Better Late Then Never

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Considering the very varied state of my 'composite' print of this and the fact that most of it takes place between the same four walls and for the most part a two hander, it is pretty remarkable I saw this through. The fact is that despite the degraded print and the limited storyline still the servant enthusiasm of the notorious Renato Polselli shines through. This is, indeed, no Delirium or Black Magic Rites but Rita Caldroni is great in the central role and with and without clothes helps to keep this delirious little oddity together. Polselli aficionados will not be surprised at the sight of goldfish bowls, coloured lights flashing and near naked hippies with body paint swaying irrelevantly after about the one hour mark. There is some attempt at humour that passed me by, some political swipes at the 'capitalist system' and more surprising an extended poke at the church with a cannibal rant with obvious catholic references. I'm not sure quite who I would recommend this to but I enjoyed it and am confident it will slip into my own personal 'Acid Erotica' film genre.

Although there is a crime committed in the Second Truth of Satan and the plot does deal with the disposal of a body, this is a dark comedy not a giallo. The plot has Diana (Rita Calderoni), a spoiled rich girl, driving her boyfriend to suicide. He kills himself and hopes to frame her for his "murder." Instead of calling the police, Diana attempts to hide the body. Unfortunately, for her, a passerby has seen the body and is going to blackmail her. . . kind-of. I say kind-of because this bizarre individual, a ham actor playing a ham actor, is more interested in eating eggs and baffling Diana (and the viewer) than obtaining money or favors from her. Eventually, Diana's secretary shows up and nude hippies soon follow (!).Almost all of the film is set in the apartment of the dead man. Despite this, the visual style keeps the viewer from getting claustrophobic. The film features the oddball camera angles and bright flashing colors one would expect from director Renato Polselli. The downside is that the film is not funny. This is not a small problem. Still, I was not bored by The Second Truth of Satan even if it was a far cry from Delerium or Black Magic Rites/The Reincarnation of Isabel.I cannot speak for what was or was not originally in the film. The print I saw (from Video Screams) had a fair amount of nudity but no sex that I can recall, either simulated or explicit. To be honest, I would rather have had the laughs.

"La Verita Secondo Satana" was produced by Renato Polselli's own company G.R.P. Cinematografica.The film was originally titled "The Gospel by Satan".A beautiful Rita Calderoni believes she has driven her lover to suicide.According to Jay Slater because of the word gospel in the title "La Verita Secondo Satana" was instantly accused of blasphemy and its distribution was very limited.Once considered a lost title Polselli's film was broadcast on the smallest Italian television networks during the early 80s.To bypass censorship and distribution hassles Polselli shot three different versions and although the movie was released five times during the 70s the director added new footage to each print,while deleted certain scenes.The hardest print of "La Verita Secondo Satana" features a close-up of the female orgasm.To achieve this Polselli filmed the actress's face,body and pubic region in extreme detail as the female orgasm is less evident than the male.I'd love to see Polselli's "Delitto al Luna Park" from 1952,because it's considered the first Italian giallo ever made.

Contains Spoilers What a masterpiece offers Polselli with this film! A man (isarco ravaioli) wants to commit suicide due the coldheartness and egoism of his fiancee, played by Rita Calderoni (with short hair!) After he "plays" a few times russian roulette without the intentioned effect.., he calls Calderoni and tells her he wants to kill himself, she visits him without knowing what awaits her.. the man takes his knife and tortures her a bit with his knife..then he stabs himself in the stomach..and dies..or not?. Rita wants to get rid of the corpse and hides the corpse in a chest. But she gets more problems when she notices a man from her window who has seen everything. the crazy man (as if he came from an italian comedy) is a wacky guy, who seems to take everything cool and not serious is invited to come in and starts to play the sadist..he throws some meatpieces on rita´s nude body just to feed the dog, and after that when Calderonis "slave", a black woman visits them, commands her to whip calderoni. after this, calderoni wants to make it that the black woman was the murder, but the woman(her personal "plaything" by the way..) has no interest to help her.. Rita starts to get crazy and thinks the corpse has disappeared and has just drugged her to fool her..another time she sees the corpes in the bathtub instead of the chest. While all this happens , meanwhile some hippies have gathered together in the living room and dance to some beat (excellent music by the way!) one of them explains their life philosophy regarding the trouble with the corpse: "This is not our world, or world is love..."(!!) .Finally Rita and the man have the idea to cook the corpse and then cut it in pieces. but they don´t really do it.. Suddenly (Surprise!) the "dead" man appears and quite alive! The man has just simulated his death, and has hired the other guy..both have planed this together. but intended things go into another direction..suddenly the man is then on ritas sides and explains he loves her and now wants to protect her. At the End he kills him(..and this time he´s really dead). Rita, actually not very thankfull for this deed, simply wants to call the police. the man then says: "It´s to cold for me in this room..,i have to get out here" (Meaning the coldheartness of Rita) and joins then the hippies in the living room!!!Polselli said that severall versions should have been made of "La Verita Secondo Satana", also with x-rated scenes (and that is not really a surprise if you see Polselli´s "Oscenita"..). Watching the (unfortunately) uncomplete and heavily cut version of LA Verita Secondo SAtana in german language, shows some alternative scenes fragments.. for example in this version, the dance scenes with the hippies dont appear at all, instead of it: very short fragments of a mass orgy this seems heavily cut and is very possible hardcore in the original version , but these scenes don´t appear at all in the "uncut" version of the italian version.