Alucarda, la hija de las tinieblas (1978)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Juan López Moctezuma

Writers:

Sheridan Le Fanu (novel)
Alexis Arroyo (story) ...

Release Date:

26 January 1978 (Mexico)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

They gave their souls to Hell... but the Devil wanted MORE! [Canada]

Plot:

A young girl's arrival at a convent after the death of her parents marks the beginning of a series of...

Plot Keywords:

Satan | Convent | Violence | Self Flagellation | Altar

Cast

Claudio Brook	...	Dr. Oszek / Hunchbacked Gypsy
David Silva	...	Father Lázaro
Tina Romero	...	Alucarda / Alucarda's Mother
Susana Kamini	...	Justine
Lili Garza	...	Daniela Oszek (as Lily Garza)
Tina French	...	Sister Angélica
Birgitta Segerskog	...	Mother Superior
Adriana Roel	...	Sister Germana
Antonia Guerrero
Martin LaSalle	...	Brother Felipe (as Martín Lasalle)
Manuel Dondé	...	Wagon Driver
Adriana Riveroll
Susan Inman
Alejandra Moya
Agustín Isunza	...	Monk

Also Known As:

Alucarda (USA) (video title)
Innocents from Hell (USA) (video title)
Mark of the Devil 3 (USA) (video title)
Sisters of Satan (USA)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Estudios América, Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Films 75

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Devil's Disciples (2006) (V)

To mock a killing bird

The opening scene suggests that Alucarda may be the devil's daughter. She is raised by nuns, but later daddy's DNA shows its effect, and she starts to do bad things. Very bad things. Setting nuns and monks on fire - or even kissing her girlfriend Justine. When Justine is (unintentionally) killed during an exorcism ritual, Alucarda explodes with rage and wants revenge on the priest.

Everything you might expect is in here: fire, blood, whips, screams, blasphemies, and an orgy supervised by a guy with horns (well, a cheap rubber mask). However, this Mexican flick does not actually transgress the borders of Catholicism. There is a doctor, modern and progressive, who doesn't believe in the exorcist, but he has to give in and confess to the clergyman that there is something supernatural he can't explain as a scientist. A slice of the usual rubbish, unfortunately.

Composer Anthony Guefen delivers a weird soundtrack, almost entirely consisting of organ sounds, rising and fading, rather "spaced out". If I can trust the biog here, his first work for a movie. More recently, he released happy danceable world music tunes, quite a long way to go. Director Moctezuma was one of the producers for Alejandro Jodorowsky's "El Topo" a couple of years earlier which explains why "Alucarda" is quite bizarre. Tina Romero, starring as Alucarda, looks good in black and practices her maniacal stare until perfection. The role doesn't really offer a variety of expressions, to be fair. My verdict: got a real low budget gem here!