Stardate 08.27.2026.F: Latest Addition - 1963's 'Il Demonio' Has Been Added To The Daily Archives For August 27th!

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so many movies ... so little time ...
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On this day in 1963 (in Italy), audiences in attendance of the Venice Film Festival were treated to the big screen premiere of Il Demonio (aka The Demon).  Written (in part) and directed by Brunello Rondi, the Italian-language Folk Horror starred Daliah Lavi, Frank Wolff, Anna María Aveta, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"A lonely, sexually-uninhibited young peasant is subjected to an exorcism after she hexes a man who rejects her advances."

-- EZ

From Google.com:

Il Demonio (known as The Demon in the U.S.) is a 1963 Italian-French folk horror drama co-written and directed by Brunello Rondi. [1, 2, 3]

Plot and Themes

• The Story: Set in a poor, superstitious village in southern Italy, the film follows a young peasant woman named Purificata (played by Daliah Lavi).
• The Conflict: Purif is deeply distraught and obsessed after her lover, Antonio (Frank Wolff), rejects her and marries another woman.
• The Descent: Desperate, she turns to local witchcraft and curses. The superstitious villagers interpret her erratic, distressed behavior as demonic possession, leading to a brutal campaign of ostracization, violence, and an eventual exorcism. [1, 8, 9, 10]

Legacy and Impact
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• Pioneering Possession: Long before The Exorcist (1973), Il Demonio explored themes of ritual, exorcism, and frantic psychological breakdown. It features an early physical performance of possession—including a striking backward spider-crawl movement—that is said to have inspired elements of later Hollywood horror classics.
• Controversy: Upon its release and screening at the 24th Venice Film Festival, the film faced severe backlash from Italian censors who deemed it offensive to public morality, and it was criticized for its stark, unsparing look at religious hypocrisy and rural superstition. [1, 7, 9]

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-q_meU7GQE
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon_(1963_film)
[3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167886/
[4] https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/the-demon-2015-06
[5] https://themagnificent60s.com/2024/09/28/the-demon-il-demonio-1963-2/
[6] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/il_demonio_1963
[7] https://crypticrock.com/il-demonio-blu-ray-review/
[8] https://letterboxd.com/film/the-demon-1963/
[9] https://www.spinstersofhorror.com/post/il-demon-1963
[10] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wsb8a8rF0m0