‘Demonism? Exorcism? Occultism?’
Magdalena: Possessed by the Devil is a 1974 German horror film about a teenager in a boarding school who is taken over by a demonic entity. Also released as Beyond the Darkness and The Devil’s Female.
Directed by Walter Boos [as Michael Walter] (Varsity Playthings) from a screenplay written by August Rieger [as Jean Christian Aurive] (Battle of the Godfathers; The Vampire Happening).
Reviews:
“Yeah, not since Enter the Devil have I watched a film so unafraid to be completely and utterly unhinged. Dagmar Hedrich only appeared in one other film than this and she goes utterly batshit lunacy in this, just a tornado of a performance. If you love possession films — and really, you should — grab this ASAP.” B&S About Movies
“At the helm of this movie was Walter Boos, who worked in numerous German erotic productions, so he knew how to handle the high volume of skin needed here […] by no means a good one but for fans of sleaze cinema, Magdalena is worth a look.” Blu-ray Authority
“There are a few good ideas in the mix, but for the most part, it’s an unfocused poorly-dubbed mess […]The ending is probably the most memorable part of the movie […] but that doesn’t mean it works […] This one is pretty much for fans of sleaze who could care less about the story.” Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
“This is arguably the best among the legion of Exorcist clones and a superb exploitation film, full stop. How often do you find yourself watching one of these things and fast-forwarding through bothersome bits of exposition to get to the next outrage? There’s really never a dull moment in M-PBTD, it just flies by.” House of Freudstein
“Never mind Magdalena’s demons, Boos the audience exorcist has just trapped us in a room with our own and, in the process, he jerks off the shared unconscious of a Womyn’s Lib™-battered West to a far harder, far more eruptive finish than any of his grindhouse contemporaries ever dared…” Scott is not a professional film critic…
Choice dialogue:
Prostitute: ‘C’mon are you kiddin’? For that stinking amount, I wouldn’t even let you smell it!”
Inspector: “Looks like the carnival ended rather abruptly for the late Joseph Winter.”
Magdalena: “Torment me not! Torment me not!”
Cast and characters:
Dagmar Hedrich … Magdalena Winter
Werner Bruhns … Professor Falk
Michael Hinz … Doctor Stone
Peter Martin Urtel … Doctor Berger
Rudolf Schündler … Father Conrad
Karl Walter Diess … Kommissar
Günter Clemens … Inspector
Elisabeth Volkmann … Madame Stolz
Eva Kinsky … Hilde Preis
Petra Peters … Ambulance Nurse
Ursula Reit … Accident Witness
Helena Rosenkranz … Prostitute
Toni Treutler … Old lady
Puppa Armbruster … Disk shop assistant
Peter Böhlke … Coroner
Kurt Bülau … Verdächtiger
Anton Feichtner … Seduced man
Sascha Hehn … Driver in accident
Eleonore Leipert … Frisky schoolgirl
Manfred Maier … Fritz
Achim Neumann … Harry
Rudi Sandmayr … Seduced man
Uschi Stiegelmaier … Frisky schoolgirl
Claus Tinney … Physician
Filming locations:
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Trailer:
