The Beasts' Carnival (1980) User Reviews

First Spanish-Japanase co-production starred , written and directed by terror idol Paul Naschy

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 15 March 2011]

This time Naschy is turned into a criminal mercenary who deceives ,steals and kills and goes on a murderous rampage until to terminate in the ¨Texas massacre house¨. The story starts in Japan on the lake Hakone near mount Fujiyama . Bruno Rivera (Paul Naschy) a tough mercenary is hired by an organization of fanatic idealists to carry out a hold-up on a valuable stash of diamonds. Bruno double-crosses his pregnant Japanese girlfriend and the criminal group and returns Spain. There he is located , taking place a chase and exciting pursuit nearly an old monastery . Being wounded , he is healed by the medic Simon (Lautaro Murua) and his daughters Alicia (Azuzena Hernandez)and Monica (Silvia Aguilar) . He takes shelter in their mansion but his former love interest Mieko (Eiko Nagashina) swears vengeance and is relentlessly looking for Bruno . Finally Bruno decides to escape until a creepy and surprising finale .

The picture is full of perverse images , sadism , morbidness and some nudism .It packs a crossover between noir cinema , gangsters genre and horror . Also displays acceptable photography , and Nazi iconography as usual in Naschy films. The film is narrated by means of flashbacks with Bruno's nightmares , developing Japan events and actual deeds when Naschy lives in the house of the rare family. The pig scenes of Ridley Scott's ¨Hannibal¨ seem to be taken from this film .

Jacinto Molina ,under pseudonym Paul Naschy turns out to be the continental Europe's biggest horror with his classic character , the unforgettable Waldemar Daninsky and frightening to viewer. He played as El Hombre Lobo for the umpteenth time . Jacinto Molina Aka Paul Naschy ,who recently passed away, was actor,screenwriter and director of various film about the personage based on fictitious character, the Polish count Waldemar Daninsky. The first film about Waldemar was ¨The mark of the Wolfman (1967)¨ by Enrique Eguiluz , after that ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Fury of the Wolfman¨ , ¨Doctor Jekill and the Wolfman¨ ,¨The return of the Walpurgis¨, ¨Howl of the devil¨, ¨The beast and the magic sword(1982)¨ that is filmed in Japan and finally ¨Licantropo(1998). After ¨The craving¨ it was such a box office disaster that Jacinto was bankrupt. He was forced to turn to Japan for making artist documentaries, as he filmed ' Madrid Royal Palace and Museum of Prado' and he gets financing from Japanese producers for ¨The human beasts¨, the first co-production Spanish-Japan and followed ¨The beast and the magic sword¨. Both of them are lavishly produced for the Paul Naschy standards. As the Atrezzo and gowns were well manufactured and exterior shot on both countries .

It's a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a Naif style.The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato and is occasionally an engaging horror movie full of slashing, beheading, and several other things. This time Paul Nashy/Jacinto Molina exhibits little breast but he was a weightlifting champion . Pretty slow going and some flaws and gaps , but hang in there for the incredible and unexpected ending . In the picture appears habitual secondaries from Naschy films as Luis Ciges , Pepe Ruiz , Rafael Hernadez and other known supporting cast as Tito Garcia and Ricardo Palacios .Good cinematography by Alejandro Ulloa (Horror express and The return of the Wolfman )is accompanied by a correct remastering and filmed in Japan , Madrid , Valley of Lozoya and surroundings . The motion picture is professionally directed and played by Jacinto Molina , a slick craftsman and mediocre actor.The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and terror genre enthusiasts. Rating : 6, passable and entertaining.

Trashy Naschy.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 7 November 2019]

Paul Naschy wrote and directed this Japanese/Spanish co-production, but instead of playing his regular hero or sympathetic monster, the Euro-horror star's character is a complete and utter git. Naschy plays Bruno Rivera, a ruthless mercenary hired by crime-boss Taro (Kogi Maritugu) to carry out a daring diamond robbery. As Bruno waits for the day of the heist, he romances Taro's sister Mieko (Eiko Nagashima), getting her pregnant, so it comes as a surprise when the mercenary double-crosses his employer and jilts his lover, running off with the sparklers. Taro and Mieko, naturally miffed, vow to hunt the scoundrel down.

During a shootout, Taro is killed and Bruno wounded, but Mieko's target gives her the slip. Eventually passing out from loss of blood, Bruno wakes to find himself in the home of doctor Don Simón (Lautaro Murúa) and his sexy daughters Alicia (the lovely Azucena Hernández) and Mónica (Silvia Aguilar), who nurse him back to health. Meanwhile, Mieko is closing in, determined to take revenge.

What follows is a fairly typical example of Euro sleaze, with both Mónica and Alicia lusting after Bruno, meaning that Naschy gets to roll around with both girls naked (remember, he wrote this, the sly old devil). There's also some naughtiness involving shapely servant girl Raquel, Don Simón giving her a flogging on her ass for disobedience (giving us a hint that the old guy isn't quite the saint that he at first appears to be). There's also some violence, a mysterious figure creeping about the house killing various visitors, allowing for a smattering of gore.

With the nudity and blood boxes well and truly ticked, Carnival of the Beasts should give most Naschy fans a reasonable time, but to be honest, the plot is pretty lousy, the acting not great (not helped by terrible dubbing on the version I watched), and the whole thing is rounded off with a very silly twist ending (all of which are probably plus points for many Euro-horror fans).

5/10, if only for this hilariously un-PC line of dialogue spoken about Asian women: 'They all look the same to me'.

Bleak Humanity

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 12 June 2017]

A hit man working for the Yakuza double crosses his employers and flees with a cache of diamonds from the latest heist. Injured and hiding in the mountain regions of Spain, with Japanese assassins in hot pursuit, he takes refuge in the home of a local doctor and his two daughters, who nurse him back to health and hide him from his pursuers.

Mirek Lipinski writes that this film is "one of Naschy's most intimate cries that something was wrong with humanity." Naschy himself wrote that at this point in his life he "didn't believe there were many things worthwhile in this filthy rotten world." This perfectly explains the mindset that went into writing and directing this film.

An unusual blend of mystery, action, crime and horror, the one unifying theme of the movie is that no one is to be trusted and man is always ready to prey on his fellow man. For those viewers who like to have a character they can be sympathetic with, this film may have you searching in vain. Our "hero" is a double-crossing hit-man and thief. His saviors have their own agenda. The house servant is unfaithful to her lover. The only one who is arguably a good person is Meiko, who is justified in tracking down the man who wronged her. But even here, when we first meet her, she has orchestrated a jewel heist.

Though not one of Naschy's better-known films (at least in America), it has some moderate star power. The two daughters are played by a former beauty contest winner and a former model, who were no doubt beloved in Spain. The cinematographer is Alejandro Ulloa (1926-2002), who may be known for "Horror Express" or Orson Welles' "Chimes at Midnight". The score even has a track from Ennio Morricone, albeit a recycled one from a much earlier film.

Scream! Factory has included this film as part of their 5-movie Paul Naschy Blu-ray set. Interestingly, of the five films this one has the fewest special features. This is a shame, as a commentary would have been nice or better still an interview with star Eiko Nagashima, who could have added a great deal of knowledge about the production.

The video transfer is very good. While not the most crisp and clean picture you will ever see, it is probably the best that could be achieved from the source material and looks exceptional. The only drawback is that Spanish (or Castilian) subtitles are embedded on the screen when characters speak Japanese. The sound, unfortunately, is not spectacular. While this is no doubt the way the original was and no fault of Scream, the vocals tend to fade in and out and the music is not as clear as it could be.

So ad not to end on a negative note, this is still well worth seeking out. For those who only know Naschy from his werewolf movies, this will be an eye-opening experience and really showcases his versatility for various genres.

Good moments, weird structure

[Groverdox · 6/10 · 11 October 2018]

"Human Beasts" is an odd mix of crime drama, action film, and horror - in that order. Naschy plays a criminal hired by Japanese gangsters to steal some diamonds. One of the gangsters is his girlfriend who is in loe with him, but the movie doesn't do much with this. When he steals the diamonds he cold-bloodedly murders everyone involved in transporting them, which shocks his employers, making one wonder what they expected when they hired a hitman to carry out the job. Naschy double crosses them and escapes into the Spanish highlands, but is injured in the fracas, and awakes in a mansion where a rich man and his beautiful daughters care for him.

