psycho, didnt realise before that Norman Bates is kinda cute! well at least the guy that played him:o

Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)

In a remote convent on the barren plains of 17th-century Poland, a young priest arrives to exorcise the demons from a group of possessed nuns. When he meets the beautiful head of the convent, her blasphemies against the church both repel and excite him, with tragic consequences.

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Based on the same historical events that inspired Ken Russell's 1971 film The Devils, but actually the events of MJOA take place immediately after the "wicked" priest (who was later to be the central male character of THE DEVILS, played by Oliver Reed) has been burned at the stake as a sorcerer, and accuses by the 'possessed' nuns. So, when the film starts the possession and exorcism attempts are already well under way. Given the ten-year gap between the two films, the scenes here of rampaging nuns are nowhere near as explicit as in Russell's film...especially since it mainly concentrates on the man's inner torture and crisis of faith (somewhat like Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal fashion) portrayed with high contrast black and white cinematography.

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Nevertheless the possession & exorcism scenes in the first half are beautifully done, however, with the first revelation of evil being particularly unsettling and brilliantly handled. Even the first meeting between the two main characters is fascinating; black beard and black robe of priest against possessed Mother Joan's pure white habit & headdress…the classic colors of good and evil are actually reversed here.
Overall in MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS the Polish director Jerzy Kawalerowicz showed a disturbing exploration of faith, oppression, and desire. It’s indeed a spellbinding character drama & a highly accomplished piece of film making in its own right.

>>: A

What a great review. I'll have to check this out some time.

Not only as a great film with art house attributes but also I think surely an overlooked gem for the genre fans that they need to give a watch must.:)

I agree, excellent review! Just added it to the queue at Netflix.

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Tomb of Ligeia is perhaps my favorite Corman Poe adaptation. Price is a haunted. tortured soul and it's one of his greatest performances.

I actually thought Tomb Of Ligeia was Roger Corman's weakest Poe adaptation to me it felt too much like a cash in-as though they had very few ideas where to take this film and relied solely on Vincent Price's reputation to get people to watch. The Fall Of The House Of Usher however I felt to be one of the best of them by being superbly macabre and tantalisingly atmospheric.

Well, Ligeia is actually a pretty faithful adaptation of the story, so if you feel it's berift of ideas, you might want to blame Mr. Poe...

Maniac (1963)

Early Hammer horror offering, written by their star Jimmy Sangster and directed by Michael Carreras.

The first 10 minutes includes a rape and a murder by acetaline torch. Not one of Sangster's greatest scripts but worth a watch.