Inquisition

 Inquisition

1976

Director- Paul Naschy

Cast- Paul Naschy, Daniela Giordano, Mónica Randall, Ricardo Merino, Tony Isbert, Julia Saly, Antonio Iranzo, Juan Luis Galiardo,

From Spain

            Paul Naschy plays Bernard de Fossey, an inquisition judge traveling through a plague ravaged land to find and execute witches. Like most movies of this type, the inquisitor is far worse than whatever supernatural terrors they are trying to root out. The first half of this movie follows the same formula as most of these other films; the inquisition arrives in town, beautiful girls are erroneously accused of being witches, they are tortured and finally executed. Compared to Mark of the Devil, the torture scenes in this film are quite tame. However, what it lacks in gore it makes up for with gratuitous nudity.

            The second half of the film, though, takes a different direction and helps it to stand out against some of the earlier films that it imitates. Bernard (Naschy) becomes infatuated with Catherine (Daniela Giordano), the beautiful daughter of a dying village nobleman. He convinces the nobleman to give him guardianship of Catherine and her sister, Elvire (Julia Saly). Naschy fans will recognize Julia as the Bathoryeaque vampire from Night of the Werewolf and also costarring with Naschy in The Beast and the Magic Sword. You might also recognize her from the excellent Night of the Seagulls.

           One impediment to Bernard’s romantic progress (besides his inconvenient holy vows) is the fact that Catherine has a boyfriend. Her boyfriend gets himself murdered and Catherine is convinced that Bernard is behind it.

It is at this point that the film starts to venture into new territory. Most inquisition films have witch hunters but no actual witches. However, Catherine, who is definitely not a witch at the start of the film, seeks out a witch and the Devil as her only recourse. She visits a local witch and the portrayal of the “witchcraft” is actually probably pretty accurate. The spells consist of potions and ointments that send Catherine into a trance where she attends a Black Mass attended by Satan himself (also played by Naschy). Of course, whether any of this actually happens or is just a product of drug induced hallucinations is for the viewer to determine.

            Emboldened by her recently bestowed Satanic power, Catherine sets out to seduce and destroy Bernard and frame him in the eyes of the inquisition as a Satanist himself. This is one of Naschy’s best villains and you can’t wait to see him get his just deserts! Naschy’s portrayal of a fallen clergyman is convincing and subtle (for this type of film). He goes from imperious to love stricken to finally pathetic and broken.

            This is a fun film for fans of Paul Naschy or inquisition movies. Though formulaic at times, it veers off the path enough to keep it interesting and entertaining. The idea of the inquisition actually driving people to witchcraft is pretty clever. The film is not as sophisticated as Ken Russell’s The Devils and lacks the charm that Vincent Price brought to Witchfinder General. But it is literate enough to rise above the typical exploitation movie. One of Nachy’s better non-werewolf films.

Horror Rises from the Tomb

Horror Rises from the Tomb

1972

Director- Carlos Aured

Cast- Paul Naschy, Emma Cohen, Helga Liné, Víctor Alcázar, Cristina Suriani, Betsabé Ruiz

From Spain

            

       This movie has one of the best titles ever. It’s cheesey and scary at the same time, which sort of sums up this movie. This film is also the best (or worst, depending on your view) example of the Spanish exploitation horror films of the 1970s. First, there is lots of unnecessary nudity and when the beautiful girls (of which there are many) aren’t naked, they are wearing pointlessly revealing outfits. Second, the gore is bright red and very little is left off screen to the imagination. And third, there are very few rules as to how the story should play out. One minute it’s a ghost story and the next it’s a zombie siege. In short, this movie is very entertaining.

            

       The story begins in the middle ages with the execution of two evil aristocrats; Alaric de Marnac and his mistress, Mabille De Lancré. They are accused of many things; witchcraft, vampirism, lycanthropy, cannibalism and devil worship. Before dying, they place a curse upon their killers and vow to return.

            

       Fast forward a few hundred years where a group of friends (through a plot device too convoluted to get into) are staying at the ancestral home of a decedent of Alaric de Marnac. Alaric’s spirit begins to influence people, driving some to murder and possessing another. Eventually, both de Marnac and his mistress are brought back to life and they wreak havoc both by summoning a crowd of zombies to assault the protagonists and also by seducing and killing the locals.

            

       Horror great Paul Naschy pulls double duty both as a hapless victim (and descendant of de Marnac) and as Alaric de Marnac himself.  The make-up job is good. Naschy looks particularly satanic with his black hair and pointed beard. It’s a nice change of pace from his usual role, the protagonist werewolf, Waldemar Daninsky.

            

      Most of the cast members appeared in several other Spanish horror films of the era, including  Betsabé Ruizwho appeared in the evil Templar movie, Return of the Evil Dead. The make-up is pretty good, especially the disembodied head of Alaric which looked very realistic for the early 70s. It has, at times, the dreamy nightmarish quality of Jean Rollin’s films, though it’s a lot more coherent than anything Rollin ever made. Modern audiences that prefer their films to follow certain conventions probably won’t like it, but if you are able to sit back and just let the director take you for a ride, you will enjoy this sexy, bloody horror film.