We see Naschy bandaged up lying in bed with a doting woman standing beside him, there is a cut to something else, and cut back, and - what do you know - that doting woman is naked in bed with Naschy! This has to be one of the most unintentionally hilarious edits I have seen in a movie. Who needs things like seduction, sexual tension, chemistry - this is Naschy we're talking about. You know the girls are going to get naked. Why not just show her in bed with him and be done with it?

The man who owns the mansion is inexplicably kind to Naschy, and his brutal criminality begins to soften. But right from the beginning we are shown that, surprise surprise, all is not as it seems in this spooky mansion. In one of the weirdest moments, we see the man whipping the panty-clad butt of his beautiful black maid, while she admonishes him, "harder! harder!"

Is she a maid, or a... slave?

The movie seriously stalls when Naschy starts living at the mansion. Considering how it skips the details of Naschy's apparent seduction of the daughters, this is strange: it's like it misses necessary scenes to replace them with filler. The movie cuts to the Japanese that Naschy has ripped off, but for no real reason I can tell, other than the fact that the movie is a Japanese co-production. There are also some dream sequences, and a ghostly apparition of a woman who serves no purpose other than reminding you you are watching a horror movie.

In one of the movie's more memorable scenes, a man is... meant to be eaten alive by some bloody-snouted pigs.

Finally, there is a crazy fancy dress party at the mansion, which is probably the movie's best moment. As the rich eccentrics eat, the pigs are cut back to, reminding us for the nth time that Eurohorror basically exists to show rich people behaving like swine.

This scene comes too late, though, and I'd be surprised if many who watch "Human Beasts" would still be paying attention by this point. The film has some good moments, but the structure is too weak to string them all together, unfortunately. I think all Naschy is worth watching for cult/horror fans, but this isn't one of his best.

Paul Naschy as a non-werewolf

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 17 August 2010]

Paul Naschy (born Jacinto Molina) was Spain's most famous horror star, best known for the role of the lycanthropic Waldemar Daninsky, whom he played a total of 12 times in movies released between 1968 and 2004. Along the way, Naschy - who died of pancreatic cancer last year - acted in a couple of non-werewolf movies, including "El carnaval de las bestias" (alternately called "The Beasts' Carnival" and "The Human Beasts" in English). This one concerns a man (Naschy) who gets shot by some Japanese gangsters whom he betrayed and gets taken in by a mysterious doctor and his daughters...and later discovers that they have a gross passion.

I guess that I didn't like this one as much as Paul Naschy's other flicks, partially due to the rather vague plot, and also just because I prefer watching Naschy grow fur and fangs. But even so, it was an OK movie. Just see if you want to eat meat after watching it.

I wonder what the result would have been had Paul Naschy ever worked with Pedro Almodóvar.

Tries to do too many things

[BloodTheTelepathicDog · 4/10 · 18 January 2010]

The incomparable Paul Naschy, horror film icon of Spain, lends his talents to this entertaining if not scattershot film. What begins as an action flick ends up a horror story. All I can say is just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Paul Naschy plays a cold-hearted hit-man hired by some shady Japanese diamond hunters (one of which is his flame who is carrying his child) to swipe a cache of diamonds from a Belgian businessman. When the deed is done, the allure of the diamonds is too tempting for Paul to dismiss so he kills his Japanese cohorts. His girlfriend, whose brother Paul killed, vows revenge and chases Paul through the forest, shooting him up and leaving him for dead. However, Paul is found by an egghead with two horny daughters and brought to his estate to recuperate.

At the estate, the two daughters, Silvia Aguilar and Azucena Hernandez, fight for Paul in his weakened state, with the busty Silvia Aguilar determined not to lose out to the sweet and prim Azucena. But things get hairy for Mr. Naschy who begins to see the ghost of the daughter's long dead mother on the estate grounds. Couple this with the Japanese lass looking to finish the job of killing Paul and he gets pulled from two sides.

