Estigma

A sensitive young man with an Oedipus complex, Sebastian was born with a 'Venetian veil' covering his face (aka a caul), and henceforth he's destined to become a clairvoyant according to his super-hot mum, now a lonely widow in need of regular attention. See into the future he can, the only problem being everything he sees is harmful and allegedly not within his ability to control. Superstitious Olga catches the vibe and starts to hyperventilate, warning others of his evil. So begins our tale.

Larraz regular Bastedo stars as the girlfriend of the protagonist's brother whose pity for his social awkwardness gradually becomes more vital, but inherently dangerous. Radiant German actress Line is elegant as the refined but flawed mother whose need for social attention earns her clingy man-child's selfish (and creepy) disdain.

The impressive multilingual cast also features American ex-pat Hill in a minor cameo as a sympathetic priest, and glamorous Italian leading lady Incontrera in her last role playing a ghost (appearing alongside prolific Italian actor - often seen in peplums - Serato in flashbacks). Seductive Blavier provides major eye candy in her only credited screen role in those later flashback scenes.

There's initially not much of the signature Larraz style on display in this talky supernatural thriller, the usual attention to detail replaced by a torpid, exploitative narrative lacking his typical visual flair and originality. Corny dialogue ('whenever I hate somebody they die, and then my lip bleeds') can be distracting at times, and the plot struggles with the tedious jumble of cliches trotted out in predictable procession.

A welcome transformation happens once the film shifts location to the old manor, the type of eerie setting in which Larraz excels using its situation, layout and props to position his lenses and influence character behaviour making it an integral part of the story. It's not a complete game-changer, but the film becomes much more dynamic in visual quality, and it's just a shame it takes most of the film to find its groove.

Borrowing elements from contemporary influences - chiefly, 'The Omen', 'Carrie' - 'Estigma' is perhaps little more than an attractive derivative, hovering somewhere between erotic thriller and conservative supernatural horror deploying the usual cinematic tropes and tricks, with middling success.

This horror as well as semi-exploitation movie deals with a young named Sebastian who kills unintentionally . A real chiller in which the involuntary death of Sebastian (Christian Borromeo)'s father engenders in him telekinetic talents . His accidental death wishes seem to carry out terrible accidents , which are impossible to stop . Sebastian is overprotected by his mother (Helga Line who played various films for Larraz) and he is infatuated for her . Later on , Sebastian meets Angie (Alexandra Bastedo), brother's girlfriend , who works at a bookshop . When his older brother (Emilio Gutierrez Caba still nowadays successfully playing) suffers a car crash , he unleashes his fantastic skills and feels that he has caused it . He undergoes hypnosis by a clairvoyant (Irene Gutierrez Caba , sister's Emilio) to control his nasty thoughts but his apparent supernatural powers continue . As his own life nears its end and not being able to avoid his hallucinations , he becomes even more violent and sadistic . Realizing he's been a killer , Sebastian seeks answers , as the young with psychic powers attempts to find out the rare events leading to an old mansion in bloody results which ends in death .

This frightening movie deliberately told contains thrills , chills , suspense and lots of violence and some gore , including obnoxious executions . Jose Ramon Larraz master of arty gore and soft-core , brings this eerie and stylish story plagued with twisted intrigue , mediums , telekinetic powers , nudism and depraved gore murders . This is a Spanish exploitation from American slashers , possession's sub-genre and Brian De Palma , Dario Argento films . As Jose Larraz takes here and there from ¨Palma's Carrie¨ , ¨Palma's The Fury¨ , and the possession's theme about person possessed by old time spectres or ghouls from ¨Michael Winner's The Nightcomers¨ and ¨Don Sharp's Dark places¨. Sometimes weak screenplay is added to well-staged murders and some gory special effects . Strange acting by Christian Borromeo as a young with pathological fears and considerable telekinetic powers which he is unable to control . Pretty good support cast formed by usual actors of the 60s 70s who starred a lot of Spaghetti Western and terror movies such as Craig Hill , José María Caffarel , Antonio Molino Rojo , Annabella Incontrera and special mention to Helga Liné .

The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Jose Ramon Larraz . The recently deceased (2013) Larraz started in cinema world by casual way when he meets the famous director Josef Von Stenberg running a cinematographic course in Brussels . Larraz was a director of horror and erotic films and former comic book illustrator and fashion photographer. Worked in England as Joseph Larraz, and in Spain, using the pseudonym Joseph Braunstein . As he shot his first movies in England, plenty of horror , suspense and sex , such as ¨Whirlpool¨ (1970) , ¨Deviation¨(1971) , ¨La Muerte Incierta¨(1972) , ¨Scream or die¨(1973) and ¨Symptoms¨ with Angela Pleasence and Peter Vaughan . He also shot soft-cores and then Jose Ramon returns Spain filming horror and semi-exploitative movies such as ¨Estigma¨, ¨Ritos Sexuales Del Diablo¨, ¨Al Filo del Hacha¨ and ¨Descanse en Piezas¨ , imitating the American Slahers of the 70s and 80s . His most successful film was ¨Vampyres¨, played by Playboy young models , blending arty house , horror and erotic situations ; dealing with alluring females vampires coerce unsuspecting motorists to their castle for a good time .¨Stigma¨ rating : Acceptable and passable terror movie .

This is a film that borrows tropes from other films but in the end lacks any kind of verve to sustain viewer interest. It is beautifully lensed, with creative shots and a dream-like cinematography--the focus is on imagery rather than narrative, tell-tell signs of a Giallo film. And yet, this isn't a Giallo, despite numerous stylistic flourishes associated with the genre. Some half-baked narrative about a psychic teenager who believes he can kill with his thoughts and pursues his older brother's girlfriend. It's slow moving by today's standards, taking it's time to develop characters (which is nice), but ultimately the movie doesn't deliver the goods. Others have remarked about the modest gore, which didn't help things, but this wasn't directed by Fulci or Argento. The movie veers between a coming-of-age drama, a thriller, a Giallo, and an art film, but ultimately can't make up its mind what it wants to be, so it's nothing.

Just an over long mess that remains a curio of Spanish Cinema, a movie that is constructed as a patchwork of other, more interesting films.

José Ramón Larraz's Stigma is part psychic thriller and part supernatural/ghost story, but its all dull, a slow-burn effort lacking in atmosphere and chills whilst also being utterly bewildering.

Christian Borromeo plays Sebastián, who was born with a 'Venetian Veil' (a piece of membrane that covers a newborn's head and face), which according to his mother (Helga Liné) has given the young man psychic powers. Now, when Sebastián gets uncontrollably angry at someone, they die in mysterious circumstances. Sebastián also has an unnatural interest in his mother, watching her as she sleeps and sniffing her underwear.

When Sebastián allows his friend Angie (Alexandra Bastedo) to take him to hypnotist/psychic Olga (Irene Gutiérrez Caba), he regresses to a previous life as Miguel, who shagged his sexy sister Julia (stunning brunette Berta Cabré), chopped up his parents with an axe, and then hanged himself.

Plagued by ghostly visions of his victims and spirits from the past, Sebastián goes to the house he saw whilst hypnotised, where he relives the horrific events of the past before killing himself. Confusing and not at all scary, with little in the way of gore (the axe attacks are fairly tame), about the only thing this has to recommend it to fans of Euro-horror is some nudity courtesy of Bastedo and Cabré.