           

           A sort of sequel was made about 10 years later. Paul Naschy reprised his role as Alaric de Marnac in Panic Beats. That film though, has nothing to do with this one and is more of a supernatural murder mystery. Naschy also did a sort of remake of the film several years later in the very enjoyable, Night of the Werewolf which combined the plots of Horror Rises from the Tomb and another Naschy werewolf film The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman.

The Marshall from Hell

The Marshall from Hell (El Mariscal del infierno, The Devil’s Possessed)

1974

Director- Leon Klimovsky

From Spain

Cast- Paul Naschy, Norma Sebre, Guillermo Juan Bredeston, Vidal Molina, Graciela Nilson, Eduardo Calvo, Fernando Rubio, Luis Induni, Carmen Carro, Sandra Mozarowsky

           

     Based on the exploits of occultist and serial child murderer Gilles de Rais, this movie was a real international effort with actors from Spain, Argentia, Mexico and Italy.

            A medieval Baron (Naschy) is running out of money. After the king turns down his request for aid, he turns to the dark arts. He recruits an alchemist who promises him riches via the Philosopher’s Stone, the creation of which will require evil rituals.  The Baron engages in some virgin sacrifice, torture and necromancy but to no avail (the real life Gilles de Rais had a similar lack of success). It seems that the Barron’s hot wife and the alchemist are in league together and taking the Baron for a bit of a ride.

            Enter Gaston, one of the Baron’s old army buddies who has returned from the campaigns after being missing for years. Gaston is an Errol Flynn type swashbuckler and quickly recognizes that his old friend has slipped into depravity. Gaston joins a band of outlaws that oppose the Barron. The Barron goes progressively insane from guilt and the conflict with the outlaws escalates to an inevitable battle between the Barron and Gaston.

            The movie has a hard time deciding what it is. Sometimes it’s a cautionary horror story and sometimes Robin Hood-esque adventure. It also has some dangling threads that go nowhere. Horror fans in general can skip it, but Paul Naschy fans will want to catch it, if for no other than reason that to see Naschy as a vile antagonist rather than the sympathetic wolfman that he is known for.

Exorcism (Paul Naschy)

 

Exorcism

1975

Director- Juan Bosch

Cast- Paul Naschy, Maria Perschy, Maria Kosti,   Mercedes Molina (as Grace Mills)

From Spain

            Not to be confused the with the Jess Franco movie of the same name, which came out around the same time. Given that this movie came out a few years after the Exorcist, it would be tempting to label it as an Exorcist rip off, but the only thing the movies have in common is a climactic battle between a priest and a possessed victim.

            Starring Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy, this is a murder mystery involving a young girl who has been dabbling with a Satanic cult. Like other Italian and Spanish horror films of this time, the movie is more fun than a lot of American films.  It gets to the point quicker ups the sensationalism.

            Paul Naschy is (as always) good as well as Mercedes Molina as the possessed girl.  The possession doesn’t become obvious until near the end of the film, which is too bad because the make-up (especially the milky, marbled eyes) was pretty good.

            Compared to most of the other exorcism movies out there, this one isn’t very scary. The possession almost takes backseat to the murder storyline. So why watch it? Because it has Paul Naschy! You should always take the chance to watch Paul at work, especially when he is out of his trademark wolfman make-up.

 

The Devil Incarnate (The Traveler, El Caminante)

The Devil Incarnate (The Traveler, El Caminante)

1979

Director- Paul Naschy

Cast- Paul Naschy, Sara Lezana, David Rocha, Ana Harpo, Blanca Estrada, Silvia Aguilar, Eva León, Adriana Vega

           

   

This film is unlike anything else Naschy did. Not a horror film, it’s more of a medieval morality play, like a cautionary tale from Chaucer. Naschy plays the Devil, come to walk the Earth in mortal flesh. He befriends a young lad, Tomas, and takes him under his wing as he travels the countryside, teaching him his cynical view of the world. Along the way he takes advantage of every soul he meets.

            There is no over arcing plot here, just a series of scenes as the Devil screws people over, most of them literally. He cheats, murders, robs and fornicates. He drives a virtuous woman to suicide, lures wives into infidelity, seduces a Nun, and even sets up his friend to be raped. Of course, the Devil’s plans would amount to nothing in a virtuous world. In the end, he is only taking advantage of the greed and lusts of others.

The film has good costumes and clever dialogue. It’s rather saucy with a plethora of beautiful women, most of who end up naked in the Devil’s arms. Fans of Spanish horror will see many familiar faces; Blanca Estrada (Ghost Galleon), Eva León (who starred with Naschy in other films including Inquisition), and Silvia Aguilar (who also starred with Naschy in Night of the Werewolf and Carnival of Beasts). The film is best known by its original title, El Caminante (The Traveler) but has recently gotten the Blu-ray treatment under the title The Devil Incarnate. Either way, pick it up for a very different Naschy than you are used to.