Tag Archives: Spain

The Devil Hunter / El caníbal (1980) Jesús Franco, Ursula Buchfellner, Al Cliver, Antonio Mayans, Horror, Sexploitation, Erotic

003ce158
The story is set amongst jungle tribes that live in fear of the devil. Laura Crawford is a model who gets kidnapped by a gang of thugs whilst working in South America. They take her into the jungle and demand a huge ransom. Laura is guarded by some ridiculous looking native who calls himself “The Devil” and has to go through all manner of unpleasantries until the gang get their ransom. Chained maidens are offered in supplication and the devil demonstrates eating pussy in a grossly excessive literal manner. Enter Peter Weston, the devil hunter, who goes into the jungle in true Indiana Jones style to try and rescue her.
Read More »

The City of Lost Children (1995) Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Art-house, Fantasy, Sci-fi

003cd293
With a mad scientist kidnapping children to steal their dreams, only brave young Miette (Judith Vittet) and a kindhearted circus strongman (Ron Perlman) can save them. Part fantasy, part nightmare, this production used more special effects than any other French film to date. Featuring stunning visuals from directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, the sci-fi fairy tale was nominated for a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.
Read More »

15 Years and One Day / 15 años y un día (2013) Gracia Querejeta, Tito Valverde, Maribel Verdú, Arón Piper, Drama

003cbc9c
Fourteen-year-old Jon is increasingly acting out. He gets expelled from school and then poisons a neighbor’s dog. His mother, a widow and a struggling actress, feels overwhelmed and sends him to the Alicante coast to live with his grandfather Max, a Bosnian War veteran and a strict disciplinarian. Jon and Max clash – no TV! – but the boy starts to adapt to his new environment and make new friends. Suddenly a shocking act of violence turns Jon’s life upside down; it’s left to Max to investigate who’s responsible.
Read More »

For a handful of kisses / Por un puñado de besos (2014) David Menkes, Joel Bosqued, Pere Brasó, Jan Cornet, Drama, Romance

003ca5e9
Sol and Dani have fallen in love after their first date. But months earlier Sol, a beautiful and sensitive girl, had her dreams tragically torn apart. In spite of this she remains convinced that love is a necessity for her; for that reason she embarks on a quest for a soul-mate with whom she can share everything. The problem is that Dani is hiding a secret that can shatter Sol’s illusions.
Read More »

Night of 1,000 Sexes / Mil sexos tiene la noche (1984) Jesus Franco, Lina Romay, Daniel Katz, Carmen Carrión, Horror, Thriller, Erotic

night_of_1000_sexes
Franco at his finest – somebody get this film on DVD now! This obscure Golden Films production got to pop the Franco-cherry on my new movie projector. It was just the right choice! Lina Romay, chubby like she just walked out of an Anders Zorn-painting, plays Irena (Female Vampire flashbacks, anybody?) who’s part of a kind of hypnosis nightclub act with the magician Fábian. He’s not a very nice guy and uses his hypnotic powers to use poor Irena as an instrument of vengeance, sleeping with and killing off his enemies. Or is the whole set up just part of her nightmares? An unusually good, hypnotic (in both meanings of the word) sleaze flick that really shows what Franco can achieve with extremely limited resources – some hotel rooms, a handful of actors (the same old faces that’s in all films from this period), a film camera and some re-used Daniel White music. Man, I really love this stripped down Golden Films stuff when it’s done right and this films is much closer in spirit to, say, Macumba Sexual than Mansion of the Living Dead. Parts of the film are almost delirious. There’s a thick, intimate atmosphere and interesting experimental photography. Some scenes are almost bordering on the poetic, for example we have a beautifully shot long kiss filmed through a glass door, bathing in sunlight. Say what you want about Lina’s acting capacity but here she gives all she’s got, somewhat reprising her roles in Female Vampire and Doriana Gray. Even though the story itself is more similar to Nightmares Come at Night. Highly recommended!
Read More »

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) Woody Allen, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Comedy, Drama, Romance

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (Woody Allen, 2010)
Follows a pair of married couples, Alfie (Hopkins) and Helena (Jones), and their daughter Sally (Watts) and husband Roy (Brolin), as their passions, ambitions, and anxieties lead them into trouble and out of their minds. After Alfie leaves Helena to pursue his lost youth and a free-spirited call girl named Charmaine (Punch), Helena abandons rationality and surrenders her life to the loopy advice of a charlatan fortune teller. Unhappy in her marriage, Sally develops a crush on her handsome art gallery owner boss, Greg (Banderas), while Roy, a novelist nervously awaiting the response to his latest manuscript, becomes moonstruck over Dia (Pinto), a mystery woman who catches his gaze through a nearby window.
Read More »