BEHIND THE DOOR

Italy, 1975, 109 minutes, Colour.
Juliet Mills, Richard Johnson.
Directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis.

Behind the Door is a would-be imitation The Exorcist. It is an Italian production with exteriors filmed attractively in San Francisco. Interiors were done in Roman studios. The film echoes some of the plot lines of The Exorcist although the victim in this case is the pregnant mother. The film also copies a great number of the particular devices of The Exorcist including revolving heads, levitations, corrupt faces, vomiting. Separated from The Exorcist, the special effects and the antics appear quite ludicrous. The film utilises the theme of a person allowed to corrupt someone else so their death is delayed. In this case a woman is impregnated to give birth to a diabolical child, echoes of Rosemary's Baby.

Juliet Mills does her valiant best in the central role but one wonders about her reaction at seeing herself with revolving head, vomiting etc. It looks like the kind of film one doesn't boast about. She is supported by Richard Johnson, who delivers his melodramatic lines with Shakespearian oratorical intensity, quite out of place in the film. The pace is sluggish, the devices derivative, one of the most peculiar films made in the '70s. In original release it had a kind of Sensurround effect which probably did not enhance it much.