STORY: $$ (The story goes a number of ways and doesn't fully satisfy. The script builds up a fight for Paul between the daughters but Silvia, whose character seems assertive and volatile, simply lets Azucena win in the Paul Naschy sweepstakes without putting up a fight. Personally, I would have preferred the ghostly apparition story to the revenge seeking of the Japanese woman)

VIOLENCE: $$$ (You get gunplay, a blown-up babe and pigs eating some poor schmuck alive. Gore hounds will not be letdown with this Naschy flick).

ACTING: $$$ (Paul Naschy, as always, is fun to watch but he does spend a bit too much time in bed recovering from his wounds. Starring with him again are the luscious Silvia Aguilar and the beautiful Azucena Hernandez, who teamed with Mr. Naschy in the little gem "The Craving." Both girls do a fine job).

NUDITY: $$$ (You get very brief glimpses of both Aguilar and Hernandez but they are strategically placed, keeping the naught bits covered. Full nudity is supplied by the two lesser appealing actresses: the Japanese woman chasing Paul and the African maid that works for Silvia and Azucena).

Life turned me into some sort of mad dog.

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 13 December 2009]

Paul Naschy is Bruno, who double crosses his girlfriend Mieko (Eiko Nagashima) and an Asian gang to steal some diamonds. They are hot on his trail while he holes up with a kind doctor (Lautaro Murúa).

Of course, the doctor has two beautiful daughters (Silvia Aguilar & Azucena Hernández) and a hot maid (Roxana Dupre). It remains to be seen who ends up with Bruno.

Meanwhile, there are some very strange and gruesome things going on in the house. including an apparition (Julia Saly).

But, the real goings on don't come until the end. One suspects something, but you are not sure until the end.

A good Naschy film.

Hilarious and so bad its not even funny

[kaefab · 3/10 · 12 June 2017]

Got to see this movie dubbed on late night, after reading the plot i said hey why not.

It start off with this hit-man who makes a deal with the worst band of Yakuza i have ever seen, to steal diamonds from a car but not to hurt anyone.

He kills everyone and double crosses the yakuza and is Asian girlfriend, now that was funny instead of killing them all during the trading, he kills only 2 and lets the rest live.

The most hilarious line follows, brother and sister (we will learn how to use guns and hunt him down.) hahahaa funniest line ever.

So they try to kill him but he ends up getting really hurt in the mountain of Spain, he gets rescued by a doctor and is 2 daughters near the end we find out he had three.

Positive if you like very good looking women this movie is it, some of the most beautiful women are in that movie, if you are looking for logic and a great movie its not it.

I am not going to spoil the ending but you know something is fishy when you see a fat guy able to get all the super hot women...... so there you have it.

Good fun, if not prime Naschy.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 28 November 2021]

The late Spanish genre superstar Paul Naschy (who also wrote and directed) casts himself as Bruno Rivera, a mercenary who is recruited by the Yakuza. His worst nature is revealed when he double-crosses his associates, kills most of them, and makes off with a cache of diamonds. Mortally wounded during his escape, he is discovered in the woods by a peaceable family and nursed back to health. He of course is taken with the two beautiful daughters (played by Silvia Aguilar and Azucena Hernandez), but the whole bunch of them are hiding a big, ugly secret from him. One that is not too hard to figure out.

"Human Beasts" is full of sex, gore, humor, and atmosphere, in the best Naschy tradition. The story may not be one of his best, but it's pretty entertaining, and gets a lot of mileage out of the setting, and performances. A co-production between Spain and Japan, it co-stars Eiko Nagashima as Bruno's pregnant, spurned lover Mieko, who spends a lot of time and money tracking him down. Colorful supporting characters are a help, such as horny veterinarian Don Serafin (Pepe Ruiz), whose demise is a highlight. The climactic dinner party, with various incidental individuals, is a hoot.

Naschy is entertaining to watch as usual, especially in the early going when his character is more of a stone cold s.o.b. As his story plays out, his character regains some humanity, as he is touched by the kindness the family shows him. (However, he never forgets that he will have to retrieve his ill-gotten goods at some point.) He is also tormented by nightmares, and repeatedly catches sight of another beautiful woman (Julia Saly), whose identity is eventually made clear.

