Lorna The Exorcist – Le Chat Qui Fume (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1974
Director: Jesús Franco
Writers: Robert de Nesle, Jesús Franco, Nicole Guettard
Cast: Pamela Stanford, Guy Delorme, Lina Romay, Jacqueline Laurent, Marianne Mariel, Richard Bigotini, Catherine Lafferière, Howard Vernon, Jesús Franco

Release Date: August, 2018
Approximate Running Time: 98 Minutes 2 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free/Region Free NTSC
Retail Price: OOP

"Businessman Patrick Mariel (Guy Delorme) goes on vacation with his wife, Marianne, and his daughter Linda (Lina Romay). Patrick’s old friend, Lorna Green (Pamela Stanford), arrives just in time for Linda’s 18th birthday, from which she takes possession of the body and the soul. She asks Patrick to respect the contract they have spent 18 years earlier: a contract of sex and blood!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

Lorna The Exorcist comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.8 GB

Feature: 25.4 GB

There is a disclaimer before the film that says, "This version of Lorna The Exorcist is a montage of two copies of 35mm. The first copy was of good quality, but it was incomplete. The second was of really mediocre quality. Despite a strong restoration, it was impossible to correct all the flaws in the film. Nevertheless, you have the most complete version of this film, which almost disappeared. Good film."

Quality wise, this release's transfer is on par with the transfer that Mondo Macabro used for their Lorna the Exorcist release. With the aforementioned print related damage appearing in the same places in both releases, Details look crisp, colors look correct, and there are no issues with compression.

It should be noted that this release clocks in at ninety-eight minutes and two seconds, while the aforementioned Mondo Macabro release clocks in at ninety-nine minutes and twenty-six seconds. This difference in run times is because the Mondo Macabro release repeats footage of Lina Romay’s character Linda screaming in the film’s finale, and the Mondo Macabro release has a longer fade-out of music playing over a black screen. These are the only differences between these two releases.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in English and a DTS-HD mono mix in French. Both audio mixes sound clear and balanced throughout. Included with this release are removable English subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an interview with Alain Petit, author of Jess Franco Ou Les Prosperites Des Bis titled Franco the Possessed  (47 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French, no subtitles), an interview with actress Pamela Stanford titled Pamela Stanford Possessed by Franco (14 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles) and an interview with actress Jacqueline Laurent titled Jesus and Me with (25 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles).

Other extras include trailers for Eyeball (2 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian, no subtitles), La saignée “The Contract” (3 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), The Blood Rose (2 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French, no subtitles), Come Cani Arrabbiati (3 minutes 50 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian, no subtitles) and Love and Death in the Garden of the Gods (2 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian, no Subtitles).

Included with this release is a region-free NTSC DVD that contains the main feature and the three interviews.

Summary:

Lorna The Exorcist is a Faust-like tale that incorporates elements of Dracula and The Exorcist into its bizarre plot about a woman who can give you anything you want, at least if you are willing to pay the price. Lorna The Exorcist opens up with a lengthy lesbian scene that clocks in at nearly nine minutes in length. There is no dialog in this opening scene, with only music and visuals to guide us on this bizarre journey.

The narrative as a whole is very simple, with a few lesbian sex scenes thrown in for good measure. These lesbian sequences are full on hardcore as the camera peers ever so closely into private parts. The narrative has a hypnotic pace, and the climax provides a very satisfying conclusion to the events that have unfolded. Twenty-eight years after making Lorna, The Exorcist, he would remake it and rename it Incubus in 2002.

Jess Franco was a filmmaker who often worked with meager resources and recycled themes, plots, and musical motifs. And, while these two factors have contributed to some of his films appearing haphazardly put together, In most instances, what drives Jess Franco’s cinematic vision? is his distinctive visual quirk. And with Lorna, The Exorcist, he is at the top of his game. Many of the ideas and stylistic techniques that he employs in Lorna The Exorcist are prominent in many of Jess Franco’s other films. Most notably, films like Vampyros Lesbos and Female Vampire.

There are a handful of standout moments in Lorna: The Exorcist. The first outing moment is a lesbian scene that takes place in a bubble bath. The other standout moment involves crabs crawling on a woman’s private parts. The lead character, Lorna, is a cross between Faust and Dracula in the way she can hypnotically control the women who serve her, much like Renfield obediently served Count Dracula.

Performance-wise, this is one of the stronger casts that Jess Franco had to work with. The most enduring assets of this film are its two female leads, Pamela Stanford as Lorna Green and Lina Romay as Linda Mariel. Pamela Stanford is one of Jess Franco’s lesser-known leading ladies. With her performance in Lorna: The Exorcist being her most prominent and accomplished collaboration with Jess Franco, Some of Franco’s fans will recognize her from the film Cannibals, where she portrayed Al Cliver’s wife. Lina Romay’s performance in Lorna, The Exorcist, is the strongest and most memorable in the film. Howard Vernon (The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus, Diabolical Doctor Z.) appears briefly as Lorna's bodyguard, Maurizius.

There is no denying that The Exorcist was at least loosely inspired by Lorna The Exorcist. The end result is so far removed from that aforementioned film. To simply label Lorna The Exorcist as an Exorcist clone couldn’t be farther from the truth. Ultimately, Lorna The Exorcist is a well-made erotic thriller that flawlessly mixes erotica with its more supernatural moments.

Lorna The Exorcist gets a strong audio/video presentation from Le Chat Qui Fume, Recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer