Don't Deliver Us from Evil
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Anne and Lore are two barely pubescent teens who attend a Catholic Boarding school. While seeming sweet, well behaved, and innocent from all appearances, the two have actually devoted themselves to Satan. While they are at school, the two intentionally 'sin' as often as possible without getting caught. They steal clothing and religious reliquaries in order to use in future Satanic rituals, the confess sins which they haven't committed, they spy on the nuns, and they read transgressive literature [Les Chants de Maldoror] under their covers once everybody else is asleep. Their life at the boarding school is a constant joke to them, and they giggle at everybody else's misfortunes and the fact they are getting away with so much sin. Once summer break comes, their activities begin to get a little more serious." [1] "Aujourd’hui, vendredi 29 juin, bonne journée. J’ai fait punir Céline Crespin à ma place alors que c’était moi qui avais chahuté. Dimanche elle sera privée de sortie. À notre professeur, l’abbé Dupré, j’ai confessé deux pêchés d’impureté que je n’avais pas commis. Cela devient de plus en plus excitant. Lore et moi éprouvons maintenant un plaisir de plus en plus intense à faire le mal. Pêcher est devenu notre principal objectif. Comme d’autres, des crétins, passent leur vie sous le signe de la vertu, Lore et moi le passons sous le signe de Satan, notre seigneur et maître."--incipit Don't Deliver Us from Evil (1971) by Joël Séria |
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Don't Deliver Us from Evil (original title: Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal) is a 1971 French film directed by Joël Séria. It is loosely based on the Parker–Hulme murder case of 1954.
In some countries, the film was banned upon its release. It is featured in Film as a Subversive Art.
Plot
Two young convent girls named Anne and Lore become friends and decide to spend the summer together. At the convent school they take a vow to do evil. Over summer vacation, left to their own devices, they become more and more demented.
Anne de Boissy and Lore Fournier are two adolescent Angevin girls who stay at a Catholic boarding school. Both have affluent and conservative families living in the countryside and on becoming friends and later lovers, the two decide to join forces in their malicious rebellion. When Anne's parents take a long trip and leave Anne behind during summer vacation, Lore starts to stay with Anne at her château. They play some malicious games on two men: releasing the cows of the cowsherd Émile as well as setting fire to his home, and killing the pet birds of the mentally challenged gardener Léon. They store sacramental bread from church and prepare the abandoned chapel at the château for a mock marriage ceremony in which they dedicate themselves to Satan. One night, they meet a motorist who ran out of gasoline and invite him to the château. The girls seduce the man and when he attempts to rape Lore, he is killed by Anne. When a detective is sent and he finds clues linking them to the murder, the pair is convinced that the man's body will be discovered and immolate themselves at a recital while reading poems by Baudelaire.
Cast
- Jeanne Goupil as Anne
- Catherine Wagener as Lore
- Bernard Dhéran as motorist
- Gérard Darrieu as Émile
- Marc Dudicourt as almoner
- Michel Robin as Léon
- Véronique Silver as the Countess
- Jean-Pierre Helbert as the Count
- Nicole Mérouze as Mrs. Fournier
- Henri Poirier as Mr Fournier
- Serge Frédéric as priest
- René Berthier as Gustave
- Frédéric Nort
- Jean-Daniel Ehrmann
See also
- Folie a deux
- Antony Balch
- List of Mondo Macabro releases
- List of films from Film as a Subversive Art
