La campana del infierno (1973)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

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
La cloche de l'enfer (France)
The Bell of Hell

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.

Classic Eurohorror

This is classic Eurohorror. It makes no sense whatsoever, but it is chock-full of startling visual images, bizarre plot twists, warped psychology, and perverse sex. A young man is unjustly sentenced to a mental institution by his crippled aunt, so (of course) he takes it out on his three sexy, young female cousins (who all end up deflowered and hanging naked in a slaughterhouse). He gets his comeuppance though as a result of various macabre jokes he plays on local would-be rapist and his wife. The ending is yet another European variation on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Black Cat" with a little "Phantom of the Opera" thrown in for good measure. It's too bad the director Guerin-Hill died falling off the titular bell tower while shooting the last scene of this movie. If A Bell from Hell is any indication he could have given the Franco-Rollins-Borowczyx triumvirate a run for their money when it came to arty, vaguely erotic, non-sensical Eurohorror.