Alucarda (1977)

After the death of her parents, a young girl arrives at a convent and brings a sinister presence with her. Is it her enigmatic imaginary friend, Alucarda, who is to blame? Or is there a satanic force at work?

Director:

Juan López Moctezuma (as Juan L. Moctezuma)

Writers:

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

Stars:

Claudio Brook, David Silva, Tina Romero

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A young girl's arrival at a convent after the death of her parents marks the beginning of a series of events that unleash an evil presence on the girl and her mysterious new friend, an enigmatic figure known as Alucarda. Demonic possession, Satan worship, and vampirism follows.

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Plot Keywords:

convent | hysteria | evil nun | screaming | erotica | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1978 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Mark of the Devil Part 3: Innocence from Hell

Filming Locations:

Estudios América, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Films 75, Yuma Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alucarda, when spelled backward, means 'adracula'.

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Quotes

Alucarda: And this is what the devil does.
Alucarda: He grants us vertues to expand his kingdom, the only valid one.
Justine: God with his lack of knowledge, does not understand this truth.
Justine: And apose of it with false toughts and prayers.
Mother Superior: [Mother Superior screams] God, silence.
Alucarda: [Alucarda and Justine both chant] Satan satan satan, our lord and master.
Alucarda: I acknowledge thee as my god and prince.
Alucarda: I promise to serve and obey thee as long as i shall live.
Alucarda: I pronounce the other god and all the saints.
Mother Superior: Don't listen to them, don't ...
[...]

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Connections

References Bloodsucking Freaks (1976)

User Reviews

Satanic panic theater

You can have so much fun with this!

In this crazy exploitation movie, young nuns Alucarda (anagram for Dracula) and Justine strike a blood pact, summon demonic forces of some sort and wreak havoc in a small religious community in Mexico. That's it in a nutshell.

It isn't simply a bad film, though it is in conventional terms. It's so utterly nonsensical, so bizarre and hysteric it becomes much more than it is. And isn't the whole point with movies that we construct what they mean to us?

It falls somewhere between Jess Franco's lesbian vampire films, and unconsciously Arrabal's Panic Theater and the Pythons. The beauty of it is that you can read it any way you feel like, there is no logic which is something I seek in films. Or rather, the logic is so inane compared to the anarchic joy, it breaks. My preferred reading is that the whole cacophonous mess is something between Justine's fears of motherhood strangling her sexuality (viewed through a Catholic prism), a confessional of scandalous teenage thoughts, and mischief caused by two young nuns in the back benches during Sunday school, perhaps imaginary, perhaps blown up into 'possession' by the shrill teacher.

It is all entirely theatric, but unselfconscious which is why its chaos works. Everyone is acting crazy, nuns drop down out of the blue. A book (ostensibly on demonology) simply reads 'Satan'. It's all of it disconnected, we visit one place then another. There is a satanic ritual and orgy for no good reason.

There is so much screaming, there is screaming inside the screaming.

It's awesome.