Pornographic horror movie actress almost committed suicide
A pornographic horror movie almost ended the life of an actress, when she was affected by the role she played.
To this day, this film has all the elements that would make it a reprehensible, even “cancellable” film in the transformative age of social media.
It really is a nasty, bloody and overwhelmingly sexual movie.
We are referring to the film Possession, which was released in 1981 and is still considered one of those must-see cult titles that offer a different take on horror.
Neill felt that this pornographic horror film could not be made today, although he is grateful to have been part of the cast.
“Not many people have seen it and, of those who have, it’s true that many hate it. I myself consider it a masterpiece, albeit a very imperfect one. And I’m not the only one,” admitted the New Zealand actor, adding that ‘nowadays I doubt you’d get away with it.’
The 21st century industry is less and less permissive with abuses and exploitation of actors on the sets, however, these problems have not been completely overcome.
Proof of this are the complaints that are exposed every year.
Currently, the pornographic horror movie industry has made a comeback, especially with the success of the X movies, which will soon release a sequel.
The story of this pornographic horror movie
The story of this pornographic horror film, Possession, centers on Mark (Sam Neill), an internationally renowned spy, whose life takes a dark and complicated turn when his wife, Anna/Helen (Isabelle Adjani), asks him for a divorce.
From this moment on, the woman begins to manifest a disturbing and alarming behavior, as a form of exhibition of being possessed by a demonic entity.
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The film was directed by Andrzej Zulawski, a Polish director who sought to capture the experiences of couples through his controversial feature films.
But this pornographic horror film shows a stance against the authoritarianism and censorship of socialist Poland at the time (under the control of the Soviet Union) and offer a greater understanding of his very peculiar cinema and, especially, of this film, which was released in the context of the Cold War.
“It was a fucking surreal time, we were in Berlin in the middle of the Cold War. It was bizarre,” Neill recalled in an interview with The Independent.
And while he described Andrzej as “genius, but maddening” and a “true cinephile,” he also admitted that he didn’t entirely like him for his “bravado” as a way of guiding his stars.
Prior to his death in 2016, Żuławski addressed Adjani’s suicide attempt.
In a dialogue collected by Sight and Sound Magazine, the filmmaker asks to understand that, in principle, Europe is a different world in cinematographic terms and that Isabelle, as a French star, was “a diva”.
Then, he told that she “went to the bathroom and cut her wrists with a razor that cuts half a millimeter of skin and not much more”.
According to the English magazine I-D, Isabelle Adjani conceptualized this pornographic horror film Possession as “psychological pornography” and a type of project that an artist could only undertake in her youth, because it involved working with a director who “makes you immerse yourself in his world of darkness and his demons.”
The experience was thrilling for her, but that doesn’t erase the trauma it left her with for life.
“I came out bruised, inside and out. It was thrilling to do. I didn’t break any bones, but I wondered how or why I did it. I don’t think any other actress has done two films with him,” she expressed candidly.
At 68, Adjani continues to question whether an actress “is capable of overcoming everything that is inflicted on her.”
Although the veteran actress does not explicitly mention the misogynistic violence she endured for the filming of Possession, she gropes at the consequences it had on her life.
“I consider myself a survivor for many reasons,” she said.