Black Candles

Extremely thin 'plot' of satanic rituals or some such mumbo-jumbo provides the hokey excuse to thread copious amounts of sex scenes together. Straight vanilla sex, masturbation, lesbianism, S&M, bestiality, incest, and a few other sexual proliferation's all get their time in the spotlight here. The problem is the storyline is so dull that the rampant sexuality gets pretty tedious after awhile. Who knew that a film with an intimate goat/ girl encounter could be so damn boring? Well now I do.

Eye Candy: Venessa Hidalgo shows all; Helga Line provides T&A (both on display quite frequently); women viewers get the occasional penis.

My Grade: D+

Region 1 DVD Extras: Trailers for "Pick Up", "Legend of Eight Samurai", "Don't Answer the Phone", "Prime Evil", & "Sister Street Fighter" (also the same DVD holds a second feature movie "Evil Eye")

Jose Ramon Larraz's "Black Candles" is a rare Spanish horror/sleaze film about a young woman named Carol who finds out that various family members are involved with a satanic cult.The film is loaded with sleazy sex and satanism,so I wasn't disappointed.Still it's not as memorable as Larraz's erotic masterpiece "Vampyres".The lighting is poor and the acting is amateurish.The sex scene between a black goat and a woman has to be seen to be believed.There is also an incredibly nasty moment which has a man killed by having a sword shoved into him between his legs.To sum up,if you are into European exploitation cinema give this one a look.However if you like your horror without sleaze avoid this one like the plague.7 out of 10.

I'm not ruining anything when I inform you that you get to see a woman have sex with a goat in this movie. If that is your thing, then your movie has arrived.

A woman and her husband go to see her estranged sister in the family mansion in the woods. Her sister is a creepy lady to say the least, and she seems to have interests that go beyond family love. On the side a group of unsavory characters show up and begin enacting all kinds of pagan rituals.

The plotting is pretty weak and the characters are pretty dumb. The woman sticks around even after her husband starts turning into a jerk and hanging out with the pagans, even continues the have sex with him. On the exploitative side of things, there is much bared flesh and a couple of kinky couplings, but nothing that hasn't been better somewhere else. Oh, and the aforementioned goat-sex scene.

Most viewers won't make it to the end. Exploitation fans will ride it out, but will be left wanting more.

4/10

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Black Candles. Before we get into it, here are my ratings:

Story - 1.25 Direction - 1.25 Pace - 1.00 Acting - 1.00 Enjoyment - 1.00

TOTAL - 5.50

Okay, so when the film started, I groaned. Though, it wasn't through pleasure. No! I thought Black Candles was to be a weak-assed softcore porn film with a slight occult twist. If so, it would undoubtedly turn out to be a horrid affair. But luckily for me, I was wrong. But how was I to know as a couple of the alternative titles, Hot Fantasies and Naked Dreams, scream 1970s softcore? They don't even mention anything about the occult.

So I continued to watch. As time ticked by and the film rolled, I realised a story was unfolding on the screen. Moreover, it was a good story. A story about greed and power and the lengths people will go to so they can achieve both. I was impressed the writer didn't hold anything back, even the more bestial sex. At its basic, Black Magic and Satanism are about our more primal urges and needs. Sex and control. Therefore the sex scenes, of which there are plenty, are pivotal to driving the plot. The director does an excellent job of shooting the infernal carnel trists. In fact, he's a damn decent director all-around. The only letdown is the flow of the film. In view of all the sex scenes, the pace is a tad slow throughout, and you may find boredom waiting. Even though the women are stunningly beautiful, I still found my attention faltering at the umpteenth coupling. And though I found myself enjoying the story, the Dallas ending left me wanting. It would have been nice to have the story completed. I know the climax is a twist, a what-if? But it doesn't work.

Another thing that shocked me was how good the cast performed. Because of the sex scene at the movie's beginning, I wasn't expecting too much. So when the actresses and actors proved their talent, I was pleasantly surprised. Their performances and the director's skills made this an enjoyable experience.

If you like occult films, then Black Candles is for you. You may have to search for it as it goes by many names - and don't shelve it because of the ones mentioned above. I think they should have gone with the literal translation of the Spanish title - Sex Rites Of The Devil - it sums the film up perfectly. It is well written and skillfully shot, though you think there's too much sex, which dulls down the story.

Feel free to check out my Absolute Horror list to see where I have ranked Black Candles.

Take Care & Stay Well.

I know and like Vampyres, another movie directed by José Ramón Larraz in 1974. That one mixes softporn scenes with some bloodthirsty female vampires. Los ritos sexuales del diablo aka Black Candles mixes some satanic witchcult with, well, softporn. So all in all I dare to say that both movies by Mr. Larraz are only of any interest to you if you like your movies sometimes sleazy and dirty, in that oldschool softporn way. The by other viewers mentioned "goat act" is so obviously fake, it's rather funny than shocking. Anyway, entertained I was. Recommended if names like Jess Franco or Russ Meyer don't let you run away screaming in terror and pain ;)