The film is virtually plotless, and is apparently set at the time of the Inquisition. Sister Maria (Cecilia Pezet) is a pious, dutiful nun stalked and eventually raped by Satan himself (Enrique Rocha). Under the Devil's influence, Sister Maria soon commits all manner of mayhem, from the expected steamy lesbian affairs with fellow nuns to raping and murdering pre-pubescent sheep herder Marcello (Daniel Albertos? Cast members go unidentified).

And that's it. Sister Maria has no back story, no character at all; she's simply sweet and virginal, then corrupted and scurrilous. Actress Pezet is cute and doe-like (her features somewhat resemble Winona Ryder), but there's no character to play. The supporting nuns are so thinly drawn that they aren't even really types. The Mother Superior has a fair amount of screen time, but the script is vague about her, too. She's neither the petulant taskmaster nor the concerned matriarchal figure. About the only person who comes anywhere close to being something like a character is one of two black nuns working as the order's cook. The daughter of slaves, she's overwhelmed with survivor guilt, or something.

No, this is a show about nudity and gore, and here the film delivers. Sister Maria, bare-breasted, flagellates herself better'n Max von Sydow in The Virgin Spring, wears a belt of thorns around her shapely waist, and often finds herself covered in someone else's blood. Where does she send all those blood-spattered habits to be cleaned? Isn't she worried about arousing suspicion?

Production-wise, the picture is cheap and sometimes inept. Satan pops in and out of scenes via simple jump cuts, like a character out of Bewitched. An early scene shows a nun enthusiastically playing a pipe organ, but the choir sings a cappella. Murders are committed with obviously retractable knives, and heavy marble crypts slide open and close with all the ease of filing cabinet drawers.

Video & Audio

Satanico Pandemonium (La Sexorcista) is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen in a problematic transfer that's sharp and using elements in surprisingly good shape, but whose impact is damaged by what I guess is some serious combing problem. Specifically, and most obviously during the opening scenes, the image is never quite in focus as it might be, as if two incompatible layers were lying atop one another, almost like a 3-D image, though not nearly as severe. Anyone more technically articulate than this reviewer is welcome to pipe in. Either the problem decreases as the film goes along or I simply got used to it, because thirty minutes in it no longer bothered me. The film is presented in its original Spanish mono with optional English subtitles.

Extra Features

Mondo Macabro's supplements often make marginal-interest titles far more attractive than they would be without them, and this is no exception. There are two featurettes: the first one is called The Devil Went to Mexico, and features a 15-minute interview with the film's screenwriter, Aldolfo Martinez Solares, also the son of the film's prolific director, Gilberto Martinez Solares. Conducted in English from Solares' Mexico City office and recorded in February 2005, the interview is quite interesting, particularly as Solares discusses his father's versatility, which beyond naughty nuns included Lon Chaney Jr.'s last wolfman role, in La Casa del terror (aka Face of the Screaming Werewolf), Santo wrestling movies, and more than 50 films starring Tin-Tan, one of Mexico's premiere comedians.

House of the Writhing Nun is an 11-minute show featuring filmmaker Nigel Wingrove, whose passion for Euro-cult cinema in general and nunsploitation in particular led him to create the U.K. Redemption Video label. He offers a brief overview of the genre and explains his passion for it. Clips are included from The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine (1972), Alucarda (1975), Satanico Pandemonium (La Sexorcista), and two by Wingrove himself, the banned-in-the-UK Visions of Ecstasy (1989) and Sacred Flesh (2000). Both mini-documentaries are in 16:9 format.

An extensive Still Gallery & Text Page section includes a sampling of Mexican Lobby Cards, Italian Release Artwork, A Brief History of Naughty Nun Cinema (culled from Anthony Hartman's affectionate website), a Filmography of Mexican Nunsploitation Cinema (really just a list of untranslated titles), and a concise About the Director bio page. Good stuff.

Parting Thoughts

Satanico Pandemonium (La Sexorcista) ultimately is nothing special, but fans of this peculiar and sometimes entertaining genre will want to pick up the DVD for its extras alone.

Stuart Galbraith IV is a Los Angeles and Kyoto-based film historian whose work includes The Emperor and the Wolf -- The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. His new book, Cinema Nippon will be published by Taschen in 2005.