The Valdemar Legacy (2010)

Luisa Llorente, an expert on taxation of old buildings, had recently gone to the Victorian mansion Valdemar to conduct an inventory of property ownership. After she mysteriously disappeared... See full summary »

Director:

José Luis Alemán

Writers:

José Luis Alemán (story), H.P. Lovecraft (inspired by the works of)

Stars:

Daniele Liotti, Óscar Jaenada, Laia Marull

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniele Liotti	...	Lázaro Valdemar
Óscar Jaenada	...	Nicolás Tremel
Laia Marull	...	Leonor Valdemar
Silvia Abascal	...	Luisa Llorente
Rodolfo Sancho	...	Eduardo
Ana Risueño	...	Dra. Cerviá
Norma Ruíz	...	Ana
Santi Prego	...	Santiago
José Luis Torrijo	...	Dámaso (as José Torrijo)
Jesús Olmedo	...	Chambelán
Francisco Maestre	...	Aleister Crowley (as Paco Maestre)
José Torija	...	Engendro
Vanesa Suárez	...	Lizzie Borden
Laura Toledo	...	Belle Gunness
Lino Braxe	...	Bram Stoker

Storyline

Luisa Llorente, an expert on taxation of old buildings, had recently gone to the Victorian mansion Valdemar to conduct an inventory of property ownership. After she mysteriously disappeared, Maximilian, president of her company, engaged the services of a private detective to help find her. But soon they will discover that it is not the first disappearance at Valdemar mansion!

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Plot Keywords:

mansion | detective | inventory | ghost in a photograph | occult ritual | 

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Details

Official Sites:

Official [Spain]

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

22 January 2010 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Valdemar Legacy

Filming Locations:

Comillas, Cantabria, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€6,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$792,061 (Spain), 22 January 2010, Limited Release

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,493,227

Company Credits

Production Co:

La Cruzada Entertainment, Origen Producciones Cinematograficas S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first movie in all Spanish's cinema history made without Spanish government subsidies.

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Connections

Followed by The Valdemar Legacy II: The Forbidden Shadow (2010)

User Reviews

Interesting rendition based on H.P.Lovecraft stories , being utterly shot in Comillas , Cantabria , Spain

First part of the Valdemar saga full of horror and fantasy based on stories by the master H.P. Lovecraft , being followed by "The Valdemar Legacy II: The Forbidden Shadow" . ¨The Valdemar legacy¨(2010) upon short stories by the undisputed expert of the terror H.P. Lovecraft , telling an incredible story of horror , monsters and including fantastic touches . As it packs creepy scenes , suspense , plot-twists , tension , chills , thrills with sensationalistic scenes . Luisa Llorente (Silvia Abascal) , an expert on taxation of old buildings , had the formidable task of going to evaluate the Victorian home of Lazarus Valdemar (Daniele Liotti) and his wife Leonor Valdemar (Laia Marull) , but she's not been heard from . There are several flashbacks about the Valdemar marriage , and subsequent detention of Lazarus accused of false medium practices and swindles . This mansion harboring a terrible and eerie occult secret . After she mysteriously disappeared , Maximilian (Eusebio Poncela) , president of her company and head of Inmoverance , engaged the services of a private detective (Oscar Jaenada) to help find her . Two expeditions go out in search of her : first is Nicholas Tramel (a little variation of Nicholas Flamel , one of the biggest alchemists in entire history) a detective hired by Maximilian Colvin (the president of the company Luisa works for) along with Dra. Cerviá (Ana Risueño) , and the other comprised of coworkers Ana (Norma Ruiz) and Eduardo (Rodolfo Sánchez) . But soon they will discover that it is not the first disappearance at Valdemar mansion . Then , Tramel , Eduardo and Ana are kidnapped and locked . Later on , the group escapes through a cave where they are attacked by a horrible creature and things go wrong . At the end takes place a satanic invocation by means of the diabolic book ¨El Necronomicon¨ using weird formulas and spells . Including a final ritual where emerges a astonishing monster from the darkness , it is the own Cthulhu , the most famous evil god created by H.P. Lovecraft .

The plot of "The Valdemar legacy" is inspired in the H.P. Lovecraft's universe , it was better paced and more interesting than the second installment , as the rest of the tale untold in this part is narrated in ¨The Forbidden Shadow" . . As filmmaker José Luis Alemán mixing some ideas created by the Rhode Island's writer from short stories and novels such as "The Hound" ,¨The shadow over Innsmouth¨ , "The Pickman's Model" , ¨The Call of Cthulhu¨ and about ¨Mythos of Cthulhu¨ , a horror saga about an evil deities called the Outer Gods and Great Old Ones , two evil races of gods that they ran the universe in an ancient past , before the mankind arose . There also shows up the famous black magic book ¨Necronomicon¨ which supposedly contains strange rites , presages , curses , and the history about Great Old Gods and Outer Gods . The picture packs thrills , chills , terror , fantasy and lots of blood and gore . Furthermore , unrelenting twists and turns as when the protagonists discover the truth at a nightmarish ending of impressive horror . B-entertainment with a fairly suspenseful and horrifying story about an ancient fanatic religious cult of followers of Cthulhu . This tale about some young people involved into a twisted intrigue begins well and grows more and more until a breathtaking finale . In the film shows up some actual historical roles : the series-killer Belle Gunness performed by Laura Toledo , the ax murderer Lizzie Borden interpreted by Vanesa Suarez , Bram Stoker who was writer of "Dracula" who was played by Lino Brasse and Aleister Crowley who was an expert in the occult and he is deemed to be one of the most famous black wizards , being well acted by Francisco Maestre . Support cast is acceptable , such as Silvia Abascal as a houses appraiser who had recently gone to the Victorian mansion Valdemar to conduct an inventory of property ownership when she suddenly disappears . And other known television actors as Rodolfo Sancho , Ana Risueño , Jimmy Barnatán and Jesús Olmedo . Being Paul Naschy last movie and the film is dedicated to him . Adequate production values as well as good makeup on the freakish frightening creatures and overwhelming digital effects . Dark and colorful cinematography by David Azcano , being shot on location in Comillas , Cantabria . Frightening and atmospheric musical score by Arnau Bataller . It has a follow-up : José Luis Alemán's sequel to his own Spanish horror flick La Herencia Valdemar, titled ¨Inheritance Valdemar II: The Shadow Prohibited (or La Herencia Valdemar II: La Sombra Prohibida)¨ results to be inferior to previous part .

Other films about the H.P. Lovecraft universe are the followings : Reanimator (1985) by Stuart Gordon with Jeffrey Combs ; Re-Sonator (From Beyond) (1986) by Stuart Gordon with Jeffrey Combs , Barbara Crampton ; Cthulhu Mansión (1992) by Juan Piquer Simón with Frank Finlay ; In the Mouth of Madness (1994) by John Carpenter with Sam Neill , Julie Carmen ; and Dagon (2001) by Stuart Gordon with Francisco Rabal .