit, which everybody, most
of all her husband Robert (Gabriele Lavia), understands at first, but then
her behaviour worsens: She turns violent against her kids, starts spitting
pea soup, turns her head 180 degrees, floats above her bed, shows weird
marks on her body - and the unborn baby inside her grows at a remarkable
rate. All signs of a demonic possession of course, but hubby Robert and
doctor friend George (Nino Segurini) still try to find a logical/medical
explanation and even discuss an abortion ... but the devil's spawn has a
guardian, Dimitri (Richard Johnson), a man who has struck a deal with the
devil to save his own life. Eventually, Robert and George evenmanage to
get on Dimitri's tail, only to learn that he has died many years ago in a
car accident.
Only the ending reveals everything: This was never about the devil's
son in the first place, but rather a cruel game the devil played with
Dimitri, and after the game has come to an end and Dimitri has saved
Jessica's baby, the devil lets him die in a car accident after all.
For the most part, this film is little more that a rip-off of both Rosemary's
Baby and The Exorcist, at
time copying whole sequences from these films. Sure, it's well enough
directed, does have a sufficient budget for what it's trying to achieve,
massive location shooting in San Francisco gives the film an extra flair,
and at times the film is even rather entertaining - but still, if you have
seen above-mentioned movies, you can't help but getm the feeling you have
seen it all before (which you actually have, of course). The film's
sort-of saving grace though is its twist ending in which the devil kills
Dimitri and which turns the whole film topsy turvey. This does not
actually save The Devil Within Her from being derivative, it's just
a reward for those who sat through it.
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