This is an awesome nun-sploitation flick that every horror fan needs to see.
Alucarda
A Review by Rob
Starring: Claudio Brook(Esperanza), Tina Romero(The Bride of the Sea), Susana Kamini(Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary), David Silva(La Mansion de la Locura)
Directed by: Juan Lopez Moctezuma
The Movie:
Juan Lopez Moctezuma is famous in the international horror scene primarily for the 3 genre films he made in the 70’s. ‘Le Mansion de Locura’ (‘Dr. Tarr’s Torture Dungeon’)(1971), an Edgar Allen Poe adaptation, ‘Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1974), a Hollywood co-production and ‘Alucarda, la Hija de las Tinieblas’ (‘Alucarda, The Daughter of Darkness’) (1975), thankfully shortened now to simply ‘Alucarda’. He made several films after ‘Alucarda’ with an interesting sounding one coming in 1993 entitled, ‘El Alimento del Miedo’ (‘The Food of Fear’), which was based on a true story of a woman in the 50’s or 60’s caught selling tamales with human flesh as an ingredient. ‘Alucarda’ has been released under a few different titles as many older, foreign horror films have including; ‘Sisters of Satan’, ‘Innocents From Hell’ and ‘Mark of the Devil 3’.
The film opens with a baby being born in a hay strewn crypt, there are no mangers in this one. The mother immediately gives the newborn to an old man and instructs him to take Alucarda away so that “He” will not get her. Now the woman who has just given birth is alone in the crypt with no sign of blood anywhere, there’s more than enough later, with all manner of bizarre Fulci-like sound effects going on around her. The first of many blood-curling screams is loosed and we’re off. Fast forward some years later and enter Justine, a young woman who’s parents have just been killed being brought to her new home in a convent set in the peaceful forested countryside. A nun, adorned in her white, blood-stained robe, shows Justine to her bed where her roomy suddenly appears and introduces herself as Alucarda.
Alucarda whips out a jar full of bugs and tells Justine she wants to show her how small creatures love each other and brings her outside. After a quick inspection of a pair of spider looking things they commence to frolicking in the grass. Chasing each other, giggling and laughing hysterically, eventually rolling around in the grass for a bit. They meet a strange peddler in the woods selling pendants to ward off demons and eventually come to the very same crypt where Alucarda was born. After that all Hell breaks loose, literally.
The opening sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the movie which is unrelenting in its debauchery. At only 74 minutes long it all comes fast and furious and ends up offering judicious amounts of blood, a satanic ritual orgy, lesbianism, vampirism, masochism and pretty much anything else you can put an ism after. Did I mention there is a lot of screaming? I mean a lot of screaming. Mostly for no apparent reason although being in the nightmare of a convent that Moctezuma creates is reason enough I guess. The reason for the blood-stained nun habits is explained in a pretty shocking scene but actually it’s right at home in a movie filled with shocking scenes and visuals.
Moctezumas’ sets are very ornate and much attention to detail was paid. In this respect they seem very reminiscent of Dario Argento just a bit smaller in scale. The first time I watched it I was struck with how he filmed much like it was a play with the camera stationary and the actors entering and exiting stage left and right. The sets also have a theatre quality to them in how they were decorated. This became understandable after watching the documentary and learning that Moctezuma got his start in theatre as an actor himself.
I recommend this to any horror fan. I laughed as much as I felt uneasy. It’s got an almost naïve feel to all the evil that is being portrayed but really it’s not naïve at all it’s just the directors ability to make it all look like a fairy tale which is the same kind of feeling I get from a Hammer film if you can relate to that. Very fast-paced and loaded with sights not soon forgotten if it were any longer I might have felt guilty for enjoying it so damn much.
Picture:
It’s a new digital transfer from the negative and it looks great. Artifacts aside it’s very vibrant and colorful.
Sound:
The English is in stereo and the Spanish mix is in mono. The sound effects are so bizarre I can’t imagine what it would sound like if mixed in 5.1 properly.
Extras:
The extras are interesting but short. Still there is quite a bit of information to be gleaned. They consist of a theatrical trailer, a documentary – Juan Lopez Moctezuma: A Cultured Maverick, an interview with Guillermo Del Toro where he talks about how Moctezuma was one of his inspirations among other things and a stills gallery which doesn’t contain much but the few that are there are some of the more bizarre shots to be found in the movie.
Packaging:
The box art is typical Mondo Macabro cheesiness with no booklet inside. Don’t let it fool you though this is pure 70’s horror gold.
