Coming Attractions…

Entre Tinieblas (1983)

A nightclub singer is on the run after accidentally killing her boyfriend. She finds herself at the doors of a failing convent where the nuns have habits of their own to bide the time. Soon, the singer finds herself in the middle of a hair brained scheme for a last chance effort in getting the convent funded.

A beautiful little movie by Pedro Almodovar. I really liked it. It’s a movie that’s a lot about acceptance. Acceptance of your past, your faults, your talents and even your future. I also like how the nuns where handled. They’re usually handled in an evil light as dirty sinful creatures. In this movie, their treated like you and I. We know they’re plight and we’re sympathetic to what’s going on with them. You can’t get a convent for wayward women going and your hands are tied thanks to church and law. Are you going to pray and suffer all day until someone plops on your doorstep? Hell no! It’s better to use the time throwing wrists and writing trashy novels while trying to take care of the place. And we relate to that.

I wouldn’t recommend giving this movie to people just starting out on Almodovar. This isn’t an Almodovar virgin movie. A lot of his personal touches and color schemes might look gaudy at first, but it was the sign of the times really. The comedy is real subtle as well. You’re not going to get some of the setups or scenes until you really think about them after a while. i mean, I’m thinking of the movie and I just now got the joke on a couple of things. So, if you want to start on Almodovar. Start at the top. That’s an order soldier.

The disc is barebones. It only gives you the option of subtitles. It has some good audio and video. Do I wish it had more? Well yeah. Almodovar didn’t think this was one of his high ranked pictures. Probably because it was his first studio picture and he felt very restricted at the time. It’s a nice disc. Pick it up when you have a chance.

three stars.

Escalofrio (1977)

A beautiful couple meet people who seem to be distant college friends and are invited to their country mansion. Once there, the couple slowly find out their hosts are Satanists.

Now, I’m not going to lie to you. This is a eurotrash sexploitation flick. In fact, it was one of the first films to pick up Spain’s “S” (Sex) label that was instituted after Franco’s death. What makes the movie above the rest is the constant atmosphere of something that isn’t right. And while this was considered a hard core horror movie, the slim budget used to make the picture gave them no room for very little gore. This gave them more interest and time to concentrate on disturbing imagery.

That being said, there are some weaknesses to the movie. Mainly it didn’t know what version of “Satanism” it wanted to be. One minute it’s cribbing LeVey, another minute Alistair Crowley, then it goes Dennis Wheatley, then it’s Montague Summers, Catholic texts and rhetoric, Mad Magazine. By the end of the movie, it’s so all over the place, you need to take an aspirin just to recover from it.

This leads us to another weakness. I don’t think the director, Carlos Puerto, knew what the hell he was doing. I think he wrote out my first paragraph of this review and just went with it. “Mariana! We need you to look more terrifying! Stoop over that bowl and pretend to eat like a dog! WAIT! Someone get some blood goop on her lip. Yeeessss. Very nice. Ok. Ready! Camera! ACTION!!” I mean it’s almost ridiculous. He trys to get too much in so little time. It just bunches up and falls over itself.

All in all, it’s a nice film to own. Something to watch on Sundays or days that seem to drag on. Not a classic by any means, but fun none the less. Plus you can wank to it.

Two and a half stars.