"The Possession of Virginia" is a pretty rare Satanic horror mystery which involves two apparent suicides,a pact made with the Devil and a private investigation of a journalist named Paul.Somebody kills his cat via poison.There is also a psychedelic orgy of Satan worshippers that is admittedly sleazy.Unfortunately the action moves at snail's pace and some scenes are truly boring.The only English video release of this film under the title "The Possession of Virginia" has been heavily censored.However I have seen an uncut French version of "Satan's Sabbath".So if you are a fan of Satanic horror sub-genre you may give this one a chance.I was a bit disappointed,though.5 out of 10.
4 Reviews
A Satanic Slop-a-Thon
nickyak30 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
After her boss Jack commits suicide, Virginia inherits his antique shop. Paul (a successful journalist) begins to investigate Jack's suicide, he being a close friend to both the deceased and Virginia.
Strange things begin to happen when Paul comes home from work and gives his cat a bowl of milk; the cat dies, apparently the victim of poisoning. A local animal shelter comes by to collect the cat's corpse and perform an autopsy, but when Paul heads down to the shelter for the results, they assure him no one had come by to pick up the cat. Despite the milk-poisoning attempt on his life, it doesn't stop Paul from making himself a sandwich and letting Virginia have a sip of booze when she comes over to visit (the booze nearly kills her until Paul makes her barf in the toilet). And still, no clearance of anything else in Paul's fridge or liquor cabinet.
And so begins the mind-numbing satanic melodrama that is THE POSSESSION OF VIRGINIA, a seldom-seen 1971 Canadian production that's available on several online rarity sites (the copy reviewed here is quite good and comes from Luminous Film and Video Works, www.lfvw.com).
In my never-ending quest to see every Exorcist rip-off AND possession-themed film, THE POSSESSION OF VIRGINIA was said to be among the rarest of them all (although in this wonderful Internet age, I found a copy 40 seconds after reading this statement on a review site).
Paul manages to get his hands on the police photos of Jack's suicide (he had jumped out of his apartment's window) and has a photographer at the paper he works at enlarge them. A mysterious old woman is seen in all the photos, as well as a couple of clues that are found a bit later when Virginia herself is found hung in a local church's stairwell (and after having to hear her attempt to sing opera while making breakfast, I actually welcomed her death).
But enough investigating for now; a friend of Paul invites him out to get his mind off Paul's suicide, and we're taken to a trippy early-70s pot party where Paul meets a famous pianist. They hit things off and we're soon treated to a tedious sequence (at least 20 minutes) of the two falling in love (thank goodness for the fast forward button).
About an hour into the film Paul becomes convinced there's some kind of underground network out there trying to kill him. Before you can say CONSPIRACY Paul finds himself a guest at a Satanic initiation ceremony (why he's let in is anyone's guess) where he witnesses a woman joining the sect to replace the departed Jack. To my non-surprise, it's Virginia (yep her suicide was an elaborately-staged hoax).
Jack goes home and doesn't seem surprised to find the mysterious old woman from the aforementioned photographs sleeping in his bed. After checking her pulse, he turns to leave the room, giving her just enough time to spring up and jab a long knife into his back.
We then discover everyone in Paul's life (including his new pianist girlfriend) were part of the coven Jack had abandoned.
With an opening credit sequence that's as annoying (and almost as long) as the one in SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978), English overdubbing despite the actors speaking in English, horrendous 70s fashions (turtle neck alert!) and acting bad enough to make Ed Wood proud, THE POSSESSION OF VIRGINIA is a sloppy Satanic mess that I'm sure most Canadian horror fans wish the rest of the world would forget, especially since it has NOTHING to do with possession.
