Una vela para el diablo

Just finished watching IT HAPPENED AT NIGHTMARE INN, and though I'm thinking I saw one of the heavily cut versions--this distributed by Cheezy Video--I still thoroughly enjoyed this film. Judy Geeson's character was smarter than usual for these sorts of films, the sisters were truly frightening, and the small town hypocrisy added dimensions to the narrative that I was not expecting.

I'm not sure where or when I'll find a near-definitive version of this film, but I'll certainly be on the look out for one. Good to see Geeson in this film, too. She was believable and sympathetic. And now I'm just blathering on to meet the idiotic, arbitrary IMDb 10 line review requirement, but I do recommend this film. Great for Saturday night viewing.

Though obviously inspired by PSYCHO, this truly deranged Spanish shocker features several gruesome sequences which makes the film way ahead of its time. The atmosphere is quite sinister and very threatening. Judy Geeson(of TO SIR, WITH LOVE fame) does well in her role as the pretty blonde heroine, and Aurora Batista and Esperanza Roy are indeed the most menacing inn-keepers since Mr. Norman Bates. In fact, the film's only real drawback is the poor dubbing that makes it resemble one of those cheesy Euro-Hercules flicks. Available on video for the longest time only in an old edited television version, the missing footage has finally been restored to home video. The video title of the film is: IT HAPPENED AT NIGHTMARE INN.

Back in my youth, I was a big fan of late night horror flicks, particularly from back in the late 1960's to early 1970's. Judy Geeson was something of a regular in them and again gives a credible performance. So I caught this on a very late Friday or Saturday night, and rather enjoyed it. It was nothing great, and the dubbing wasn't good, but it was watchable and moderately scary. It's about this old hotel in Spain whose owners prosper from foreign tourists, but who are also offended by many of the tourists' morals. The actresses playing the two sisters/inn keepers gave performances worth watching. Aurora Bautista was genuinely frightening as the more fanatical and violent one, and Esperanza Roy was alternately scary and moving as her younger sister, who is conflicted about their crimes. It also delivers a convincing atmosphere of an old Spanish village which is torn between its seemingly simple past and the free-wheeling modern amorality. I say it's worthwhile for ardent fans of this kind of entertainment.

This is a grisly, superbly amusing Gothic horror story with vivid performances from the mature ladies, they are admirably enigmatic and mysterious . It's a Spanish classic of the chilly grotesque with awesome duo, a convincingly gruesome twosome as spinsters, Aurora Bautista and Esperanza Roy as the weird house keepers. The sisters living together in a gloomy boarding house hire rooms to tourists and develop an awful habit only murder them. They portray fanatic aging sisters , when the demented Aurora learns of sexpot boarders she kill them. Meanwhile Judy Geeson takes a room in hopes of solving the mystery of disappearing her sister, Loreta Tovar as the murder victim at the start. Bautista plays her part to the hilt, unafraid of Eugenio Martin's unsympathetic camera and the viciousness of her character .

The picture packs atmospheric blending of eerie thrills and creepy chills combined with a terrific finale. It displays lots of guts and blood but it seems pretty mild compared to today's gore feasts. It's an unrelenting shock-feast laced with nice acting by the two Spanish stars that deserves its cult status. Watch for Aurora Bautista who makes an indelible mark on the movie as the deranged and religious keeper. Judy Geeson, too, is excellent as tourist investigating the strange events in the gloomy mansion. Lively secondary cast is frankly cool, formed by Spanish support casting, as Fernando Hilbeck, Vic Winner , Lone Fleming and Blanca Estrada , both taking early film roles. Bone-chilling musical score by Antonio Perez Olea. Passable photography with juicy atmosphere by Jose Aguayo, but unfortunately turns too much murky in some video print . The picture belongs to sub-genre about killings committed by aging spinsters women such as the classic ¨What ever happened to Baby Jane ? (1962) ¨by Robert Aldrich with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, ¨Huss, Huss, sweet Charlotte (1965)¨ by Aldrich with Bette Davis and Olivia De Havilland and ¨Whatever happened to aunt Alice ? (1969)¨by Lee H Katzin with Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon, among others.

The motion picture is professionally directed by Eugenio Martin or Gene Martin. He's a horror movies expert(Hypnosis, A candle for the devil, The fourth Mrs Anderson) and Spaghetti Western(Pancho Villa, Bounty hunter, Bad man's river). Rating : Acceptable horror movie, well worth watching. This macabre movie thriller that commits viewers to sit chewing their fingernails for more than ninety minutes will appeal to Euro-horror fans.

Every movie is made up of a series of edits to what the filmmaker originally shot. This can turn a good film to bad and vice versa. The most famous is the very different versions that exist of Orson Welles' "Touch Of Evil". "Night And The City" and "Mad Wednseday"/"The Sin Of Harld Diddlebock" exist in two different version of the same source material. That is also true with "It Happened At Nightmare Inn" and "A Candle For the Devil". It is sad that IMDb does not see the difference in these very, very different cuts of the same source material. But the versions are all different from their counterparts.

"It Happened At Nightmare Inn" is not very good. The more sexually charged "A Candle For The Devil" is far more interesting. In 1973, "Candle" probably could not be shown in the U.S. The theme of sexual repression caused by religious fervor is very different from a couple of crazy ladies who like to kill young women.

Pass on "It Happened At Nightmare Inn". "A Candle For The Devil" is worth a look.