Nagashima is equally easy to watch (getting her top off at one point, as well), and Lautaro Murua delivers a standout performance as the genial Don Simon, the patriarch of the household.

All in all, this is a solid Naschy outing that definitely seems inspired by "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" to an extent.

Seven out of 10.

Try a Taste of this Odd, Enjoyable Spanish Horror "Stew"

[josephbrando · 8/10 · 14 May 2011]

Paul Naschy plays a cold, heartless man who thinks nothing of stabbing his close ties in the back, however sordid they may be. But when he wakes up in a countryside estate, rippled with bullets, being nursed back to health by a very unusual family, he begins to open up his heart and shed his evil ways. But can he escape the wrong doings of his past and his destiny? Be prepared for some crazy twists and turns in this original, entertaining thriller.

Naschy wrote, directed and starred in this very strange film. Departing from his regular Gothic tales, this movie mixes double-crossing, revenge, Oriental mobs, killer pigs and voodoo to create a very unusual but tasty tale. Some very offbeat characters, a slight touch of comedy, some racial political incorrectness and several splashes of gore add just the right flavor. Bon Appetite!

A mix of different elements

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 9 September 2022]

A first-time watch for me of Paul Naschy's HUMAN BEASTS (1980, original title El carnaval de las bestias, aka THE PIG, CARNIVAL OF BEASTS), an odd yet intriguing mix of horror and thriller made as a co-production with some Japanese financiers. Naschy plays a criminal who gets hired by the Yakuza to take part in a diamond theft, but it all goes horribly wrong and he ends up convalescing at the home of a kindly Spanish doctor and his two daughters.

This one starts out a little clunky at times, certainly more thriller than horror, although the violent action works. Later I was reminded of BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL in terms of setting and plot development. A huge air of mystery builds, and although this is a real slow burner with nary any gore apart from in two stand-out moments, I was gripped by the mix of elements: romance, ghost story, suspense, comedy, social satire and of course those pigs. Be warned, there is some racism too. The ending offers an excellent twist that raised my overall rating of the movie. 7/10.

Awful

[Michael_Elliott · 10 March 2008]

Human Beasts (1980)

BOMB (out of 4)

Bruno Rivera (Paul Naschy) is a hit-man working for the Yakuza. He sets up a major robbery but after stealing the jewels he decides to keep them. After being wounded he is discovered by a kind doctor and his daughters but soon he realizes this isn't a good thing.

I said "soon he realizes..." but let me change that. In the final seconds of the movie he realizes that they aren't what they seemed. When NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF bombed at the box office, horror star Naschy had to travel to Japan for financing and that resulted in two movies. This one here and THE BEAST AND THE MAGIC SWORD would follow. I'm really not sure what they were trying to do with HUMAN BEASTS but there's no question that it's the worst film in Naschy's career and a truly torturous thing to try and get through.

What's so shocking about HUMAN BEASTS is how it really doesn't fit into any genre. It's partially horror but not really. It's partially a Yakuza movie but not really. It has some mystery elements but it's not really a mystery. This is a film that really doesn't belong to any genre and for the life of me I can't see what made anyone want to give money to this picture. I mean, if Naschy as a werewolf had just bombed were there really going to be anyone wanting to watch this thing?

I've read reviews from people calling this an unsettling nightmare and a creepy picture but I don't see it. In fact, the movie is downright boring right from the start and it just drags to the point where you wish you were the one being targeted. The performances aren't the worst that you'll ever see but they're still not great enough to keep you into the picture. The gore is minimum and in reality there's just nothing here. It's a flat, boring and drawn-out picture that just doesn't work at all.

Dull at times but effective overall

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 2 November 2019]

Hired for a diamond-smuggling raid, a mercenary double-crosses everyone and steal the diamonds forcing his employers to go on a massive worldwide search to get revenge, but when she finds him recuperating at a remote Spanish mansion finds something far darker with the houses' inhabitants.