Strange things begin to happen when Paul comes home from work and gives his cat a bowl of milk; the cat dies, apparently the victim of poisoning. A local animal shelter comes by to collect the cat's corpse and perform an autopsy, but when Paul heads down to the shelter for the results, they assure him no one had come by to pick up the cat. Despite the milk-poisoning attempt on his life, it doesn't stop Paul from making himself a sandwich and letting Virginia have a sip of booze when she comes over to visit (the booze nearly kills her until Paul makes her barf in the toilet). And still, no clearance of anything else in Paul's fridge or liquor cabinet.
And so begins the mind-numbing satanic melodrama that is THE POSSESSION OF VIRGINIA, a seldom-seen 1971 Canadian production that's available on several online rarity sites (the copy reviewed here is quite good and comes from Luminous Film and Video Works, www.lfvw.com).
In my never-ending quest to see every Exorcist rip-off AND possession-themed film, THE POSSESSION OF VIRGINIA was said to be among the rarest of them all (although in this wonderful Internet age, I found a copy 40 seconds after reading this statement on a review site).
Paul manages to get his hands on the police photos of Jack's suicide (he had jumped out of his apartment's window) and has a photographer at the paper he works at enlarge them. A mysterious old woman is seen in all the photos, as well as a couple of clues that are found a bit later when Virginia herself is found hung in a local church's stairwell (and after having to hear her attempt to sing opera while making breakfast, I actually welcomed her death).
But enough investigating for now; a friend of Paul invites him out to get his mind off Paul's suicide, and we're taken to a trippy early-70s pot party where Paul meets a famous pianist. They hit things off and we're soon treated to a tedious sequence (at least 20 minutes) of the two falling in love (thank goodness for the fast forward button).
About an hour into the film Paul becomes convinced there's some kind of underground network out there trying to kill him. Before you can say CONSPIRACY Paul finds himself a guest at a Satanic initiation ceremony (why he's let in is anyone's guess) where he witnesses a woman joining the sect to replace the departed Jack. To my non-surprise, it's Virginia (yep her suicide was an elaborately-staged hoax).
Jack goes home and doesn't seem surprised to find the mysterious old woman from the aforementioned photographs sleeping in his bed. After checking her pulse, he turns to leave the room, giving her just enough time to spring up and jab a long knife into his back.
We then discover everyone in Paul's life (including his new pianist girlfriend) were part of the coven Jack had abandoned.
With an opening credit sequence that's as annoying (and almost as long) as the one in SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978), English overdubbing despite the actors speaking in English, horrendous 70s fashions (turtle neck alert!) and acting bad enough to make Ed Wood proud, THE POSSESSION OF VIRGINIA is a sloppy Satanic mess that I'm sure most Canadian horror fans wish the rest of the world would forget, especially since it has NOTHING to do with possession.
Dawdles until the last reel
ofumalow21 July 2021
This is a somewhat mild and disinterested supernatural "thriller" that seems more interested in providing a little nudity and a groovy vibe until it wakes up towards the end. The acting is above average (and I even liked the rather flat, nonchalant English dubbing), the main performers (who went on to significant careers) are attractive, but the film just doesn't take itself seriously enough to create any real atmosphere or tension--every time the sinister "little old lady" turns up, she's treated as whimsically as if she were Miss Marple. The busy soundtrack is a somewhat bewildering music of forward-thinking funk/soul, Francopop, and a lot of other stuff, with the occasional fun scene at a discotheque or party. But generally it's a pleasant, too-sluggish exercise in which clearly all those involved had too much contempt for the genre to care about treating it seriously. My rating would have been a four, but then the climactic Satanic orgy/rite works up quite a froth of psychedelic-erotic excess, and the subsequent double-twist coda provides another real uptick--not enough to redeem the whole film, but enough to send you out smiling.
Effective little Canadian chiller
Serpent-513 November 1999
Pilon (leading man in most Quebec films of the 70's) is caught up in a secret cult that wants him dead. The film is dubbed and contains some gore, but the canadian video print is the TV print so the ending is butched and edited to the point of not making the film any sense. (the film doesn't even have a end credit) This film does have that morbid Canadian feel to it, that gives it a creepy edge.
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