A Candle for the Devil (1973)
Two religious sisters who run a small hotel in rural Spain take exception to the "sins" of British holidaymakers and decide enough is enough.
This Spanish film from director Eugenio Martin, probably best known for the Cushing / Lee classic Horror Express (1972) is an absolute gem of a horror thriller. More of a study of deranged religious ideals than a straight ahead horror film, this makes the film creepy and a sense of unease pervades throughout. The sisters, Marta (Aurora Bautista) and Veronica (Esperanza Roy) are brilliantly played, Marta the devout Catholic who sees sin in everyone and Veronica although more timid finds the time to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh with a young man half her age.
Judy Geeson plays the heroine of the piece although she is slightly under used and goes missing for the middle third. The Spanish village of El Pauler near Madrid is the fourth star of the film, its decaying streets add to the highly charged atmosphere in fact this could also be a companion piece to Who Can Kill a Child (1976) as both films have the same eerie ambiance to them.
The film is quite violent in places and has its fair share of murders, some of dubious taste, for example killing a mother in front of her baby son, with the camera alternating between the gruesome killing and the childs pannicked face. naturally where there's horror and religion there's always sex and the film has its fair share of this too. The films pacing although quite slow to begin with eventually quickens and had me on the edge of my seat once again.
Sadly the Blu-ray from 88 Films is awful. The print isn't HD quality, it's so soft and has way too many lines in it throughout the film. It's not even dvd quality, more average vhs. It does look better than the old Odeon dvd but it's still really disappointing.
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