Latidos de pánico

This is out on DVD from Mondo Macabro, and I confess I own every DVD they've put out, even the UK-issued PAL ones. Well, one exception: I did not get O Ritual dos Sádicos (1970) AKA Awakening of the Beast, since I'd seen it already in Image Entertainment's Coffin Joe box set and I absolutely hated it. I'll also admit to the fact that I get a kick out of watching horror movies that have relatively few user ratings on the IMDb (less than 100, less than 20). So of course I bought Panic Beats when it came out!

The lead in Panic Beats is played by Paul Naschy AKA Jacinto Molina, a very prolific Spanish actor specializing in horror. In spite of his many films, I think the only ones I'd seen previously were La Orgía de los muertos (1973) and Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (1972), the latter of which was one of Mondo Macabro's PAL DVDs. So far, I don't see the appeal of him as an actor. He looks a little like the late John Belushi, but seems to lack the humor and charisma. Naschy's acting, particularly in Panic Beats is very stoic, very nearly expressionless.

Panic Beats starts off energetically, with a scene set in the past with a knight chasing down a fully nude woman and killing her with a mace. The knight is Alaric du Marnac, a Gille de Rais-type character Naschy'd played before in Espanto surge de la tumba, El (1973).

After that, it's in the present day. Naschy is married to a nervous woman prone to nightmares. He takes her to an isolated home owned by his family, and their trip is not without incident. At the home is an old family servant and a pretty young relative of hers. The movie's pace is pretty slow for some time after their arrival, and it becomes evident that Naschy intends to "gaslight" his wife (Naschy, as the film's writer/director was consciously drawing from Gaslight, and Rebecca, the novel of which is mentioned by a character). Also being referenced is Les Diaboliques (1955), particularly in one scene stolen from that film, and poorly imitated here.

Much of the terror of the film is supposed to come from what is supposed to be a ghost of du Marnac, dressed in armor. Naschy, as writer/director again thought the idea of a knight moving like a tank through a modern home to be terrifying in itself. Given the incongruity, perhaps it could have been, but it is not here. It doesn't help, for example, that the house is already filled with several sets of armor; gone the incongruity - this is no "clown at midnight" to borrow Robert Bloch's phrase. The armor is also quite plain and shiny, which I didn't think helped either. And for myself, I'll add that I more or less immediately thought both of the knight in Scooby Doo, and the rubber-chicken wielding knight in Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series. An example of a terrifying knight in a modern context that worked would be the knight in Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King, so the idea is not without potential.

Naschy has lovers, and confidants, and people outside his plot yet within his circle, so there is the potential for things to start going wrong. The movie gets more interesting when this happens. There is some gore, but really not a lot. There is some full frontal nudity, and you also get to see rather a lot of Naschy who for an ex-weightlifter looks more burly than muscular.

I found the movie to be disappointing. I did like the special features, though. There is one on Spanish horror films, making particular mention of Naschy, Jess Franco, Jorge Grau, and Amando de Ossorio. There is another that is an interview with Naschy. Both are quite interesting, and made the movie not seem like such a bad purchase.

Jacinto Molina or Paul Naschy is actor, screenwriter and director of this film about his popular role ¨Alaric De Marnais¨ based on a real character , Gilles De Rais , a knight of the Dark age during XV century , under command of Charles VII of France in times of Joan of Arc and as well as a murderer of hundreds of children . The first film he appeared was ¨El Espanto Surge de la Tumba¨ (Horror rises from the tomb 1972) directed by Carlos Aured and where Alaric is beheaded in public execution , then he swears revenge facing the executioner and his descendants . Now is a ghostly presence that heckle his eternal rest for executing a merciless vengeance in a script plenty of gaslight , murders and adulteries at a countryside mansion .

It's a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a ¨Naif¨ style . The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato . Revolting , horrible scenes and nasty images take place as slashing , decapitation , and bloody murders with axes and other tools . As usual , Paul Nashy exhibits breast , as he was a weightlifting champion . Julia Saly interprets as the suffered wife and Lola Gaos as the old servant . Abundant nudism in charge of gorgeous Pat Ondiviela . It's a sequel to ¨Devil's possessed¨ or ¨Mariscal del Infierno¨ based on the historic character Gilles De Rais . Gilles was a devoutly religious follower of Joan of Arc who fought valiantly on her side and was later trialed and executed by the Catholic Church for heresy and sexual crimes committed against children . As Rais served as a commander in the Royal Army , distinguishing himself by displaying reckless bravery on the battlefield during the renewal of the Hundred Years War . Rais's prosecution would be on charges which included murder , sodomy , and heresy. The precise number of Gilles' victims is not known, as most of the bodies were burned or buried. The number of murders is generally placed between 80 and 200 ; a few have conjectured numbers upwards of 600 . The victims ranged in age from six to eighteen and included both sexes.

