Mario Bianchi (brother of Andrea) gives us an interpretation of his brothers skin and possession flick Malabimba; presented uncut (but lacking any hardcore content) from Severin Films!
FILM- This film, of course, is very similar to Malabimba. However, the plot line has some major differences. Maria Aguilar lies dying, her druggie husband Antonio the murder. Their daughter, Miria, whiteness the final breath of her mother, and becomes hysteric. The truth is, Maria possessed her daughter in her last moments of life, and plans to use her an an instrument for revenge. After being taken to the family crypt, Maria begins her revenge on the doctor, her husband, and even his mute, crippled brother. Again playing the brother's caretaker, Mariangela Giordano stars as a nun, Sol. Instead of a mild Sister like in Malabimba, Sol was having an affair with Maria! Can she free the virginal Miria from her mother's revenge seeking spirit? Or will she fall victim to her one time lover?
Unlike Malabimba, I did know this film came in an XXX form. This version, however, is missing those scenes; but, has enough blood and violence to make it work without them. While we're on the topic of differences, This is less a possession film and more a ghost story (with some zombie carnage thrown in for good measure). While the young daughter is possessed, when it comes time for the revenge, she transforms into her older mother. This really seems to take away from the whole "perverted innocence" feel. The fact that the nun in this version was a lesbian didn't help that either. While the story is similar, Satan's Baby Doll and Malabimba are two very different films. In fact, Satan's Baby Doll feels more like Burial Ground; with it's underground crypts and killer corpse. I'm very curious how the hardcore inserts would have affected this film (the XXX cut was only released on a long OOP German DVD). Overall, this film was far gorier than it's brother film, but with the only fully nude female being the mother Maria (and quite a bit of male nudity to boot), you won't get the erotic feel of Malabimba. I enjoyed each for their own reasons, and with each being so different, I'm not sure which would be "better". With enough gore to replace the lack of T and A, this horror oriented version of Malabimba gets a 7/10.
PICTURE/ AUDIO- This film is very dark, with the last half taking place almost entirely underground. And like any movie watcher knows, dark shots show print damage. Severin really did a nice job with this transfer. While some shots look softer than normal, and some mild grit is apparent, the picture looks fantastic. 8/10.
Same as Malabimba, Satan's Baby Doll is in Italian with spot on English subs. Unlike it's companion, this audio is mild. It sounds very soft in some places that I would expect it to be loud. It's not volume fading, it's just soft sounding. One thing I must admit is this is one amazing soundtrack. It reminds me of early Goblin, which is fantastic. While not as loud as I would have hoped, this is still a good transfer (the only non Italian language release being the previously mentioned German DVD, but it had no subs at all). 7/10.
EXTRAS- Kinda lacking in this department, but enough to make this a reasonably priced release. Severin has included the theatrical trailer, as well as a featurette- Exorcism of Baby Doll. This is an interview with director Mario Bianchi, and it's really cool to the the less popular Bianchi get his time in the limelight. 6/10.
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Also, check out the review for Malabimba! Some call this a remake of that film, but I'll let you be the judge.
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