Luciferina

The story is a complicated, layered character study folded in a supernatural, demonic nightmare. At times the movie stumbles through continuity with the many micro-plotlines bridging toward a climactic end. However it maintains enough controlled focus to allow the overall story arc to hold together. It's steady pace creates a slow-burn suspense.

The cinematography is a delicious blend of neo-Gothic settings and devilishly creepy occult imagery. Calzada focuses his energy on taking these characters and the audience through a cavalcade of haunting, eerie locations that create an epic and entertaining atmosphere. The practical and CGI effects are equally superb and the camera isn't shy about showing the visceral horrors.

Overall "Luciferina" is well worth watching, and for fans of occult horror it packs a punch. It blends Catholic concepts of evil with tribal mysticism and pagan mythology. It also creates one heck of a demonic horror show complete with a sexorcism that is totally metal.

Well, usually Argentina puts out some quality creative drama, but this time - ughhh! Still another demon possession - a been done too-many-times-before script. 1. Usual person wearing a goat's head. 2. Usual CGI or contact lenses - blue eyes if kinda good; red if a real baddie. Usual fake scary demonic teeth for demon possessed. 3. Usual demonic voices in the background or growling demonic voice from the possessed. 4. Usual old big house in a secluded environment. 5. Usual lots of insects - big cockroaches here; also found in the usual strange opening in closet, of course. 6. Usual old garden w/strange tree and sculptures; next to cemetery w/more sculptures. 7. Usual semi-dead ghostly women jumping closer to our innocent nun. 8. Usual lots of lit candles surrounding our future victims; pentagrams on floor or body. To be Argentinian they have an indigenous, face painted, shaman with drumming & chants. 9. Usual pregnant (by whom we wonder) women w/usual upcoming child sacrifice. Conclusion: About the only thing scary is seeing fake colored eyes & teeth for a few minutes other than that a few people are toast, but we don't see it happen. Film mentions Mahonin, a late 1500s name (given by Catholic exorcists) for a demon possessing a French women.

I have to admit that I was actually harboring some expectations to this 2018 Argentinean horror movie titled "Luciferina", given the movie's cover, title and synopsis. Sure, I had never heard about "Luciferina" prior to getting to sit down to watch it, so I didn't know what I was in for here.

Writer and director Gonzalo Calzada managed to deliver a watchable horror movie. However, the script was rather generic and didn't really offer anything that haven't already been seen in other similar horror movies, or actually done better than it was done in "Luciferina", so you're not in for an outstanding horror experience here.

The acting performances in the movie were fair enough. I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, but then again I am not overly familiar with the Argentinean cinema. However, there weren't any performances that made me stop and take notice, and I assume it was because of the generic material that they had to work with.

Visually then "Luciferina" was okay. Again, nothing outstanding to be experienced here.

Ultimately, then "Luciferina" was a watchable horror movie, albeit a rather generic one. And it is the type of movie that you will watch once, then shelf it and forget about, only never to return to it a second time.

My rating of "Luciferina" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Another terrible horror about a Nun, since the release of the 'The Nun (2018)' which is part of the conjuring universe, there is suddenly a rash of bad movies about nuns.... this happens everytime a movie comes out, everyone wants to try and cash in, but fail miserably! This is one the worst! Another example is, 'The Crooked Man' another rip off of the conjuring 2!

STOP IT! Come up with something original for god sake! I should also add, sticking the word 'American' in front of random horror buzz words is another favourite of these band wagon desperados! Get off! We don't want crap movies that steal ideas from top movies!

This stank worse than the inside of a sumo wrestlers thong!

After learning of her parents' accident, a young woman leaves a nunnery to to return home to deal with the incident and falls in with her sister and her friends who are going on a trek into the jungle to undergo a sacred ritual which releases a satanic curse on the group as she uses a dark secret to save them.

Frankly, this was a spectacular and standout genre effort. One of it's strongest qualities is the fervent and utterly phenomenal religious symbolism apparent throughout here. As her religious background at first causes her to be made fun of and ridiculed, this soon gives her a fighting chance to overcome the forces plaguing her the longer she stays in the house. Her initial vision of the nuns in the church after learning of the accident ends up correlating nicely with the concurrent vision of her sisters' friends at the house, which is all tied together through the connections made about who she really is. This is all given greater importance with the scenes at the house detailing all the religious paintings left in the attic all coming after a former nun-in-training experienced her first sexual awakening shortly beforehand. That factors heavily into the traditional jump scenes that are featured throughout here, giving this one a rather enjoyable and somewhat creepy air. The first scenes of her being tormented by the ghostly beings like the figures in the paintings offer up some great jumps and the scenes with the rats charging out of a hole in the wall are rather enjoyable. The scenes on the island, though, offer up an overwhelmingly enjoyable series of scenes that really work nicely, including the ritual being performed in the candle-lit room as they go on their spiritual journey that pulls off the greatest scene in the movie in the pregnant woman being possessed while about to give birth. The work this section builds for the finale is just as spectacular. With the knowledge gleaned from the encounter with the midwife following her having survived the demons' attempts to finish its masterplan, this one brings the religious angle together alongside its tale of salvation where she's granted enough energy and power to fight the demon due to her condition. Taking place as a charged, full-scale fight for the soul of both parties through classic exorcism tropes as well as the unconventional method of sexually expelling the demon which is a wholly unique concept that works incredibly well here against the other demonic and exorcism imagery. The film might be a touch too long and feature some wonky effects-work, but these aren't in the slightest bit harmful to this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Nudity, a strong sex scene, several sexually suggestive images, Graphic Violence and drug use.