Alucarda

Alucarda begins as a new mother in some sort of implied peril, sends her newborn daughter off to a convent for safe keeping. Years later her grown girl (Alucarda) and companion stumble upon mom's tomb and are overtaken by the evil force that killed her. Filled with piss-and-vinegar the two return to the convent and unleash wave of demonic terror that brings the convent to it's knees.Riding the crest of the Exorcist and Ken Russell's The Devils, Mexican Director, Lopez Moctezuma delivered this hybrid that still manages bare his own unique brand of surrealism. Not unlike Carrie, Alucarda takes the theme of female sexual maturation to it's absurd limits, right down to having the nuns of the convent garbed in what appear to be bloodied menstrual rags. In fact, there is almost a constant "flow" of blood & nudity intertwined throughout the film; a flow which the nuns try (and fail) to quell by dishing out equal parts of love & sadism toward the two girls and themselves .Obviously if your not a fan of non-linear flights of blasphemous fancy, you need not apply here, because this by no means your run-of-the-mill demonic possession ripoff. Though filled with a good many arresting visuals, I don't agree with those who feel this is Moctezuma's finest hour. I would still give that honor to Mansion of Madness (Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon), largely because in that film Moctezuma orchestrates his delirium with greater virtuosity and focus. I'm guessing it's the ample nudity that gives Alucarda the leg up for some of it's devoted fans.Mondo Macabro has put out a pretty nice DVD of this bilingual production, with image quality that does justice to Moctezuma's vision. My only beef is that though they include both a Spanish and English audio option, I would have liked to get English subtitles as the Spanish track had additional music cues not present on the English track, and sounded a little more organic in general.

Justine is thrust in to a depraved world of darkness when she meets the demonically possessed Alucarda, and together, the two set out to defile the church with their unsanctified evil. ALUCARDA serves as a biting critical response to the oppressive Catholic controls that were set on Mexican culture throughout the better half of the twentieth century. The film's arresting visuals, haunting score, and brilliant set pieces are quite unlike anything else in the genre, with each contributing to the surreal mysticism of the plot. Juan Lopez Moctezuma is unafraid to explore a rich and vivid color palette, contrasting hot and cool tones while using the screen as his own morbid canvas. The characters he introduces are equally colorful, depicting a variety of strange, offbeat personas that seem to have stepped out of the pages of some twisted fairy tale. Tina Romero's unnerving performance is wildly over the top, but her crazed shrieks and howls along with her deathly facial gestures will leave viewers believing that she truly is possessed. A culmination of Moctezuma's expressive style explodes on screen in the film's bloody finale, where Alucarda calls upon the powers of Satan to strike down the convent in a rain of fire. ALUCARDA is a compelling visual masterpiece that transforms the screen into a nightmarish vision of hell. It comes as no surprise that Moctezuma was a close colleague of the equally brilliant Alejandro Jodorowsky, director of SANTA SANGRE, let alone an inspiration to other talented Mexican filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro. This possession tale cannot be overlooked, and it still stands as one of the strongest Mexican exports in the genre.-Carl ManesI Like Horror Movies

It's been a few years since I watched this one and was blown away once again by the surrealistic horror from this veteran of the panic movement. Beware this is not for the pop horror fan. If your fav. flicks are paranormal activity or any of the numerous remakes of the 2000's bow out, but if you love anything from Rosemarys baby to Jodorowsky and anything from arthouse to extreme grindhouse and in between strap in and hold on!

If you have a high tolerance for LOTS of loud shouting, hysterical hand-wringing and gratuitous nudity, there's a lot to appreciate about ALUCARDA. The sets and location work are superb, and the camera work- following characters up and down stairs and corridors- almost never lets down the potential staginess of the sets. In fact, aside from the near-constant, distraught shouting- (one of the sisters says she's just down the hall, if she was needed, just call, and then there's ten minutes of screaming and she shows no interest) the only thing that TRULY let this down for me is the wooden acting from some of the male actors, the occasional OVER-acting of Alucarda herself ("Oy! AGAIN with the spinning and hair-gripping!"). The rest is Ken Russel-esque over-the-top, turned-up-to-eleven LOOPY and occasionally creepy. It's so manic even the awkward cuts between "reels" seem to work. Definitely NOT for those easily offended by blasphemous images. Oh, and I thought the nuns outfits were VERY effective. Something about that slightly blood-stained GAUZE... really puts an exclamation mark on the mood that prevails.

