O Sangue de Satã

With Franco dead the Spanish could let rip and this one certainly goes at a pace. There are many sex and Satanism films that barely get round to either sex or Satanism, this one revels in it throughout. Just when it gets a bit silly towards the end, it gets very silly and builds to a great finale. In fact much of the film is really good, as well as almost constant bare flesh from the ladies and the gents there is blood and gore AND a really creepy atmosphere aided by the strange antics of the main protagonists. Whenever we see them in the deserted kitchen they seem bent over some dog bowl, and when they are in bed together they growl and pair like two animals. Granted an 'S' for sex certificate upon it's Spanish release and it certainly deserves it, though it also deserves a 'V' for violence and 'G' for gore. Excellent stuff - and not over long!

Throughout my many years as an avid horror fanatic, I encountered numerous movies dealing with devil worshipers & satanic cults, and therefore I also assumed I had already heard every name, title and form of address for the "character" of Satan. Wrong again, because in this underrated gem of 70's Spanish horror, there's a scene in which the speaker summons good 'ol Lucifer using a whole bunch of new, hugely offensive and exhilarating names, including Prince of Fornication, Master of Hate, Serpent of Genesis, Prince of Necrophilia, Father of Incest and High Master of the Black Arts. Other than being a surprisingly eloquent film, "Satan's Blood" is an atmospheric and ultra-sleazy highlight of European (more particularly Spanish) cult cinema. The plot is obviously simplistic and severely lacking logic as well as plausibility, but the film offers a continuous spitfire of eerie images, nudity that is simultaneously erotic and gratuitous, gore and genuinely morbid scenery. When the young newlyweds Andres and Ana are bored to death on a regular Saturday afternoon, they decide to take their dog out for a drive in the city. Waiting at a stoplight they're contacted by another couple of whom the husband claims to know Andres from high school, even though the latter doesn't remember him at all. Andres and Ana reluctantly follow the couple to their secluded mansion in the countryside where they all join in sinister Ouija-board games, dangerous acts of seduction, a bit of inappropriate cannibalism and – of course – some good old satanic orgies. The couple behaves increasingly mysterious and obtrusive, but a heavy thunderstorm and car trouble prevent Andres & Ana from leaving. And even when they manage to get out of the house, they appear to have entered an inescapable spiral of satanic evil. "Satan's Blood" is an above average; I even daresay GOOD film despite the occasionally tedious moments and the overload of sex footage that constantly interrupts the suspense. A handful of sequences are downright creepy, notably the ones with the uncanny porcelain doll, and the fate of poor pretty Blackie is truly harrowing. The last 5 to 10 minutes are really terrific, full of gore and loaded with disturbance, repulsiveness and shock value. Massive recommendation for fans of 70's exploitation or Euro-cult horror in general.

On a slightly less important note, the DVD version of "Satan's Blood" I watched even provides a bit of hilarity, as the subtitle track was clearly handled very unprofessionally. Sometimes there are English subtitles without there even are dialogs and most of the time the translations are just indisputably incorrect. For example, Andres clearly states he works as a mechanic but at the same time the subtitles claim he's a lawyer.

Not sure how, but it slipped my mind that I'd seen this before, though it started coming back to me as I was watching.

After an opening scene of a black mass, Andy and his four months pregnant wife Ana (who shows no visible signs of being pregnant) are out for a drive with their dog Blackie, when they come across a couple in another car who claims to know Andy. He doesn't remember the guy from school, and thinks some of the other things the man says are wrong (Last Year in Marienbad?), but they agree to join them for a drink at their house. The dog doesn't like the couple, and Andy has second thoughts when the drive to the house turns out to be over an hour over dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, but they do enter the couple's large gated estate. Once there, various things conspire against them leaving....

Really well made sleaze/satanic horror. As is said in the novel The Crying of Lot 49, "True pornography is given us by vastly patient professionals."

The documentary on satanism and satanic horror included on Mondo Macabro's DVD is well worth watching.

I wouldn't have been surprised to find out that, Carlos Puerto, the obscure director of this Spanish horror semi-classic was actually a pseudonym for the more famous Spanish/English director Jose Larraz. Puerto is apparently a real guy, even though his film is eerily similar to many of those of Larraz with its plot of an innocent couple being lured to a remote house in the wilderness and being preyed on by a satanic coven of sexual degenerates.

The good news though is that this tends to eerily resemble a good Larraz film like "Symptoms" or "Vampyres" rather than a bad Larraz film like "Whirlpool" or "Black Candles". The bad news is that this suffers from the same problem of many (especially latter-day) Larraz films and many other films of the post-Franco "destapa" period--the emphasis on softcore sex and gratuitous nudity at times brings the story to a complete standstill and threatens to overwhelm any suspense or tension the story has built up. Luckily though the film is fairly skillfully done and the acting is good (I don't know who any of these actors are, but they're better than almost anyone Larraz ever worked with).

The ending is especially non-sensical even as far as Eurohorror goes, and dog lovers might not like the movie much, but it's still one of the better Spanish horror films I've seen from this period and the new DVD is widescreen and looks really good. Mirala!

It would appear that Spain is actually a more prolific producer of horror films than I had first thought. This film isn't very well known, and that's a real shame as it's undoubtedly one of the best that the country ever produced. Satan's Blood handles the ever popular horror film theme of devil worship, and it does it with a lot of style, blood and nudity; all of which ensure that the film is more than just your average satanic slice of exploitation. The way that the plot is put forward is fascinating as director Carlos Puerto keeps the action simple, and by concentrating on just a handful of characters, it's easy to buy into the sex-laden plot line. The story follows a young couple; Andres and Ana, who decide to travel with another couple they have just met to their lovely home in the country. The man of the pair says that he knows Andres from school; although Andres can't remember him, and there's a reason for that, as they've never met before and the couple whose home they're going to are keen disciples of the devil!

The film features a lot of interesting diabolical elements, from things such as Ouija boards to mass orgies on top of a pentagram. The more sordid elements of the film don't stop the director from telling an interesting story, however, as Puerto uses them to his advantage and the sordid elements help rather than hinder the film from a storytelling perspective. It is true that the film loses tension at times because of the breaks to show another sex scene, but many people will be tuning into this film to see sleaze; and they certainly won't be disappointed. Director Carlos Puerto also implements several things such as a creepy porcelain doll into the proceedings, which help to give the film more of a horror edge. There's a lot more nudity in this film than there is gore, but what there is in the way of blood is well used, and one scene in particular; which involves the couple's dog, is particularly nasty and liable to offend. Overall, even though Satan's Blood is heinously underseen, I personally wouldn't hesitate to rate it as a first class slice of Euro-horror, and it comes highly recommended.