"Magdalena, vom Teufel besessen" is a West German German-language film from 1974, so this one is already over 40 years old. I will spare you all the other German and English titles for this one. I'm m sure you know where to find them. If you take a closer look at the other works by director Boos and writer Rieger, then you already know what to expect here: trash film for the most part. And you would be correct as it is at times embarrassing to see how they were trying to make this a second Exorcist, but it is really only a very poor man's version and I don't even need to have seen this classic (yet) to make such a statement. But back to this one here, it gets especially cringeworthy near the end during the exorcism scene. This is the story of an attractive young woman apparently possessed by an evil spirit and the film is packed with sexual implications, fittingly with Boos' other works. There is just one scene relatively late when the protagonist looks like she is getting raped by an evil force. You don't see genitalia, but it is still all pretty explicit and obscene, never feels as if it makes sense for the story, but really just get the audiences horny. A great body of work was definitely not the reason why lead actress Dagmar Hedrich was cast here, but you can cut the "of work" and you will have the explanation. Her looks are perhaps the only somewhat memorable component of the film. It makes me a bit sad to see actor Rudolf Schündler in here as I quite like him and I believe he was quite a talented actor, which is indicated too by the fact that he appeared actually in "The Exorcist". I guess they must have paid him a lot that he would agree to show up in this embarrassing rip-off. Oh yeah, another positive aspect: I believe somebody got mixed up the duration here. It says 120 minutes on IMDb, but all the versions I found ran for 1 hour and 20 minutes only in fact, so it's definitely good that you don't need to watch another 40 minutes here. But the best is if you skip it altogether. 4 stars out of 10 is probably very much on the generous side. Don't watch.

This indescribably blatant German-produced rip-off of "The Exorcist" is entertaining for literally ALL the wrong reasons! "Magdalena Possessed by the Devil" takes all the qualitatively great elements of William Friedkin's classic horror milestone (like suspense, shock-impact, smart dialogs, complex character drawings, pea soup vomit, etc…) and replaces them with sleaze, sleaze and … more sleaze! But hey, lead actress Dagmar Hedrich is fully curved and several years older than Linda Blair was in "The Exorcist", so at least you don't have to feel like a pervert when watching this. The scenario is incoherent from start to finish and doesn't make one iota of sense most of the time, but seriously who cares when there are copious amounts of gratuitous nudity and perversity to enjoy? The story opens with a young girl in a boarding school getting possessed by evil forces overnight. This appears to be happening automatically following the death of an elderly Satanist. The next morning Magdalena wakes up and says really naughty things to her boarding school teachers and the local priest. The absolute highlight of Magdalena's poetry: "I do want to take communion, but not in my mouth… Stick it right here in my pussy…" Isn't that just the greatest quote you ever heard? Although even the title confirms the theme of satanic possession, the vast majority of the cast persistently continues to look for other motivations to explain Magdalena's unholy behavior. They subject the poor girl to a whole series of medical examinations and one genius even claims Magdalena is just capricious and has a problem with authority. It actually takes up until 47 minutes into the film before someone even briefly mentions the possibility of demonic possession and then it takes another 23 minutes (yes, I did measure with a stopwatch…) until everyone else acknowledges the problem, which leaves very little time to perform the actual exorcism. That's okay, though, because apparently performing an exorcism is just a formality, like getting a tetanus shot or something. "Magdalena Possessed by the devil" totally lacks suspense, atmosphere, action and excitement. However, if it's lewdness and stupidity you seek, this is an absolute must see. 7 out of 10 for sheer entertainment value!

To finish up this review, I simply have to mention these five little trivia elements about "Magdalena" that are too magnificent to ignore. Beware, there will be spoilers, so be advised only to read the following if you have already seen the film. Did you know that: …

1."Magdalena" shamelessly imitates nearly element of "The Exorcist" except for the actual exorcism?

2. When you're possessed by the Devil, flies are constantly buzzing around your head

3. You can hypnotize the Devil

4. Contrary to popular belief, the art of exorcism can be practiced by an ordinary doctor just as well as by a prominent priest and it really only takes a couple of minutes

5. The Devil is a tiny black snake you can easily crush underneath your shoe.

I saw this film under the title Magdalena and enjoyed it for what it is. Most complaints can be answered the same way.

Magdalena is a stupid film - Yeah, it's by the guy who made the Schoolgirl Report films.

The horror element is weak - Yeah, it's by the guy who made the Schoolgirl Report films.

The film is unmemorable - Yeah, it's by the guy who made the Schoolgirl Report films.

The film is technically inept - Yeah, it's by the guy who made the Schoolgirl Report films.

There are only two questions one needs to know the answers to. Does Magdalena deliver on the exploitation goodies? Yes. Is it boring? No. I don't know what else to write. The girl gets possessed, kicks at invisible dogs, plays the piano naked, gets men to kill for her, and vomits up a plastic snake. Good times!