This was a decent enough departure from the norm. Among the film's bright spots is the fact that it manages to bring together plenty of seemingly disparate elements into an enjoyable and unique effort. That the first half here plays as a straightforward action film, from the stolen jewels and his eventual double-cross and then being chased down by the remaining agents which are all loaded with explosive gunfights and fun chasing. The chase through the woods is also quite thrilling, and as it leads into the arrival at the house in the company of the family living alone which is where the recuperation comes into play. Giving the film some fine exploitation sleaze with the seduction of each daughter the very moment he comes to them in need of repair, it's a solid backbone to base the start of this one on. From there, the film's mixture of crime and action gives way to more traditional horror features. Although they come into the film quite late, there's plenty of striking and somewhat haunting images present here, from the deranged dream of the two being chased through a vineyard only for the hands of the dead to break free and grab him around the ankles. As well, the fleeting images of the ghostly interloper who keeps appearing around the house also give this one a really shocking streak, and when intercut with the stylish slasher scenes of a figure cutting up various interlopers around the house for some fine gore scenes, there's a lot to really like here. The film does have several big problems with this one. The first issue is that there's plenty of padding that doesn't go anywhere or do anything but run out the film's length. The sappy romantic sequences of their romance carried out in flashbacks are undeniably cheesy, especially with their being shot in a different filter that adds a hazy, dream-like tone and feel which are rather distracting. Since they're frequently placed throughout the film, that they come up when least expected, requiring the film to stop in its tracks and go back on a relationship in the past we don't care about really halts the pacing here. That also has the unfortunate effect of halting the pacing to the point that there's very little actual horror until so late in the running time that it's not really interesting in the slightest until then. By favoring the recuperation aspects so prominently, the film overlooked the need to inject some more horror along the way resulting in some absolutely banal and lifeless moments along the way. Although there's a lot of kinky happenings to try to keep the attention during these moments, it's all for naught as the dragged out and lethargic tempo is rarely appealing until the finale. Otherwise, there isn't much else really wrong here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity, a sex scene and violence-against-animals.

Not so bad, not that good...

[markovd111 · 6/10 · 28 December 2022]

While the movie is little more than excuse to show us some decent female nudity and while the movie's low budget is clear as day, "El carnaval de las bestias" is a decent entry in the genre which won't scare you, but it will entertain you if you are fan of the genre. It has to be said that the movie is very rare, but I managed to find it on archive.org. This is not a movie for a casual. This is a movie only for people who don't have hight standards and know what to expect from Euro 80-s horror jank. Luckily, Naschy is great as the movie's antihero and beautiful women appearing throughout the movie will make watching it an easier job it would have otherwise been. I give it 6/10, but I recommend it only to hardcore fans.

What a rollercoaster

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 16 June 2023]

Director, writer and star Paul Naschy in a Yakuza film. Yes, Naschy co-produced this and The Beast and the Magic Sword with Japanese filmmakers and here, he plays Bruno Rivera, a cold blooded killer currently working for a Japanese crime family.

After a plan is made to steal diamonds along with his lover Meiko (Eiko Nagashima) and her brother, he goes wild and kills everyone in the car that has the precious stones and screws over his girl and her family. Perhaps you don't understand how the Japanese honor system works, Bruno, because these people will never stop hunting you, particularly when you break a woman's heart and kill her brother.

Bruno doesn't walk away in one piece and barely makes it to the home of Dr. Don Simon (Lautaro Murúa), who offers to nurse him back to health until he can deal with whatever honor he needs to repay. This being a Paul Naschy movie, the house that his character is recuperating in also has two obscenely gorgeous daughters living there, Monica (Silvia Aguilar) and Alicia (Azucena Hernandez).

As he comes back to the land of the living, Bruno exists barely in our world, being visited by a ghost and hearing the human sounds of pigs as they are slaughtered. That's because this town is obsessed with a gigantic bacchanalian celebration in which each person makes a stew and a pig-based dish.

Sure, seems strange so far, but it gets wilder inside the very same house used for Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll. Meiko has found where Bruno lives thanks to a weirdo who eventually gets messily masticated by swine as Naschy makes sweet, sweet and sweaty love; the black maid loves being beaten by Dr. Simon; rocking chairs rock all by themselves and a black-gloved killer is turning this into a giallo by stalking people in POV and murdering them with a hook. And what is wrong with Teresa (Julia Saly), who has been confined to her room?

