La Endemoniada on AllMovie

Spanish horror director Amando De Ossorio (creator of the Blind Dead trilogy) helmed this derivative but fairly creepy variant on The Exorcist. The story begins with a deranged hag attempting to kidnap an infant for a Satanic sacrificial rite, then committing suicide after being captured by the police. The woman's evil spirit then takes possession of the police inspector's ten-year-old daughter, who launches into the standard collection of demon-possession symptoms (profanity, levitation, head-spinning, etc.) before physically transforming into a miniature version of the deceased witch. As people begin dying all around her in horrific ways, the demonic brat attempts to steal another child and complete the sacrificial rite -- until a priest steps in to stop her reign of terror. Atmospheric but uncomfortably grim and violent, this film has a particularly pessimistic ending which lends to the overall sense of doom. Released to video as The Possessed.