The motion picture was regularly directed by Jacinto Molina , being produced , wrote and shot in his peculiar style . The late Naschy was a good professional , writing, filmmaking and acting about hundred titles , mainly in terror genre . ¨Marshall of Hell¨ is written by Molina along with 21 screenplays as ¨Mark of Wolfman¨, ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Vengeance of the mummy¨, ¨Licantropo¨, among them . The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and horror genre enthusiasts . Rating : mediocre but entertaining .

This entertaining effort from 1983 has everything you would expect from a Spanish horror movie: a) Paul Naschy, b) a low budget, c) a curse from the past and d) gratuitous gore to satisfy splatter freaks.

Even though the production values are rather low key, the film is always entertaining and keeps you interested from beginning to end. There are enough twists to develop a decent plot filled with surprises. And, as mentioned before, there are also a handful of gory moments that are well crafted and really nasty (but don't expect a movie focused on blood and guts).

The most remarkable aspect of the plot is its mix of crime thriller and ghost story elements, which fit together surprisingly well. And this is one of those movies, where Paul Naschy's character is NOT the ill-fated Valdemar Daninsky!

Recommended for all friends of European horror.

"Latidos De Pánico" aka "Panic Beats" of 1983 is a neat little Horror film that mainly profits from a load of sleaze and Spanish Horror/Exploitation-icon Paul Naschy, who serves as leading man, writer and director. Paul Naschy enjoys a cult-status among my fellow fans of European Exploitation cinema, and, as far as I am concerned, his reputation is more than deserved. While the films he was involved in (as actor, writer, and sometimes, such as in this one, as director) may not qualify as being masterpieces or milestones, all Naschy films I've seen so far are highly entertaining, sleazy and violent little films that any fan of trashy low-budget Eurohorror should enjoy. What is most important, however, is that all of the man's films have a certain inimitable charm to them that can not be found anywhere but in a Naschy film. Naschy is probably best known for his role as Werewolf Waldemar Daninsky, whom he played in thirteen films so far, most famously in "La Noche De Walpurgis" of 1971. The character of the blood-thirsty knight Alaric De Marnac, whom Naschy plays here, is more sardonic than the Werewolf character, and, once again, the film has to do with a family curse. Naschy had already played Alaric De Marnac once, ten years earlier, in "El Esperanto Surge De La Tumba" ("Horror Rises From The Tomb", 1973). In addition to a creepy atmosphere and the usual Naschy-esquire charm, this sequel has a wonderful sense of black humor.

In the 16th century, the insane knight Alaric De Marnac (Naschy) terrorizes rural France with his blood-lust, using mainly his favorite weapon, the flail. Centuries later, his ancestor Paul Marnac (also Naschy) comes to his family's old castle with his wife, who needs the rural air in order to cure her heart disease... The film may not have the most logical storyline ever, but it delivers more than just diverting sleaze and gore. Naschy the director delivers a wonderful atmosphere, and Naschy the actor delivers an awesome lead. Sexy Paquita Ondiviela gets naked at every occasion and she also fits very well in the female lead. Paul Naschy plays his two roles with his usual greatness. Some may disagree, but I am personally a massive Naschy-fan, as he makes every film worthwhile, and his status as a Eurohorror-icon is more than justified. And while "Latidos De Panico" is maybe no milestone, I highly recommend it to my fellow fans of Eurohorror. Even if cheesy, this is great fun and a film that Exploitation lovers should enjoy. Not to be missed by my fellow Naschy-fans!

This is a typical Paul Naschy movie and as such is difficult to describe to someone who hasn't seen one. On one hand, it is very old fashioned movie hearkening back to classic American thrillers like "Gaslight" or classic European thrillers like "Diabolique". On the other side, it opens with the scene of a completely naked women being chased through the woods by a knight on horseback and then brutally maced (in the medieval sense)into bloody pulp. (People who complain about the sexism and violence toward women in American films ought to take a gander at this).

Naschy has a way of combining disparate horror themes and subgenres in what seems like a very random, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink manner (his werewolf films, for instance, have involved everything from Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde to Countess Elizabeth Barthory to a Himalayan yeti). In this film he uses the evil Count Marnac he created for an earlier movie, "Horror Rises from the Tomb", but rather than making a conventional sequel he freely re-writes the legend making the knight an avenging figure who punishes unfaithful women (in "Horror" the count's wife was a conspirator in his crimes, here she is his first victim). Then he proceeds to ignore the supernatural elements of the story until the very end to tell a "Gaslight"-like tale of a man (Naschy himself, natch) who is only using the legend to frighten his wife to death. He wants to be with a mistress, of course, but just to needlessly complicate things he has TWO mistresses--the very sexy "bad seed" niece of his housekeeper(insert audible drooling sounds here) and another woman (who seems to only exist to provide additional nudity and and another gory killing, but oh well). The whole thing really shouldn't work, but somehow it does.

The recent Mondo Macabre disc this comes on is one of their best with a very interesting (but lamentably short) documentary that serves as an excellent primer for Spanish horror in general, and a longer, equally interesting interview with the erstwhile Spanish werewolf himself. This is neither the best or the worst Naschy movie I've seen, but this new disc should be a must-have for any Naschy/Spanish horror fan.