Also: Paul Naschy blows up a woman with a grenade.

As if you didn't guess, Naschy gets love scenes with both Aguilar and Hernández. If you're going to write and direct your own weird riff on how horrible people are and how close pigs are to us, well, go for it.

Between the diamond theft and the fact that this movie stitches together a Yakuza storyline with pretty much the same exact story as the aforementioned Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, this feels like the most Jess Franco or Bruno Mattei take on a Naschy film. You have to love that Bruno's character development is that he decides to stop killing people and ruining lives once he starts sleeping with even hotter looking women, only to have that be the death of him. Oh yeah, spoiler.

Also known as El carnaval de las bestias (The Beast's Carnival), a title that makes even more sense once a gathering of maniacs shows up in costume to go hog wild on some stem, call each other all manner of off-color insults sure to offend people and then pull out one woman's breasts.

Naschy gets it all in: nearly giallo - the killer is never revealed - and also a crime movie, a rumination on man's inhumanity to beasts and his fellow men, sexy hijinks and an ending which makes every single minute of watching this worthwhile. Impossible to put a genre tag on, kind of ramshackle but completely wonderful. You did it again, Paul.

Outrageously Entertaining Naschy-Exploitation

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 9/10 · 3 May 2010]

Even though among the lesser-known films of the great late Spanish Horror/Cult icon Paul Naschy, "El Carnaval De Las Bestias" aka. "Human Beasts" (1980) is an outrageously entertaining slice of European Exploitation cinema and a film that none of my fellow Naschy-fans can afford to miss. The multi-talented Paul Naschy scripted many of the film he starred in, and also directed some - in the case of this film, he served as writer, director and leading man. A Spanish/Japanese co-production, the film starts out as a hard-boiled crime flick only to transform into surreal Horror in the second half.

Naschy plays Bruno Rivera, a hit-man, who gets hired by a Japanese criminal organization (the sister of the organization's head being in love with Bruno) in order to carry out a spectacular diamond heist. After murdering a few people during the heist, Bruno betrays his associates including his girlfriend Mieko (Eiko Nagashima) and flees with all the diamonds. After getting wounded by his double-crossed partners, Bruno gets rescued by a family (a doctor who lives with his two sexy daughters and a sexy black maid) and is taken care of in their beautiful and eerie mansion. Of course, both of the hot daughters immediately have a crush on Bruno. However, the house of the good doctor and his daughters seems to bear a secret or two, and may not be the safest hideout in the world after all...

Admittedly, the film is not the most logical thing ever, and bears a few inconsistencies (a crime organization that is against unnecessary violence?... come on!), and the flashbacks into Bruno's and Meiko's past are cheesy as hell... but these tiny complaints do in no way lessen the film's incredible entertainment factor. The film is gory, very macabre, and politically incorrect as hell (the political incorrectness culminates in a scene in which the African maid moans with pleasure while having her behind whipped by her 'master', the doctor), so it should appeal to all lovers of sleazy Euro-Exploitation. There is a lot of sleaze, but, for Naschy-flick standards, there is actually quite little nudity from the gorgeous female cast. Some of the gore-scenes are pretty intense, including a scene in which a poor fellow is devoured by pigs while still alive, several brutal stabbings, and a female gangster being blown up with a grenade. "Human Beasts" includes exploitative gore, lots of action, creepy Horror, as well as silly but funny humor and corny fart-jokes. Naschy is, of course, great as always; the man truly was an icon and his presence alone made any film worth watching, in my opinion. While most of his films can hardly be considered masterpieces, they all have a specific inimitable charm that can only be found in Naschy flicks; in my humble opinion, cinema does not get more entertaining than it is the case with many of the films starring the Spanish Horror deity who passed away last year. Hombre Lobo, you truly were an icon and will always live on through your films!

