(1973)
Dir - Juan Antonio Bardem
Overall: GOOD
From a script perspective, Juan Antonio Bardem's The Corruption of Christ Miller, (La corrupción de Chris Miller, Behind the Shutters, Sisters of Corruption), is one of the more complex and nuanced of Spanish giallo-tinged thrillers from the 1970s. Bardem was not known for genre cinema throughout his career, so it is unsurprising in this respect that he presents Santiago Moncada's script in a manner that is off the beaten path. Somewhat of a thinking person's Euro-trash, its more open ended
attributes actually seem to be there on purpose as opposed to being
rushed, unimportant afterthoughts due to budget constraints and minimal
shooting schedules. The opening is particularly odd and noteworthy where a woman wakes up nude, goes downstairs, and orders a mute person dressed as Charlie Chaplin to leave the premises. When things shift to the troubled mother/stepdaughter dynamic of Jean Seberg and Marisol, (Josefa Flores González), and then a handsome drifter enters the picture, the story takes on a different tone where manipulation, bitterness, and suspicion create some chilling ambiguity. Several moments have an arthouse flavor, including a nasty murder sequence that cuts out the sound and switches to slow motion for stark, horrific emphasis as well as a strong ending that unconventionally utilizes a montage approach to create almost Hitchcock-worthy tension.
(1974)
Dir - José Ulloa
Overall: MEH
More of an apocalyptic drama than anything exploring science fiction ideas or utilizing horror motifs, co-writer/director José Ulloa's Creation of the Damned, (El refugio del miedo, Refuge of Fear), is too sluggish and flat in its presentation to be of much interest. This is Ulloa's first credited feature behind the lens, which perhaps partly explains the unengaging pace and sterile look. Set in a single, boarded up apartment where a group of friends sit through a nuclear fall out that has left the world ravaged by radiation, we certainly feel their monotonous lifestyle where they grow increasingly agitated, desperate, and suspicious of each other as they are left with little else to do beside play pool and have sex with whoever is bored. As one would expect, the imposed quarantine makes everyone crack in more ways than one and the nihilistic ending sees genre mainstay Patty Shepard defending herself against a guy who is trying to repopulate the human race with her after being convinced that the earth is doomed even though their radio connection to the outside world has informed them that it is in fact finally safe to venture out. There are the usual low-budget Euro-tropes such as unintentionally funny dialog, inappropriately jovial music, choppy editing, bad dubbing, and of course rape, with a random striptease also thrown in to sleaze it up that much more.
(1975)
Dir - Amando de Ossorio
Overall: GOOD
One of the more wild and inventive foreign knock-offs of The Exorcist, Demon Witch Child, (La endemoniada, The Possessed), from the Blind Dead series writer/director Amando de Ossorio goes for garish shocks, hilariously profane dialog, and fun, blasphemous creepiness. The appropriate plagiarism is in place with A) a preteen girl getting possessed, dropping a lot of profanity, and speaking in other people's voices B) people doing experiments on her to see what the hell is the matter, C) her mother being particularly distraught over the whole affair, and D) a priest with some troubled personal drama of his own. Several elements are missing, namely an actual exorcism and a demonic entity, but here lies some of Ossorio's own clever ideas which differentiate it enough as a silly cash-grab. Little Marián Salgado, (who actually dubbed Linda Blair in the Spanish release of The Exorcist), looks ridiculous enough in her old crone makeup to actually come off as unsettling and the scenes of the evil coven in all of their grandiose, Satan-praising glory have a fitting mix of gruesomeness and absurdity as the performances crank up the silly even as they are sacrificing live babies. Euro-horror scream queens Julia Saly and María Kosty are nice additions as well in minor roles, the later as a particularly dramatic women who falls into prostitution because her boyfriend dumped her for the priesthood. Hey, we've all been there.
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