La campana del infierno

This mythical film "La Campana del Infierno" (The Bell Of Hell) is a psychological thriller more than a Spanish Fantaterror film. Brilliantly directed by Claudio Guerin , resulted to be a damned picture , specially when turned out to be his untimely swan song since he died by mysteriously fall or jumped to his death from the central bell tower constructed for the movie and being eventually completed by distinguished fellow Juan Antonio Bardem . This near-legendary Euro-Cult item deals with an insane inmate of an asylum (Renaud Verley) is released and returns home for vengeance on his aunt (Viveca Lindfors) and her three daughters (Maribel Martín, Nuria Gimeno, Christina Von Blanc) who had him declared crazy in order to take his inheritance . The young man punishes his aunt and three daughters , with bees and hooks . Who will escape the terror ? . The most shocking horror of all time is finally here ¡

Thrilling as well as elegant film that contains suspense , intrigue ,cutting-edge set pieces and some terror elements . In 1973 Guerin produced and directed this French-Spanish film titled Bell from Hell (La cloche de l'enfer in France), a horror story , highly valued in its period . Guerin in a penetrating style makes a highly appropriate and bright filmmaking , he invite us into an active participation of a cruel game in which the protagonist seeks a peculiar vendetta . A few elements well developed he manages to create a mysterious atmosphere , a mixture among magical dreamlike scene of three sisters entry through the fog, and, of course without giving up a certain amount of cruelty and eroticism ; adding a touch fantasy . Interesting , suspenseful story and screenplay well written by prolific Santiago Moncada . Atmospheric as well as evocative cinematography by Manuel Rojas , filmed on location in Noia, Padrón,Betanzos ,Coruña, Galicia, and Estudios Roma, Madrid, Spain (interiors) . Very good support cast such as Viveca Lindfors , Tito Garcia , Erasmo Pascual as a priest and the extraordinary participation of Alfredo Mayo as a lewd old man , among others. Strange as well as adequate musical score by Adolfo Waitzman .

This very hard to find motion picture was stunningly directed by Claudio Guerin , realizing a personal staging . He had previously directed shorts , documentaries and his first film titled ¨House of the Doves¨ with Carmen Sevilla and Ornella Muti . However his sad and mysterious death cut his promising career . As he died in an accident during the filming of his second movie . In Noya church had built a second bell tower attached to a passage of real wood . Preparing a complicated plan, Guerin wanted to jump from the catwalk to a cantilever of the church, but lost his balance and fell into the void from twenty meters high ; died before reaching the hospital . Distinguished director Juan Antonio Bardem completed filming the last sequence about 7 minutes .

This is a pretty well done film of its ilk. As is the case with most of these, we have the deep psychological, "Psycho" like motivations. The problem with this one is that we can't answer if we have a true victim or sociopath? Are we to take this young man's trials as an excuse? He spent time in an institution. Did he crack, or was he relatively sane, filled with revenge? Who's to know. What we have is a slaughterhouse film, full of horror and carnage. There is an enjoyment in seeing those who are evil get theirs, but, then, there are normal courses. This movie is pretty well filmed although I think some of the cinematography is a little trite (close up, long shot), but there are some startling images and a fair amount of imagination. The sound on my print is terrible, making the initial conversations virtually impossible to understand. Maybe this one might be worth some restoration.

This is a true unique creepy movie of the early 70's. No Hollywoodtrash, pure sickening. Scene's at an abattoir, incest, rape and that with no blood and almost no nudity. Excellent how this movie takes you to the end, a bit slow the first half but then suddenly it all start moving in the Italian way, sometimes it made me remind of 'The beyond'. Beautiful filmed and great performances. Weird how an open door and some fog combined with "frere jacques" can make your flesh creep. If you can stand animal cruelty search the full uncut of this one, I can't tell if the DVD release is uncut. You will stick until the end...

For much of the time this is a most effective and perverse little horror but there are wayward moments and I am not convinced by the ending. However we have to remember that the poor director died after a fall from the infamous bell tower on the last day of shooting so probably didn't have too much input himself after that! As with much European shock/horror of this period the plot is a little lacking but this one has a most unusual look and feel constantly surprising us as we witness the past and present of a lad who may have been forced into madness by his mother's sister so she could keep the inheritance for herself and her three daughters. Well, all four of them are treated to some tasty revenge before the final denouement and if it doesn't all make complete sense it is a good ride with more than the odd reference to youth disaffection of the time and the lingering effects of Franco who was to live one more year.

Back before cable killed late night television horror on local broadcast channels (its all infomercials now), this movie ran a few times on a Southern-California station. It has been some time since I've seen it, but this is the kind of movie that sticks with you: it has incest, mystery, a bee swarm, twisted family revenge, good-looking actors and cool cinematography in an intriguing mix of religious imagery, repressed sexuality and seventies rock'n'roll glamour. The story revolves around a young man's vengeful return home, and a parallel plot following the arrival of a new bell for the town's church tower. The result is a surreal, gothic, darkly humorous horror film - made during Franco's reign, no less! (The first time I saw an Almodover film - "Dark Habits" - I thought of "A Bell From Hell".) This film is also vaguely reminiscent of "High Plains Drifter": lone figure rides into town - this time on a motorcycle - and mayhem ensues in the reckoning. Morricone's influence might be why, at times, the gothic style seems to break wide open into heat and sunlight; think too, of Jagger, Richards, Brian Jones in Morrocco... And there's a big debt to the Hammer Studios style of horror, in that most of the terror is psychological (there is some interesting violence, but I don't remember any full-throttle gore) and the plot relies on a creepy, pervasive atmosphere of threat and sexuality to build the suspense. It would be great to see this re-released on video!