The Demoniacs (Fr: Les Démoniaques) is a 1974 erotic horror film directed by Jean Rollin.
A gang of Salvage Pirates rape the two sole survivors of a shipwreck. The violated girls meet a clown who guides them to a Gnostic priest who holds the secret to securing the Devil’s services for their revenge. But in order to get the Devil's help, they’ll each have to sleep with him, which will free him from his prison. But despite the violence they have just endured, the women are determined to do whatever it takes and soon, they’re transformed into "démoniaques" and venture back to deliver their brutal justice.
Contains examples of:
- Accordion to Most Sailors: Many of the scenes in the sailors' cafe have an accordion playing in the background.
- Blood from the Mouth: Paul dies from dropping a giant glass carboy on his head. Before he dies, he coughs up blood that splatters on the inside of the glass.
- Crucified Hero Shot: At the end of the film, the pirates have tied the two women naked to the ribs of a wrecked boat. Although one of them escapes, but the other dies and is still tied there as the wreck vanishes under the incoming tide. With her arms tied to the ribs and the angle of the wreck, she looks like Christ hanging on the cross.
- Deal with the Devil: Two women who survive being raped by Salvage Pirates make a literal deal with the Devil to gain the power to take revenge on their attackers.
- Dramatic Drop: When the two supposedly dead girls enter the tavern, the waitress Monique drops a tray of beer mugs.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: During their scuffle in the tavern, the Captain attempts to gut Le Bosco with a broken bottle.
- Hookers and Blow: The morning after they loot the wreck, the wreckers are at the local tavern celebrating with wine and whores.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: The Captain and Tina have sex on some very uncomfortable looking rocks above the beach where they have just caused a shipwreck, while a storm is threatening.
- Pistol-Whipping: Bosco slugs one of the girls from the shipwreck quite brutally over the head with the butt of pistol, more than once.
- Portmantitle: "Demonic"+"Maniac"
- Rape and Revenge: Two women who survive being raped by Salvage Pirates make a Deal with the Devil to gain the power to take revenge on their attackers.
- Salvage Pirates: At the end of the 19th century, on the north European coasts, live four shipwreckers simply nicknamed the "wreckers" who lure ships on to the rocks, steal their cargo and murder any survivors.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Devil (or perhaps just a devil; the script is unclear) has been trapped in the ruins of an ancient cathedral for a century; guarded by a priest and a clown (It Makes Just As Much Sense In Context). He can only be released if a virtuous woman agrees to have sex with him in exchange for the power to gain revenge. The two women raped by the Salvage Pirates agree to do so. However, despite multiple warnings that freeing him will unleash his dark power upon the land, the devil doesn't actually do anything evil once released.
- Sexy Jester: The mysterious Clown who guides the girls to the priest in the cursed ruins is played by sexy French actress Mireille Dargent wearing red tights, a semi-transparent shirt, clown makeup and a red clown wig.
- The Speechless: After trauma of the rape, the two girls are struck dumb, but are able to convey their acceptance of the terms of the Deal with the Devil through drawings.
- Talking with Signs: The girls are rendered mute after their attack, when the priest asks what their goal is, they convey that they wish to kill their attackers by drawing skull and crossbones in the dirt in front of him.
- Would Hit a Girl: The wreckers have no problem brutally bashing and raping the girls from the shipwreck. Later the Captain repeatedly slaps Tina across the face the prevent her from entering the cursed ruins.
