Lieva Lone in Les démoniaques (1974)

Movie Review | The Demoniacs (Rollin, 1974)

This review contains mild spoilers.

Jean Rollin’s Demoniacs begins with the horrific rape of a pair of sisters by a group of pirates. Well, not quite. It actually begins with an introductory sequence where we see cackling portraits of the four pirates, along with narration telling us for their cruelty. These pirates are known as “wreckers”, the kind of pirates that don’t sail the high seas but instead live on the coast and lure ships towards them so that they can plunder the wrecks. Then we get to the horrific rape, followed by the pirates hanging out at a bar, seemingly falling apart from the guilt of their crimes. When one of the barmaids sings about wreckers, the head pirate angrily shouts that wreckers no longer exist, which is a great way to tell everyone you’re a wrecker. Their victims come into the orbit of a clown and a priest, who introduce them to the power of the devil so that they can seek revenge. I won’t reveal how this proceeds, but let’s say that A) things don’t go according to plan and that B) the devil here is not the force of evil he is in most works, but rather like the benevolent devil in Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil’s Son-In-Law, where the devil offered the hero played by Rudy Ray Moore magic revenge powers to get back at the rival standup comedians who had all of Moore’s friends and family killed for the meager price of marrying his monstrously ugly daughter, which Moore then tried to weasel out of. Again, I won’t spoil too much, but let’s say the complications here are not the result of the devil pulling a fast one.

I admit I struggled with this one. Some of the Letterboxd reviews suggest that this movie is an attempt by Rollin to grapple with the exploitative nature of his movies. This is an interesting point, and I think between this and the parody roughie elements in Schoolgirl Hitchhikers, I have detected a certain discomfort on his part in dealing with a certain meaner strain of horror. But I don’t think this works narratively, as the movie never commits to a specific perspective. With the pirates, we only meet them right as they’re committing the rape, and only have descriptions of cartoonish villainy for background, so whatever guilt they feel after the fact, we never really feel complicit in their actions. The most lively of the pirates is a pervert played by Joelle Coeur, who flaunts her body and gets off vicariously on the others’ cruelty, yet whatever sexual pleasure she derives from their evil acts is observed with relative detachment, instead of something the movie invites us to share. In contrast, I think of the way something like I Spit On Your Grave has us spend time with its rapists before they commit the act. I don’t think that movie is aiming for as complex a set of feelings, but I think it helps the movie greatly on a dramatic level that we understand the kind of toxic mindset and group dynamic that defines these characters.

And with the victims, we’re obviously supposed to sympathize with them as the aggrieved party, but the movie never gives us much sense of them as actual characters. In part, it’s because Rollin defines them as mute and deprives them of dialogue. (I think this is a case where defining a character by their disability in a horror movie is a clear negative.) In part, it’s that the performances aren’t strong enough to breathe life into these characters. I think of Brigitte Lahaie and Cathy Stewart in The Night of the Hunted and Francoise Blanchard and Marina Pierro in The Living Dead Girl, and I don’t feel the same humanity coming through in the portrayals here. But I also think Rollin wants us to see them as symbols of victims instead of actual people, which I think also undermines the dramatic thrust of the movie. So their quest for revenge feels like a spectator sport, something we watch and root for, but we never feel we have skin in the game.

I chased this with Lost in New York, and I think of how much more surely that movie grounds the proceedings in a specific perspective, so that the sense of wonder that colours the movie is something we feel in our bones rather than observe passively. It really is a lovely little movie, and provided a nice ethereal contrast to the dourness of this one. Still, because this is a Rollin movie, we do get plenty of that classic Rollin style, particularly in the way the characters are framed against the wreckage and the ruins, dwarfed by the sense of desolation, giving their own despair a sense of inevitability. The most stylish stretch of the movie comes right at the end, where the brutality of the proceedings is juxtaposed with the anger of nature, as the tide rises and thunder booms on the soundtrack, while Coeur writhes maniacally in the sand as she watches. It’s undeniably a striking and forceful sequences, but it’s also one I found hard to get swept up in, as the movie never embraces the perspective of either the heroines or the villains.

'The Demoniac' by Joseph Middeleer, 1893

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Night Of The Demons (1988)

The king of softies can't even bring himself to deny the title xD

Joëlle Coeur in Les Démoniaques (1974).

a magiturge that likes to drop his staff and wands sometimes just to do it the old fashioned way

I Dare You

Summary: Your friend, Katya dared you to venture into the ancient graveyard, but you got a lot more than you wanted. 

Pairing: Demoniac!Andy Barber x Black Female Reader

Rating: 18/Mature 

Word Count: 531 

Warning: Chase Kink, Slight Smut, Talks of Violence 

A/N: This was a last-ditch effort for me to have something to write for Halloween/Samhain. I partook in a sprint writing challenge and this was the result. Thanks to @sagechanoafterdark and @venusofthehardsells​ for inspiring me! 

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"I shouldn't be here!" you screamed in your head as you barely dodged an uprooted tree. You just had to listen to Katya and her dumbass dare. You thought you were stronger than that.

“But yes you are! As my lovely little mate,” The demon who insists on being called Andy whispered. His voice somehow carried through the forest. He hadn’t had a thrilling chase in so long, he decided to give it shot.

You neared the edge of foreign exchange town, the lanterns' light illuminating your skin. You breathed a sigh of relief at making it to town and beating the monster at his own game when you felt a muscular arm slam itself around your torso knocking the breath from your lungs.

“Looks like I win, little one,” Andy breathed into your ear, “your fear is especially delectable. I can’t wait to taste you.”

“Please don’t eat me! I didn’t mean to enter your domain!” You pleaded as he picked you up bridal style.

“You think that slovenly jumble of rocks was my domain?! No, love, my realm is far grander than whatever your pathetic species could muster.” Andy boasted wiping the tears from your eyes.

It's a dream It had to be a dream. Just close your eyes and you’ll wake up in your shared bedroom with Katya and Chisom laughing about Samhain and lamenting not getting any hot dudes.

You just had to enter the grave Even after the townspeople warned you. You just had to succumb to Katya’s taunts. Now you’re stuck with a demon who insists on not being called one.

You turned to the being in question and noticed a few things. One, he was sexy as fuck! Tall and broad with dark brown hair and insanely intense blue eyes that held the light of the full moon in them. His lips were full with the lower one begging to be bitten.

“I see you're taking a liking to me, mate. Perhaps being with me will not be so bad.” Andy remarked as he made his way to a colossal tree; its branches and roots gnarled in all directions.

“Why…Why do they call you a demon? I mean, it must’ve been so long ago that only old wives’ tales remained.” You chuckled only for it to die at the sight of Andy’s grim expression.

“No, my love. It’s even worse.” Andy murmured into your supple skin as he muttered an ancient spell opening the gateway to his domain,” I annihilated entire armies on a whim. Drank and bathed in the blood of innocents. Slaughtered angels and demons alike for shits and giggles.”

All the life abandoned your face in fear,” Then how-“

“A great sorcerer, the Sorcerer Supreme, couldn’t kill me, so they imprisoned me long enough for my crimes to become a legend,” he smiled down at you nuzzling and marking your neck,” Though perhaps too long for bewitching young maidens not to heed the warnings of their elders.”

“I’m not that young you-ah!” You moaned as Andy’s finger made its way to your clit.

“So responsive! I just know you will be a fine mate! Now let’s go, our mating den awaits.”

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Same energy

I know they give us the plot to Sanctuary Moon in the books, and that it's a contemporary space adventure, but the first time Murderbot mentioned it, all I could imagine was a period k-drama.