It Happened at Nightmare Inn (1973)
"Una vela para el diablo" (original title)

Two old maid sisters are running a little family hotel in Spain. They are very religious and the moral of the foreign tourist girl is too much for them, they start to kill them.

Director:

Eugenio Martín

Writers:

Antonio Fos, Eugenio Martín

Stars:

Judy Geeson, Aurora Bautista, Esperanza Roy

Cast

Cast overview:
Judy Geeson	...	Laura Barkley
Aurora Bautista	...	Marta
Esperanza Roy	...	Verónica
Víctor Alcázar	...	Eduardo (as Vic Winner)
Lone Fleming	...	Helen Miller
Blanca Estrada	...	Norma
Loreta Tovar	...	May (as Loretta Tovar)
Montserrat Julió	...	Beatriz (as Julia Montserrat)
Fernando Villena	...	Médico
Fernando Hilbeck	...	Alcalde
Charley Pineiro	...	Luis

Storyline

Two old maid sisters are running a little family hotel in Spain. They are very religious and the moral of the foreign tourist girl is too much for them, they start to kill them.

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Plot Keywords:

sister | spain | tourist | hotel | spinster | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

1973 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Nightmare Hotel

Filming Locations:

El Paular, Madrid, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vega Films, Mercofilms

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Bad Girls Beware!

Aurora Bautista and Esperanza Roy play two sisters running an inn in Spain. Young, foreign girls come to visit but end up staying permanently. British actress Judy Geeson plays the sister of one of the girls who begins to put the pieces together of the horrors that have been going on at the inn. Director Eugenio Martin does quite an effective job with this film. It seems that the oldest sister Bautista was jilted on her wedding day by a young, pretty girl of a loose nature. Now, she is out to do God's work and rid the world of girls with loose morals and inappropriate attire. Both actresses playing the crazy sisters do stellar jobs playing off-key, psychotic women of very different natures. Bautista in particular gives a very commanding performance and is indeed very menacing. She also adds some pathos to her role. Martin builds suspense nicely and does several things very well. The use of religion as a tool of sexual repression was a thematic thread throughout. One scene has a girl die by accidentally falling in a pane of stained glass - a religious subject. When the body is removed a piece sticking in her has a bloody sword from the window stand in tact as to say this is the work of God. There are many other religious scenes and references used as well. The film is not particularly gory but there are some scenes that I found quite chilling. One with a baby as witness and then another of Geeson getting to know wine vats. The performers all do fine jobs, the direction is taut, and the script is convincing given the aforementioned two credits toward its credibility. The film does indeed have that European film from the 60's or 70's quality, but I truly am surprised that I had not heard much about this film beforehand. It is one of those minor gems you sometime are lucky enough to come across every now and then.