Latidos de pánico (1983)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Paul Naschy

Writer:

Paul Naschy (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

The spirit of a deceased knight returns every 100 years to clean a house by graphicly murdering the women who are making the life of his descendants unbearable. |

Plot Keywords:

House | Spirit | Knight | Woman In Peril | Curse

Cast

Paul Naschy	...	Paul / Alaric de Marnac
Julia Saly	...	Geneviève
Lola Gaos	...	Mabile
Silvia Miró	...	Mireille
Paquita Ondiviela	...	Julie (as Pat Ondiviela)
Manuel Zarzo	...	Dr. Lacombe
José Vivó	...	Dr. Rigaud
Charly Bravo
José Sacristán	...	Alain (as José Sacristán Hernández)
Salvador Sáinz	...	Catholic Priest

Also Known As:

Cries of Terror (International: English title) (informal literal title)
Frantic Heartbeat (USA) (informal English title)
Panic Beats (International: English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:18

Movie Connections:

Follows El espanto surge de la tumba (1973)

Naschy directs himself ... and himself!

Paul Naschy was quite an important contributor to the industry of European horror films, and I'm an unusually big fan of his work and persona, but he undeniably never accomplished anything major or classic during all his years of film-making. The titles in his repertoire provide large portions of gore and sleaze (thumbs up for that!) but his screenplays are generally uninspired and too often revert to the same old and repetitive basic premise. Apparently, Mr. Naschy just loves to play his own descendant in stories that revolve on ancient folklore legends and family curses. The entire "Hombre Lobo" cycle is based on this principle as well. "Panic Beats" is sort of like a re-telling of Naschy's earlier film "Horror Rises from the Tomb", as both films feature a murderously mad 16th Century knight - Alaric de Marnac - who supposedly returns from the grave to slay unfaithful women. In this film, 20th Century sleaze-ball Paul uses the petrifying myth to scare his wife to death, inherit her family fortune and marry a young & viral beauty. But, unfortunately for Paul, there's a lot more treason going on behind his back and he also never took into consideration that the myth of his malevolent ancestor might have some truth in it. The plot of "Panic Beats" is overall very dull and it doesn't feature a single story-element or twist that you can't see coming from several miles away. Every dire cliché and stereotype you can think of regarding isolated country mansions and medieval curses is predictably processed into the script, including the loyal old servant and the knight's armor that seemingly moves all by itself. But hey, as usual it was the high gore & sleaze factor that eventually convinced me to reward "Panic Beats" with a positive rating after all. There are a handful of truly nasty murders, committed with axes and other typically medieval armory. Beautiful feminine nudity is provided by luscious women such as Silvia Miró and Paquita Ondiviela, who both go full frontal without hesitating. I just wished Paul Naschy didn't insist on showing so much of his own naked and unusually hairy torso. Oh well … Recommended to all fans of trashy euro-horror, and the Mondo Macabro DVD is a real treat full of phenomenal extras!