La mansión de los muertos vivientes

As I am a true adept of all pulp, trash and schlock, I really like some of Jesús Franco's work (some directed under pseudonyms) - Vampyros Lesbos, She Killed in Ecstasy, Venus in Furs, Count Dracula, Eugenie de Sade, Mondo cannibale and others are well made and entertaining movies empowered by the powers of cheese and pulp, some starring actors like Christopher Lee, Klaus Kinski. Sadly, La mansión de los muertos vivientes or Mansion of the Dead is no such trashy and spicy piece - neither the art of horror nor the powers of Venus are strong in this one. The cinematography is also not good. A few days ago I put this one on my screen and cannot say if I ever watched this one before ore not. Anyway, this time I used the fast forward button rather freely and wondered the whole time why Franco made this boring and tasteless piece. To all who do not know his work, don't watch this one (first), put some of the movies I mentioned on your screen, or try other ones, on Imdb the maestro got directing credits for 206 movies...

I had high hopes for this one. After watching the excellent Macumba Sexual (Made around the same time, with the same locations and most of the same actors) I was expecting this one to be as good as that one. But it wasn't. Mansion of the Living Dead is one of the worst movies Jess Franco ever directed. The plot had potential, but it's not handle well. The pace is very slow and even the sex scenes drag a bit. Also, the make up of the monks is awful!

But the movie also have some good things, like the beautiful, paradise-like beach, which gives the film a certain atmosphere, very creepy in some scenes. Also good is lead actress Lina Romay, looking very hot especially in the scenes where she walks completely naked through the hotel.

From the boring sex scenes (I can't believe I just say that!) to the embarrassing attempt to create a story make this movie one of Franco's worst. Not recommended at all. Check out "Macumba Sexual" (1983) or "Gemidos de Placer" (1983) instead.

La mansión de los muertos vivientes bathes in the surreal fog of euro-horror excess, but much like its half-buried zombies, it never fully rises from the sand. There's an eerie sense of quiet to the opening minutes, an almost meditative atmosphere created by long, static shots of desolate coastlines and abandoned structures. Franco, ever the provocateur, knows how to stage a dreamlike environment, and the cinematography does try to evoke something otherworldly, though it's often undermined by flat lighting and unsteady framing. There's potential in the location work, especially the monastery ruins that seem to loom with menace, but the camera lingers too long and says too little.

The acting is exactly what you might expect from a Franco genre outing in the early 80s: languid, loosely directed, and often secondary to the film's real priorities (which, let's be honest, are sex and spectacle). Lina Romay, a frequent collaborator of Franco's, gives a performance that's oddly watchable despite the minimal material she's given. Her expressions hint at emotional undercurrents the screenplay never fully explores. The rest of the cast drifts through the scenes, seemingly as lost as the script itself, mouthing lines that feel incidental rather than essential.

Atmospherically, the film reaches for slow-burn dread, but the tension rarely sustains. Instead, the pacing feels narcotized. Scenes of nudity are as abundant as they are repetitive, lacking narrative propulsion or deeper significance. The undead monks, while conceptually intriguing, appear too briefly and with little payoff. The sound design doesn't help either, relying on stock moaning effects and a synth-heavy score that wobbles between hypnotic and outright distracting.

Still, there's something oddly captivating in how Franco commits to his bizarre cocktail of sexploitation and gothic horror. It doesn't quite work, and it certainly won't land for most audiences, but it's a curio-a fever dream framed as cinema.

Reportedly fifth and so-so sequel of the Templars dead series , though there's absolutely no connection to it . The blind dead Templars return again from the 13th century with this eerie story in which a group of German vacationing waitresses (Lina Romay , Mabel Escaño, Mari Carmen Nieto , Elisa Vela) following the travel agency's recommendation and filled with high expectations of having a good time decide to take a few days off work to visit a sunny and dream hotel. Then they go to a completely vacant resort hotel on the Canary Islands . A mysterious director of the hotel called Savonarola, shows them to their rooms, but soon, weird events start happening and they sense strange vibes. Then the priests warriors wake up from the tomb beginning their criminal rampage . Ancient Zombies return of graves causing wreak havoc on the hotel , horrifying and torturing some beautiful women . They make a brutal massacre at the touristic hotel and the protagonists are surrounded and slashed. We find the famous blind dead zombies which rise from the tombs 500 years after to wreak havoc upon some beautiful Euro-babes . The zombie-like pack of ancient warriors priest awake and rising from the graves to kill and torture the unfortunate victims . They were condemned and eternally dammed by a doomed curse and developing a sinister cult practicing human sacrifices . A fantastic secret lies hidden behind the thick stone walls of the nearby abandoned convent which dates back to Middle Age ! . A Crazy Jess Franco Experiment!

