I've watched so many damn movies on DVD and Video that it's hard for me to rent or buy a film I haven't seen. I actually get depressed at the video store thinking, I wish I'd never seen Night Moves or My Man Godfrey or Born to Kill or He Ran All the Way or Pretty Poison so I could enjoy that feeling of discovery again. Like when I finally saw Cisco Pike on the big screen or when I tracked down a copy of Nicolas Ray's Bigger than Life on Ebay--I was in movie heaven.

So I was more than excited, I was almost dumbstruck when a recent film not only impressed me but threw me for a loop.

The dramatically titled, Don't Deliver Us From Evil is the discovery--a 1971 French picture that's so artistic, so subversive, so poignant, so perverse so...freakishly lovable, I've already watched the thing four times. And I've made others watch it. And drove everyone crazy talking about it since I kept bringing it up before (released in a lovingly restored, extra-laden Uncut Special Edition from Mondo Macabro) its March 28 street date. Now that it's out, for the love all that is demonic, buy it.

Never released in the United States and "banned" for blasphemy, the masterful movie presents a wonderfully deceiving package. The story of two teenage convent girls who "dedicate ourselves to Satan" could have been some dippy horror movie--a T&A fest with demons and multiple slayings and loads of sex (I know, you've probably lost interest...just stick with me). It could have been one of those '70s horror films that make you run for the shower directly upon watching because even your soul feels soiled. Which isn't a terrible thing.

But that's not what Don't Deliver Us From Evil is going for. It's really about the obsessive nature of female friendship, of living in a boring world filled with hypocrisy, of becoming fueled by literature and the forbidden and all the stuff that's so intense when you're 15.

Inspired by the original Heavenly Creatures, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hammond, the two girls whose close friendship resulted in murder (and Peter Jackson's lovely film), the film studies female friendship that twists into Sapphic love, sadism and death. More subversive than Heavenly Creatures, first time director Joel Sera's considers blasphemous ideas and sequences with heroines who not only spit out their Communion wafers and turn on Priests but who giddily spy on Nuns making out in locked rooms.

Gorgeous raven-haired Anne (Jeanne Goupi--who is something to behold) and her best friend Lore (Catherine Wagener), are two beautiful but curious (yes, curious) girls marking their time at Catholic School by sneaking into bed with each other and reading erotic literature under the sheets. They're especially fascinated by evil, which, isn't that strange considering their Catholic environment. But when they renounce Jesus Christ and all his works to become baby brides of Satan, they one-up the typical Catholic schoolgirl sacreligious naughtiness.

On Summer break, the girls stick together, staying at Anne's parents home while her family is conveniently away. They ride bikes and flit around in those short cotton summer dresses every guy wishes for when the sun comes out and laugh. They laugh a lot. For two Satanists they're, really, pretty damn adorable. No manic panic hair, PVC mini-skirts, cheap fetish boots and annoying, grim expressions for these girls. These are not your standard boring Goth chicks. They're enjoying evil. So much that they put together a nifty black mass Martha Stewart would be proud of in an abandoned chapel connected to the house. With the dim groundskeeper serving as "Priest," they seal their Satanic deal. Rowing a boat back to the house, the girl's drive the groundskeeper crazy, especially when he can see through their cotton Communion gear.

And the girls really get off on torturing men. Not in any predatory sexual way since, they seem to hate men and only love each other, but with abject, albeit adorable sadism (yes, I just said, adorable sadism). But they push it too far. First they tease a cow herder and he almost rapes Lore. Then, they kill the groundskeeper's bird (a truly startling scene) and laugh at the poor man when he weeps over one of his only companions. Then they take in a stranded motorist and strip to their panties and...well, the guy is not about to take no for an answer.

If this all sounds like a bunch of exploitative crap, I assure you it's not. Filmed with a painterly touch, the picture boasts beautiful cinematography from the pastoral shots in the country, to the lanterns lighting a night time boat ride to the unforgettable, disturbed final scene which, I can't discuss. To ruin the surprise and extra impact the final scene conjures would be a crime. And it will leave an impact.

The acting is also impressive, with natural, sympathetic leads who, though legal, do not appear anywhere near 18. It's disturbing to watch a girl who looks like she could use a few more years to, well, develop getting her clothes torn off. And yet oddly, these actresses never feel like they're taken advantage of. Since this story is for them, and really, for anyone questioning faith and rules, the director has a deeper aim than mere titillation. And while I've discussed a lot of sexy moments, the picture never revels in sex and violence (it's almost bloodless in fact). Really, it's about teenagers alienated by their parents and sharing, like last year's superb movie that also seems inspired by this picture, an especially twisted My Summer of Love.

But it's certainly disturbing. I love movies that are able to crawl under your skin and almost make you feel guilty--complicit even--with the character's intentions. Though there's a lot of sacreligious imagery and the director is clearly giving the Church a big, fat middle finger, the general ambiance of the movie is unsettling. But in an intoxicating, magical way. You really fall in love with these girls. And that, quite simply (and subversively), makes you feel evil. 

Read More Kim Morgan at her blog Sunset Gun .

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