Italian trash auteur Andrea Bianchi is perhaps best known today for his hilariously inept zombie programmer Burial Ground, but the film which seems to be the most elusive and perhaps most intriguing of his varied film work is the 1979 film Malabimba - The Malicious Wh_ore.  This more or less ripoff of The Exorcist has nearly all of the horror elements that typically exist in these supernatural thrillers stripped in favor of straight sexploitation, going so far as to include several minutes of legitimate hardcore into the film.  Like 1981's Burial Ground, Malabimba has moments so completely off the wall that the film can't really be taken seriously, yet Bianchi tries to make this into one of those golden pieces of cinematic trash that have gotten better with age.  Unfortunately, aside from a the copious nudity, a few (probably unintentionally) hilarious moments and crazy scenarios, this film really doesn't fully satisfy, with the hardcore pornography coming across as distracting, ultimately detracting from the overall effect of the film.

The story here begins with a ridiculously overplayed and ludicrous seance, which ends up bringing the ghost of a deceased family member back to haunt the living members of the aristocratic Karoli family.  Living in an expansive castle, widowed father Andrea, his daughter Daniela a.k.a. "Bimba," Andrea's invalid brother Adolfo and his wife Nais now find themselves tormented by a lascivious spirit who primarily manifests itself in the body of the teen-aged Bimba.  While the family tries to figure out why their young relative has been acting strangely, Bimba proceeds to spy on her father and aunt's sexual activities, masturbates with her teddy bear, and exhibits herself at a party held at the residence.

Bianchi's film attempts to conjure up some of the ideas of the demonic possession genre but does so mostly ineffectively.  While the story of a young female invaded by a promiscuous spirit makes for some interesting viewing, the film never really builds any kind of tension or suspense.    The appearance of a nun who resides with the Karoli's who attempts to help Bimba through her ordeal merely seems to be an attempt to link this film to the supernatural horror genre, which had already been tackled by Italian imitators in films like The Antichrist and Beyond the Door.  We never feel as though the characters are in any real danger; while Bimba's behavior is strange, it never borders on the truly degenerate and dangerous acts that Regan in The Exorcist was apt to perform, and subsequently this film acts more as sleaze than horror.

The acting here is borderline funny at times, particularly by Patrizia Webley as Nais.  Her character is portrayed as a complete skank; dissatisfied by her relationship with the now bed-ridden Adolfo, she ends up trying to seek sexual satisfaction with every male who appears in the film.  The Nais character ends up undermining the behavior exhibited by Bimba; in contrast, Bimba seems quite content to pursue generally harmless activities like masturbation and voyeurism rather than engage in actual sex.

As the young Bimba, first (and only) time actress Katell Laennec looks quite stunning and is frequently placed in scenes that utilize her killer appearance, but her performance varies quite a bit.  While it seems that Laennec is capable to convey the innocence of youth and provides a decent portrayal of the eye-opening world of a girl going through a particularly disturbing puberty, during the scenes in which the demon supposedly takes over her behavior, she conveys this detail merely by squinting her eyes.  Laennec is extremely proficient at seducing the camera, and therefore the audience, she is ineffectual at really capturing the essence of the role she has been assigned, which again undermines the film's main idea. 

Mariangela Giordano (who would go on to portray the woman who's breast is devoured by her zombie son in Bianchi's Burial Ground) plays the nun who attempts to rid Bimba of her demon.  Giordano comes across relatively well in the role, managing to convey some of the character's inner conflict regarding her own sexual innocence in the wake of such promiscuous behavior.  Ultimately, the character is drawn into Bimba's game of sexual adventurousness.  This role serves a dual purpose almost; it works as a parallel to the Max von Sydow role in The Exorcist and also adds an element of 'nunsploitation,' which at the time was an entire exploitation sub-genre, to the film. 

The remainder of the cast merely seem to be placeholders.  Enzo Fisichella perhaps comes across the best as Bimba's bewildered father and Elisa Mainardi is rather enjoyable, although not particularly good, as the medium who conducts the opening seance.  Mainardi's crazed look and performance should provide the viewer with a few chuckles.

Technically speaking, as per usual with most Italian genre pictures, Malabimba looks splendid.  For the most part, Bianchi does a fine job at utilizing his exquisite locations well and making the scenes generally look decent through his instructions to cinematographers Angelo Viadenci and Franco Villa.  There are some moments that seem somewhat haphazard, such as the rather cheesy camera techniques that are used to suggest the movement and activity of the spirit, but overall, this film is decently made considering the material and nature of the work.  The music score by Elsio Mancuso and Berto Pisano seems to be similarly haphazard.  At times, the music seems very appropriate to conveying the mood of the film, at others, the work is marred by flourishing and loud sections that seem completely out of touch with the action of the film.

Bianchi keeps a large portion of his film focused solely on the appealing female bodies in his film, providing rather explicit close-ups in scenes such as Bimba using a stuffed animal to stimulate herself and an extended scene in which she masturbates while standing in front of a mirror. 

The most outrageous moment occurs when Bimba performs a striptease for her invalid uncle, then proceeds to give him what turns out to be a fatal dose of oral sex.  This particular scene, aside from being about the only one in which one of the billed actors nears participation in hardcore sex, is rather amusing in its construction.  The scene transitions from an inserted hardcore close-up of an actress performing oral, to a long shot of the scene with Laennec mimicking the action, to close-ups reaction shots of the invalid's face.  In the end, this is about as sleazy and insane as this film gets. 

The actual hardcore elements of the film are obviously inserted footage; the footage doesn't match the scenes in which they are included, and this hardcore material distracts a viewer and jars a viewer.  I think this film would be marginally more effective without the occasional "pump-shot" thrown in; these elements seem to take away from the integrity of the story.

The DVD of this film from Severin appears to have been released in two separate versions: a now apparently out-of-print 'X-Rated' version that I happened across and a second, 'unrated' version.  I'm not completely sure what the various editions includes, but the X-Rated version definitely includes some hardcore footage.  Extras on the disc include about ten minutes of (non-hardcore) deleted scenes that can be included back into the film as an "archival" version.  These scenes have noticeably less image quality than the film itself, but this archival version does appear to be completely uncut.  The disc also includes a short featurette that provides interviews with actress Mariangela Giordano and cinematographer Franco Villa.  This program discusses various aspects of the film's production, and insight into the reasoning for the inclusion of the hardcore footage.

As should be obvious, while not as "in your face" as other pornographic films, Malabimba is nonetheless absolutely not appropriate for younger viewers or those offended by nearly constant nudity and graphic sexual content. 

What we have here essentially is a film that didn't quite know what it wanted to be.  It has elements of supernatural horror, straight sleaze, nunsploitation, pornography and coming of age drama all thrown together into one somewhat disjointed production.  The story here seems to be unsure of what it really wants to say, and as a result, the finished film doesn't really satisfy on any level.  Malabimba is probably most satisfying as a outlet to see some good looking women in nearly constant display.   By most accounts, however, the movie itself is pretty lousy and certainly won't provide significant interest to those looking for quality cinema.  If you've been weaned to the wild world of Euro-trash, however, this may be worth a look.

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age