Una vela para el diablo

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.

Two sisters run a hotel in some village in Spain, preparing meals for their guests, being hospitable and friendly, and killing young women whom they perceive as slutty, a perception that seems to include 99% of their young female guests, save for Laura, a conservatively clothed lady who is looking for her sister.

That'll be the sister who was accidentally killed for sunbathing topless on the roof of the hotel a mere five minutes prior to Laura arriving. The sisters tell Laura that her sister left early that day, which is an excuse she'll be hearing often regarding other guests. Slowly, Laura starts to figure out what's going on, but it could be that she's already too late to save herself...

This one has a kind of run of the mill plot but is saved by having two interesting murderers. One sister is a timid type who has a clandestine relationship with the young man who helps out at the hotel, while the other is the more aggressive type, constantly judging others while barely repressing her own sexual feelings, while her frustration manifests itself in murderous ways. There's a bit more depth to the two of them than just maniacal killers.

The major problem is not with the film itself, it's with the various presentations of it you'll potentially stumble over. Under the name of It Happened At Nightmare Inn the film runs for about 70 minutes, and it's recommended that you watch it under the name of Candle For The Devil, but there version I watched of that is also heavily cut. The Spanish version seems to be the most complete, because without that you'll have practically no idea of what's going on as such a hack job has been done on the film. While not over the top in terms of gore, you're still missing out on all the nudity and gore, so what's the point? The most shocking murder of the film is cut out almost completely, which harms the impact of the film greatly.

I've read somewhere that this is some kind of political allegory on the Franco regime, but I wouldn't have figured that out myself.

I couldn't help but think of Hostel, Frontière(s) and Vacancy after watching this film. It's not that this film is a rip-off or anything, how could it be? It was made 30 years before all of them, but it just inspires thoughts towards those similar titles because I saw them first, even though Frontière(s) and Vacancy were way better.

It Happened At Nightmare Inn was overall a very satisfying and fun film. It's about two sisters who run a family inn and they are secretly murdering everybody who they believe to be bad influences and or just bad people because of their religious beliefs, the sisters' beliefs, I mean. It's not the most profound plot, but who really cares about that with this kind of movie? The movie keeps you interested and it definitely entertains. The characters were good, plot was decent, acting was perfectly fine and the movie's atmosphere gave it that creepy, yet corny B-Movie touch that I felt comfortable with because I had felt this atmosphere before. This movie is pretty good for a low budget slasher and as a movie itself it is very enjoyable. Watch it when you get the chance, though don't be expecting too much and don't be too harsh on it if you have seen other, better, similar films.

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.

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.