"The Mansion of the Living Dead" is a perfectly decent if slow-moving zombie tale.
**SPOILERS** Going on a vacation, friends Candy, (Lina Romay) Mabel, (Mabel Escano) Lea, (Mari Carmen Nieto) and Caty, (Elisa Vela) arrive at a lavish hotel resort in Spain to get in some much-needed rest and relaxation. Enjoying the opportunity for a slew of topless antics, they become unnerved when, despite them appearing to be the only ones there, a series of accidents almost ends up murdering them. Deciding to stay, they are unable to find anyone there except for cryptic owner Carlos Savonarola, (Antonio Mayans) who no one of them trusts. When they realize that they're being slowly disappearing one at a time around the hotel grounds, they get suspicious that something is happening to them, and when they realize that there's a coven of Satanic worshippers planning on sacrificing the group for it's ceremonies, they try to hold off the deadly rituals.
The Good News: This here was a pretty enjoyable entry that did have some good things going for it. One of the better elements is that location provides a lot of great atmosphere to be had. The desolation of the area is fully captured well and makes for some great moments. The early walks through the grounds trying to find the main entrance, which is cleverly hidden away from the facility's entrance beyond a walkway that's quite expertly placed to make the most of the atmospheric possibilities it has. The rest of the hotel grounds, with the layout of the walkways to the flower pads and the interior of the buildings are all very well-done, making for a unique look that works well and gets some good moments off in the beginning of the film. There's also some good stuff to be had from the cult's rituals and looks as well, which is quite nicely supplied here by the excellent make-up. Their decaying faces, giant robes and skeletal features make them quite imposing, and then there comes the rituals that they partake in. The sacrificial room, where they show the different sacrifices, is a perfect setting for the deadly actions to follow, and it makes the sequence stand-out a little more than it normally would, which is a great sign and is also responsible for one of the only true gore scenes to be involved in the film, giving it extra points. Even more so is the later scene where the ceremony involves the large group involving the others invoking the outsider to come into their ranks being a rather impressive scene. The last plus here is the film's sleaze and nudity, which is the overall best part of the film as a whole. There's a ton of this in the film, which is a welcome sight as this provides a ton of different memorable moments. From the different lesbian encounters that feature them going all the way and showing everything possible, to the topless actions and the encounters with the chained woman in the S&M gear, it gets a lot of great nudity into the film that definitely works well in here. By featuring everything possible in the scenes, it makes the film quite enjoyable and makes the film that much better. With a couple of nice scares thrown into the mix and a fun ending, these here are the film's good points.
The Bad News: There wasn't much really wrong with this one. Much of the film's problems are a part of it's funereal pacing. This one here is one of the slowest moving horror films around, practically moving along at a snail's pace for the duration of everything and tending to take it so long to get anything out that it becomes dull after a while. From the endless scenes of them frolicking in their rooms or on the beach or the antics of the others around the hotel interacting with them, leaving the film to feel quite overlong and action-less at times, with much in the way of action in the beginning portions of the film taken up with nudity and their involvements to get into those situations, and it can lead to monotonous moments at times. The fact that the cult doesn't even make any mention or appearance until after an hour, which is barely worthwhile and makes it quite hard to really get into. The other flaw to this one is the confusing plot, which makes little sense. There's not much given as to how the different elements come together, what the purpose of everything means and, all together, nothing here makes even the slightest bit of sense and comes off as quite confusing. A little bit for any of these elements would've made a big difference. These here are the film's big flaws.
The Final Verdict: While it's not the fastest moving film around, there's enough going on so it's not a complete failure overall. Really look into this one if you're into the previous entries in the Blind Dead saga or a fan of Franco's more modern stuff, while those who prefer films laced with energy should heed caution.
Rated UR/R: Full Nudity, several Sex Scenes, Adult Language and Violence
**SPOILERS** Going on a vacation, friends Candy, (Lina Romay) Mabel, (Mabel Escano) Lea, (Mari Carmen Nieto) and Caty, (Elisa Vela) arrive at a lavish hotel resort in Spain to get in some much-needed rest and relaxation. Enjoying the opportunity for a slew of topless antics, they become unnerved when, despite them appearing to be the only ones there, a series of accidents almost ends up murdering them. Deciding to stay, they are unable to find anyone there except for cryptic owner Carlos Savonarola, (Antonio Mayans) who no one of them trusts. When they realize that they're being slowly disappearing one at a time around the hotel grounds, they get suspicious that something is happening to them, and when they realize that there's a coven of Satanic worshippers planning on sacrificing the group for it's ceremonies, they try to hold off the deadly rituals.
The Good News: This here was a pretty enjoyable entry that did have some good things going for it. One of the better elements is that location provides a lot of great atmosphere to be had. The desolation of the area is fully captured well and makes for some great moments. The early walks through the grounds trying to find the main entrance, which is cleverly hidden away from the facility's entrance beyond a walkway that's quite expertly placed to make the most of the atmospheric possibilities it has. The rest of the hotel grounds, with the layout of the walkways to the flower pads and the interior of the buildings are all very well-done, making for a unique look that works well and gets some good moments off in the beginning of the film. There's also some good stuff to be had from the cult's rituals and looks as well, which is quite nicely supplied here by the excellent make-up. Their decaying faces, giant robes and skeletal features make them quite imposing, and then there comes the rituals that they partake in. The sacrificial room, where they show the different sacrifices, is a perfect setting for the deadly actions to follow, and it makes the sequence stand-out a little more than it normally would, which is a great sign and is also responsible for one of the only true gore scenes to be involved in the film, giving it extra points. Even more so is the later scene where the ceremony involves the large group involving the others invoking the outsider to come into their ranks being a rather impressive scene. The last plus here is the film's sleaze and nudity, which is the overall best part of the film as a whole. There's a ton of this in the film, which is a welcome sight as this provides a ton of different memorable moments. From the different lesbian encounters that feature them going all the way and showing everything possible, to the topless actions and the encounters with the chained woman in the S&M gear, it gets a lot of great nudity into the film that definitely works well in here. By featuring everything possible in the scenes, it makes the film quite enjoyable and makes the film that much better. With a couple of nice scares thrown into the mix and a fun ending, these here are the film's good points.
The Bad News: There wasn't much really wrong with this one. Much of the film's problems are a part of it's funereal pacing. This one here is one of the slowest moving horror films around, practically moving along at a snail's pace for the duration of everything and tending to take it so long to get anything out that it becomes dull after a while. From the endless scenes of them frolicking in their rooms or on the beach or the antics of the others around the hotel interacting with them, leaving the film to feel quite overlong and action-less at times, with much in the way of action in the beginning portions of the film taken up with nudity and their involvements to get into those situations, and it can lead to monotonous moments at times. The fact that the cult doesn't even make any mention or appearance until after an hour, which is barely worthwhile and makes it quite hard to really get into. The other flaw to this one is the confusing plot, which makes little sense. There's not much given as to how the different elements come together, what the purpose of everything means and, all together, nothing here makes even the slightest bit of sense and comes off as quite confusing. A little bit for any of these elements would've made a big difference. These here are the film's big flaws.
The Final Verdict: While it's not the fastest moving film around, there's enough going on so it's not a complete failure overall. Really look into this one if you're into the previous entries in the Blind Dead saga or a fan of Franco's more modern stuff, while those who prefer films laced with energy should heed caution.
Rated UR/R: Full Nudity, several Sex Scenes, Adult Language and Violence