La campana del infierno (1973)

Director:

Claudio Guerín

Writers:

Santiago Moncada (story)
Santiago Moncada (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 October 1973 (Spain)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

A young man is released from an asylum and returns home for revenge on his aunt and her three daughters...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Inheritance | Asylum | Aunt | Cousin Cousin Relationship

Cast

Renaud Verley	...	Juan (John in English version)
Viveca Lindfors	...	Marta
Alfredo Mayo	...	Don Pedro
Maribel Martín	...	Esther
Nuria Gimeno	...	Teresa
Christina von Blanc	...	María (as Christine Betzner)
Saturno Cerra
Nicole Vesperini
Erasmo Pascual	...	Priest
Antonio Puga
Juan Cazalilla
Tito García
Rosetta Vellisca
Ángel Blanco
Susana Latour	...	Juan's mother

Also Known As:

A Bell from Hell (USA)
La cloche de l'enfer (France)

Runtime:

Spain:106 min | USA:93 min

Country:

Spain | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

A Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Company:

Hesperia Films S.A.

Trivia:

Director Claudio Guerín Hill fell from the tower housing the title bell on the last day of shooting and was killed. The film was completed by Juan Antonio Bardem.

Quotes:

[Juan ties Esther's wrists and ankles]
Esther: [laughing] This is a new game!
Juan: In every tragedy, there is an innocent victim. In this case - you're it.

This is the kind of movie that sticks with you: it has incest, mystery, a bee swarm, twisted family revenge, good-looking actors and cool cinematography...

Back before cable killed late night television horror on local broadcast channels (its all infomercials now), this movie ran a few times on a Southern-California station. It has been some time since I've seen it, but this is the kind of movie that sticks with you: it has incest, mystery, a bee swarm, twisted family revenge, good-looking actors and cool cinematography in an intriguing mix of religious imagery, repressed sexuality and seventies rock'n'roll glamour. The story revolves around a young man's vengeful return home, and a parallel plot following the arrival of a new bell for the town's church tower. The result is a surreal, gothic, darkly humorous horror film - made during Franco's reign, no less! (The first time I saw an Almodover film - "Dark Habits" - I thought of "A Bell From Hell".) This film is also vaguely reminiscent of "High Plains Drifter": lone figure rides into town - this time on a motorcycle - and mayhem ensues in the reckoning. Morricone's influence might be why, at times, the gothic style seems to break wide open into heat and sunlight; think too, of Jagger, Richards, Brian Jones in Morrocco... And there's a big debt to the Hammer Studios style of horror, in that most of the terror is psychological (there is some interesting violence, but I don't remember any full-throttle gore) and the plot relies on a creepy, pervasive atmosphere of threat and sexuality to build the suspense. It would be great to see this re-released on video!