I can't get enough of Aldo Sambrell (b. 1937), the prolific Spanish actor who has worked with many famous European genre directors such as Sergio Leone and Jess Franco (KILLER BARBYS; KILLER BARBYS VS DRACULA). The image above shows him as one of Lee Van Cleef's henchmen in THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966).The best thing about LA BIMBA DI SATANA is Aldo's typically intense presence as Antonio Aguilar, a degenerate heroin addict who terrorizes his very dysfunctional family. Mario Bianchi's LA BIMBA DI SATANA is now available in a superior Severin Films DVD edition under the English language title SATAN'S BABY DOLL.
Playing the heavy once again, Sambrell never seems to run out ways to make the various bandits, horror movie monsters and real life maniacs he plays seem larger than life. His career includes 150 plus films as an actor along with a number of films which he has directed.A minimalist remake of Andrea Bianchi's [superior] MALABIMBA (1979) this film was packaged as a quickie cash-in. The veteran director Mario Bianchi discusses LA BIMBA... in a fascinating 16 minute documentary extra, EXORCISM OF BABY DOLL, which is actually more compelling than the actual feature presentation. After talking about his early career in B minus Spaghetti Westerns he reveals that MALABIMBA writer Piero (I VAMPIRI) Regnoli basically presented him with a short treatment which, being a happy hack, Bianchi accepted after some brief complaints. Bianchi appears to be a pleasant fellow and it's interesting to hear him talk about his admittedly modest career. He points out that he was basically hired because he was quick and never made a film which lost money. MALABIMBA producer Gabriele Crisanti kept the budget for this follow up so low that it had to make a profit through advance bookings and profits kicked back into production.
Mariangela Giordano returns in the nun's role, this time as Sister Sol, who again sacrifices herself to exorcise her charge. There's some sex, more gore than in MALABIMBA (including a servant biting the head off a live chicken!) and a perfunctory sense to the proceedings. Mario Bianchi (directing as Alan W. Cools [!]) basically uses two tools, the zoom lens and more of the zoom lens. Without the music of Berto Pisano and the talents of Franco Villa this story doesn't really survive the second time around.However, Sambrell and Ms. Giordano do very good work under the circumstances. Sambrell has got the physical representation of a jonesing addict down to a science. His acting out of the addict's desperation, spasms, shooting technique and lapses into drug induced ecstasy are spot on. Jacqueline Dupre does not impress as the possessed Bimba.
The film does have its neo-gothic moments set in the bowels of the dank Castello, but not enough of them. But it's short and, as a midnight sleazefest, acceptable enough.
MALABIMBA is the real ticket. Andrea Bianchi gives the impression of a lavish, decadent EXCORCIST rip off by directing his cast to go way over the top and stay there. Patrizia Wembly as a manipulative slut and Enzo Fishichella as the guilt ridden father of the title character are quite good but it's the gravitas of Mariangela Giordano as Sister Sofia pretty much holds the film together even with the confusion evident about what kind of film the makers wanted to produce. It's a hardcore feature which doesn't really benefit from the graphic clinical closeups, some of which were obviously, if skillfully, incorporated into the film after being shot post production. Katell Leannec's feral, disturbed Bimba is enough. Castello Balsorano and its remote surroundings are cleverly deployed by veteran DP Franco Villa, who also lights the interiors to make some colorful tapestries and a few pieces of furniture give the impression of a sumptuous environment. The handheld forward tracking shots, used to represent the presence of the female demon, are a very effective touch, a low budget way of approximating the high tech FX of THE EXORCIST.
Berto Pisano's atmospheric, menacing music cues are mostly recycled from his earlier score for Joe D'Amato's DEATH SMILES AT MURDER (1973) but work just as well here. Besides the documentary featurette, discussed in our previous blog on this presentation, the most important extra feature is that there are three different ways to watch the film. As the Integral Version, which includes about 10 minutes of "deleted scenes" incorporated back into the feature (these are in rather poor VHS quality), as a stand alone 88 minute feature or just watching the 88 m version and then paging through the individual deleted scenes afterward. The runtime of the Integral Version is 1hr 37m 53s.
In a clear, colorful 1.85:1/16:9 transfer MALABIMBA looks better than it ever has before. The video quality of the deleted scenes do clash if one watches the Integral Version but given the options I'm glad they are available and I wish more DVD companies would attempt both Integral and the separate deleted scenes folder options.
(C) Robert Monell, 2007