But notice that Father Lazaro is able to rescue Daniela while Alucarda is barely able to defend herself? The Alucarda idiom has been used on Castlevania III, Hellsing, Queen of the Damned, and Let the Right One In.

This is a pretty weird movie. These nuns run around with what looks like years of dried blood on their filthy clothes.This movie was part of an order I put it from a list of lesbian vampire movies. The movie doesn't have a lot of that though.This movie has its moments but I don't think it's something I would want to watch again.

ALUCARDA Special Edition - Looks at the theme of DRACULA from a new angle - hence the title.The story of two apparently vampiric possessed girls in the company of strangely attired nuns takes a long time to get going, but the shocking scenes in the last half hour will linger in the mind.The movie is very atmospheric with sparse but effective gothic type sets and appears to have been made on a zero budget yet is still strikingly effective, particularly Tina Romero who is STUNNING in the title role - beautiful, mesmerising and silent in a long black dress (when she's not naked, over-acting and screaming). She looks like a fashion icon. Mexican ladies certainly know how to scream!I expected a dubbed movie, but although it is Mexican everyone appears to be speaking English which is a pleasant change in a horror movie of this type.The Mexican director Mocetzuma certainly knows how to shock an audience and in the final scenes the image of the nun mirroring the image of Jesus on the burning cross is an incredible stylish and inventive move.The movie on this Mondo Macabro DVD looks like some original well-used print complete with white speckles, but despite this the movie is sharply focused with plenty of blood-red colour!Watch the movie for an inventive unforgettable experience like no other!I originally gave the movie only 3 stars, but on reflection the inventiveness of the above scene alone has got to be worth an additional star! KAN

A bit theatrical stuff at times, with lots of screaming, naked ladies, blood - it's exploit after all, not Bambi! ;) Good movie, with great performances from main actresses. And you can see influences from Bunuel and Jodorowsky, too.About release: packaged in red, cheap amaray (looking bit awkward), with no booklet. ON DVD - short (circa 14 mins) documentary about Moctezuma, interview with Guillermo Del Toro giving his thoughts about Mexican horror cinema of 70's, text interview with Moctezuma himself from 1977, stills gallery and trailer.Not bad, yet I think it deserved bit better treatment. Maybe one day.

Mexican director Lopez Moctezuma was a collaborator of legendary director Joderowsky (El Topo, Magic Mountain).The film has a similar storyline to Ken Russell's The Devils graphically showing the disruptions to a convent by a young woman - Alucarda.Using the techniques learned from his theatrical background in the late sixties Panic theatre movement, Moctezuma builds up to a whirlwind of choas for the climactic last act of the film, the copius blood, screaming and nudity evoking a performance art piece rather than a straightforward cinema show.As intense as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this is an intelligent, strange and shocking movie at last seeing the light of day on DVD.

Realmente son muy pocos los títulos lanzados por Mondo Macabro que valen la pena (por ejemplo "The killer of the dolls" o "Suddenly in the dark"). Creo que no es una película que realmente recomendaría, es un intento de exploración del género de los vampiros con tintes góticos que termina siendo mal ejecutado. Una trama que te dejará completamente muerto de aburrimiento, acompañada de gritos y más gritos sin sentido alguno; y por supuesto, la terrible mirada de Alucarda (mirada equiparable a la de una niña enojado porque no tiene el dulce que desea). Firmemente creo que hay muchas cosas que son olvidadas por su mala calidad y Alucarda no es la excepción, un pésimo ejemplo del cine de horror mexicano, pero bueno, por lo menos es conocida como una película de "culto" (si es que eso sirve para algo).Al parecer, el director de "culto" Juan López Moctezuma, y como nos lo presenta el documental de Mondo Macabro, un erudito; simplemente hace un pésimo esfuerzo en el género de horror. Alucarda fue más que suficiente para mí, ni siquiera pienso desperdiciar dinero en otros títulos de Juan López Moctezuma.

Una película al nivel del gialo italiano. Experimental, simbólica, perturbadora.