Movie Review: In ‘Asmodexia,’ Evil Infects Souls Like a Plague

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jeannette Catsoulis

Lluís Marco plays a pastor whose mission is to rid afflicted souls of an ancient demon. Credit IFC Midnight

HOLLYWOOD---“Asmodexia” is a movie about demonic possession, and its visuals hint at what the inside of an infected mind might contain. Ragged addicts scrabble in shadows like dusty lepers, and insane, emaciated women terrorize their caregivers in a comfortless psychiatric hospital. The look is stark, and the colors are drained, the whole washed in an eerie, echoing sound design of plinking pianos and ghostly choirs. The atmosphere of rack and ruin is so strong that it takes a while to notice that the story (by the Spanish director Marc Carreté and Mike Hostench) is steeped in silliness — a detail that’s hardly unique in horror movies. Here, though, we have the twin consolations of Xavi Garriga’s dehydrated cinematography and Mónica Murguia’s smashing makeup effects. [link]

ASMODEXIA 
Opens on Friday 
Directed by Marc Carreté 
In Spanish, with English subtitles 
1 hour 21 minutes; not rated