A really bizarre and unsettling creepfest

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 1 April 2008]

Ruthless mercenary Bruno Rivera (Paul Naschy in peak nasty form) betrays his pregnant partner/girlfriend Meiko (well played by Eiko Nagashima) in order to have exclusive dibs on a fortune in stolen diamonds. But Meiko manages to seriously wound Bruno before he gets away. Bruno winds up in the swanky chalet of kindly rich doctor Don Simon (a fine performance by Lautaro Murua). He also attracts the attention of Simon's two hottie daughters: the fiery Monica (luscious Silvia Aguiler) and the sweet Alicia (nicely essayed by the lovely Azucena Hernandez). However, Bruno soon realizes that something is very amiss about the isolated place and plans to escape as soon as he can. Meanwhile, the bitter Meiko tries to find Bruno so she can exact her revenge on him. Naschy, who wrote and directed as well as stars, concocts one of his strangest, most twisted and perverse horror vehicles ever with this little seen oddity. The offbeat plot and mysterious atmosphere become more weird and unnerving as the story unfolds, eventually leading to a genuinely startling surprise downbeat ending. This film further benefits from occasional moments of graphic gore (watch out for the memorable sequence with one poor guy being devoured alive by vicious flesh-eating pigs!), Alejandro Ulloa's slick cinematography, and a decent sprinkling of nudity and soft-core sex. Good supporting turns by Roxana Dupre as sassy maid Raquel, Pepe Ruiz as amorous playboy Don Serafin, and Julia Saly as the deranged Teresa. A pleasingly grim and worthwhile shocker.

Peculiar cross-genre picture, better than expected.

[EyeAskance · 14 August 2011]

An Asian crime syndicate enlists the aid of Paul Naschy in a diamond heist, a choice they come to regret when he violently betrays them. He kills the syndicate leader, the father of a girl he's been feigning romance with. She shoots Naschy in a vengeful rage, but he escapes into the wilderness. Critically wounded, he slips under, only to awaken in the personal care of an eccentric doctor and his two sexy daughters. At this point, the film switches gears, and what began seemingly as an action/crime film suddenly shifts into a hybrid mystery/lurid revenge story, culminating in a weird but satisfying finale in the flavor of classic EC horror comics.

All things considered, it's a likable little dish of a very different flavor. 5.5/10.

a rich, schlocky stew with a startlingly bold finish that leaves a distinctly potent aftertaste!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 9/10 · 11 July 2021]

The early 80s proved to be a very fertile period for Spain's premier horror film polymath, the beloved creator of the immortal Lycanthrope Waldemar Daninsky authored another one of his more singularly sinister spook-shows with the quite literally beastly B-Movie 'El Carnaval de las bestias'. In this specific instance he plays burly Bruno Rivera, a single-minded, if somewhat duplicitous mercenary, ostensibly tasked by his erstwhile lover Meiko (Eiko Nagashima) to steal diamonds, but quixotic Bruno may have a secret agenda!

With the diamond heist not exactly going to plan, a severely wounded Bruno awakens deliriously in an unfamiliar locale being lovingly tended by two exquisitely beautiful women, and, following the usual Naschy trope, both appear to be aggressively enamoured of him, and from this juncture, this deliciously strange shocker takes a distinctly animalistic turn into a macabre existential nightmare darkly redolent of 'The Beguiled' and Marco Ferreri's eerie epicurean explosion 'La Grande Bouffe'. 'El Carnaval de las bestias' is a rich, schlocky stew with a startlingly bold finish that leaves a distinctly potent aftertaste!

Naschy, Paul Naschy...

[azathothpwiggins · 15 February 2022]

An agent of fortune named Bruno (Paul Naschy) double crosses the organization that hired him to steal some diamonds. Having been severely wounded in the process, he ends up in the care of an odd man and his two hormonally-charged daughters. Poor Bruno must sleep with both of these young, nubile women due to their overwhelming persistence.

Because of the fun he's having during his recovery, Bruno hardly notices the strange things occurring around him. This family has plans for him.

HUMAN BEASTS is one of Paul Naschy's best movies, combining action, mystery, bloody horror, and a healthy dollop of dark humor. It has the usual stretches of tedium, accentuated by the obligatory unclothed lasses, but the story is well above average. There are some interesting similarities between this movie and the more recent French film, FRONTIER(S).

Naschy fans will be ecstatic...