Movie:
4 of 5
DVD:
3 of 5
Alucarda
A Review by Rob
Starring: Claudio Brook(Esperanza), Tina Romero(The Bride of the Sea), Susana Kamini(Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary), David Silva(La Mansion de la Locura)
Directed by: Juan Lopez Moctezuma
The Movie:
Juan Lopez Moctezuma is famous in the international horror scene primarily for the 3 genre films he made in the 70’s. ‘Le Mansion de Locura’ (‘Dr. Tarr’s Torture Dungeon’)(1971), an Edgar Allen Poe adaptation, ‘Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1974), a Hollywood co-production and ‘Alucarda, la Hija de las Tinieblas’ (‘Alucarda, The Daughter of Darkness’) (1975), thankfully shortened now to simply ‘Alucarda’. He made several films after ‘Alucarda’ with an interesting sounding one coming in 1993 entitled, ‘El Alimento del Miedo’ (‘The Food of Fear’), which was based on a true story of a woman in the 50’s or 60’s caught selling tamales with human flesh as an ingredient. ‘Alucarda’ has been released under a few different titles as many older, foreign horror films have including; ‘Sisters of Satan’, ‘Innocents From Hell’ and ‘Mark of the Devil 3’.
The film opens with a baby being born in a hay strewn crypt, there are no mangers in this one. The mother immediately gives the newborn to an old man and instructs him to take Alucarda away so that “He” will not get her. Now the woman who has just given birth is alone in the crypt with no sign of blood anywhere, there’s more than enough later, with all manner of bizarre Fulci-like sound effects going on around her. The first of many blood-curling screams is loosed and we’re off. Fast forward some years later and enter Justine, a young woman who’s parents have just been killed being brought to her new home in a convent set in the peaceful forested countryside. A nun, adorned in her white, blood-stained robe, shows Justine to her bed where her roomy suddenly appears and introduces herself as Alucarda.
Alucarda whips out a jar full of bugs and tells Justine she wants to show her how small creatures love each other and brings her outside. After a quick inspection of a pair of spider looking things they commence to frolicking in the grass. Chasing each other, giggling and laughing hysterically, eventually rolling around in the grass for a bit. They meet a strange peddler in the woods selling pendants to ward off demons and eventually come to the very same crypt where Alucarda was born. After that all Hell breaks loose, literally.
The opening sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the movie which is unrelenting in its debauchery. At only 74 minutes long it all comes fast and furious and ends up offering judicious amounts of blood, a satanic ritual orgy, lesbianism, vampirism, masochism and pretty much anything else you can put an ism after. Did I mention there is a lot of screaming? I mean a lot of screaming. Mostly for no apparent reason although being in the nightmare of a convent that Moctezuma creates is reason enough I guess. The reason for the blood-stained nun habits is explained in a pretty shocking scene but actually it’s right at home in a movie filled with shocking scenes and visuals.
Moctezumas’ sets are very ornate and much attention to detail was paid. In this respect they seem very reminiscent of Dario Argento just a bit smaller in scale. The first time I watched it I was struck with how he filmed much like it was a play with the camera stationary and the actors entering and exiting stage left and right. The sets also have a theatre quality to them in how they were decorated. This became understandable after watching the documentary and learning that Moctezuma got his start in theatre as an actor himself.
I recommend this to any horror fan. I laughed as much as I felt uneasy. It’s got an almost naïve feel to all the evil that is being portrayed but really it’s not naïve at all it’s just the directors ability to make it all look like a fairy tale which is the same kind of feeling I get from a Hammer film if you can relate to that. Very fast-paced and loaded with sights not soon forgotten if it were any longer I might have felt guilty for enjoying it so damn much.
Picture:
It’s a new digital transfer from the negative and it looks great. Artifacts aside it’s very vibrant and colorful.
Sound:
The English is in stereo and the Spanish mix is in mono. The sound effects are so bizarre I can’t imagine what it would sound like if mixed in 5.1 properly.
Extras:
The extras are interesting but short. Still there is quite a bit of information to be gleaned. They consist of a theatrical trailer, a documentary – Juan Lopez Moctezuma: A Cultured Maverick, an interview with Guillermo Del Toro where he talks about how Moctezuma was one of his inspirations among other things and a stills gallery which doesn’t contain much but the few that are there are some of the more bizarre shots to be found in the movie.
Packaging:
The box art is typical Mondo Macabro cheesiness with no booklet inside. Don’t let it fool you though this is pure 70’s horror gold.
Movie:
4 of 5
DVD:
3 of 5