This is a cheap Spaniard production with lack luster , low budget , including lots of nudism and strong erotic scenes . Special effects are ridiculous and embarrassing, absurd and frankly lousy. The film gets a bit slow but there's sufficient tension and creepiness. .This atmospheric and eerie horror movie contains scary scenes in which some attractive tourists come to a deserted hotel and only to find the ancient Templar monks nearby have returned as living blind dead. Of course , the better scenes result to be when appear the living dead Templars . Although being badly shot this ¨Mansion of the Living Dead¨contains atmospheric and disturbing scenes as the wailing sound of the wind blowing, adding the echoes from the empty corridors that bring chills down the spine and some strange situations linked somehow to the grim hotel history . This is allegedly the firth following of the first great success and immensely popular ¨Tombs of the Blind dead¨ which to be continued by a trilogy : ¨Return of evil dead¨, ¨Ship of Zombies or Blind dead 2¨ and ¨Blind dead 3 or The night of the sea gulls¨ , all of them directed by the craftsman Amando de Ossorio ; these Zombie-like monks were blinded by crows but they made human sacrifices and were executed and the clergymen returning eventually to the life . It was released in several countries as fifth part of the "Blind Dead" series, even though ¨Mansion of the Living Dead¨(1982) nothing to do with it . In the film appears some Spanishtrash actresses playing waitresses at a topless cabaret such as Mabel Escaño , Mari Carmen Nieto , Eva León , and of course Lina Romay , Frank's wife . Furthermore , some Franco's regulars as Albino Graziani and Antonio Mayans or Robert Foster .

Creepy and frightening music especially when the dead attack is well composed by Jess Franco himself , imitating the classic Antón Garcia Abril soundtrack . Packing an appropriate cinematography by Franco , entire film was shot on location in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. This lack budget film was lousily written/edited/musicalized/produced/directed by prolific Jesús Franco. This is a mediocre attempt to cash of following exhausted medieval warriors saga.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Mansion Of The Living Dead; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 0.25 Direction: 1.00 Pace: 0.25 Acting: 0.25 Enjoyment: 0.25

TOTAL: 2 out of 10

The one thing I need in a good Horror flick is a story. It doesn't have to be outstanding, just plausible and/or have a first-rate concept at its heart. Sadly, Mansion Of The Living Dead, though it does possess a decent idea, is so terribly structured and written it harms the movie beyond repair. Jesus Franco may be an average director, who occasionally hits the right spots, but he's no scribe. The story is too slow, all over the place, and most of the mysteries are ignored or extremely under-cooked. In the right hands, it could have been excellent. I particularly liked the cursed notion and the empty hotel and village concepts.

Surprisingly, Franco does a lot better when he takes the director's chair. Some scenes show off his talents ideally. The scene where one of the holidayers finds her friend face down in the pool is one example of his imaginative style. The girl, her friend, and the hotel manager run to the poolside, but there's no floater. As the girls discuss it may have been a mistake, Franco pans down to the pool's reflection, and we hear the manager make his goodbyes; On the water's blue surface, we watch him walk away, and the ladies follow. It's a small thing, but it's creative and makes the segment more engaging. Sadly, there are too few to help the movie repair the story's damage. Most of the film consists of average composition, which sometimes is out of focus. It's dreadful when you can't get a cameraman to keep the image sharp. Maybe blind cameramen work cheaper? What with the toplessness and nudity in the film, perhaps he went blind while filming. I mean, they have these girls walk around the hotel starkers. Now, why can't I find these hotels? Then we have the special effects, which consist of crappy plastic skull masks and cheap make-up. And they ran short of masks, and money for make-up because the Father of the religious order is simply normal. Lamentably, the most inferior element to the directing is the lack of pacing. It goes the same way as the story, and like the story, it only adds to the viewers' boredom.

The acting is terrible, especially from the two leading cast members. There are a lot of pregnant pauses that don't work, I can only imagine they're there because Romay and Mayans were reading from cards. There's no emotion in most scenes, and there's definitely no chemistry between Romay and Mayans, though she is about to save his soul with their love for one another. And, as for the girl on girl kissing, well, for actresses, they don't execute passion too well. It's more amusing than sensually provocative.

Mansion Of The Living Dead is a stinker of a movie, and I wholly advise giving it as wide a berth as possible. And remember, I watched this movie, so you don't have to.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror list to see where I ranked Mansion Of The Living Dead.

Take Care & Stay Well.