REVIEW: EL JUEGO DEL DIABLO (1975) AKA DEVIL’S EXORCIST
By Elena Romea
El Juego del Diablo aka Devil’s Exorcist is an unknown film from 1975 directed by Jorge Darnell, also responsible for the horror comedy Tiempos Duros para Drácula.
In the movie, we follow Teresita, a rich couple’s only daughter, who starts being troubled by loud sounds and scary visions of a tall man in black walking toward her. Also, arms extending from the walls are trying to grab her. A therapist begins treating her, but she is becoming more and more violent and death will happen all around the house.
Teresita is amazingly played by Inma de Santis (El Asesino de Muñecas) and the same happens with Vionnet (María de Puy), the concerned therapist who takes care of her. Other characters and actors are secondary, just as decorative figures to highlight the story between these two. Jack Taylor is Dr. Beneau a chauvinist practitioner calling for the therapist’s sexual attention and being let apart as she preferred Teresita to him, Luis Prendes is the old-school psychologist, a man of science who does not believe in new treatments or possessions and we also have José Orjas, the sentimentalist butler who will suffer the most terrible tortures.
What I liked the most is the high quality in the making of the movie, the great direction, and one of the most interesting and best, technically speaking, Spanish Horrors from that time. The cinematography was in the hands of professionals working with Saura, Almodovar, and many others.
It is interesting to see how the animal behavior researched by Vionnet mixed with Teresita’s weird conduct. Wild monkey crying beating at the same time as her devilish laugh, her demonic look and the dissected fish’s eye, and more. The camera and the soundtrack create a game of visions and noises reaching the top with the peak points of the possession, showing her wicked mind, creating an uneasy feeling in the spectator getting into their brain through their senses.
Also, the locations chosen as Peñiscola or the brutalist church in Madrid are the best choices for this story. And last but not least, Pepe Lifante character in Teresita’s daydreaming is a new Tall Man from Phantasm.
What I didn’t enjoy so much was the sexualization of Inma de Santis, who was only 15 years old when she made the movie. This also happens in El Asesino de Muñecas or Juego de Amor Prohibido. It is true that this is not a softcore film, like the ones that will be released a few years later, but it is true that in a way this may not be really appropriate for such a young girl.
It is sad this movie has not been released on home video or uploaded to any VOD platform. I had the chance of watching it at the Spanish Film Library thanks to Sala B event and I can assure you it is worth it.
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Elena Romea is the woman in charge of SPANISHFEAR.COM, and Horror Rises from Spain. A literature and cinema researcher, finishing her postgraduate studies with a thesis about the mystic filmmaker José Val del Omar. She has published in different media and books such as Fangoria and Hidden Horror. She has also been in charge of several translations.
