Director: José Ramón Larraz
Year: 1990
Country: Spain
Alternate Titles: La danza del diavolo; Savage Lust
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Heading out to a friend’s house, a group of friends decide to spend the night camping until they reach their destination and arrive at a secluded mansion out in the middle of the countryside, and upon learning that someone might be in the house with them, they try to find a way to stop the malevolent force.
Review:
This one wasn’t all too bad an effort. Among the more intriguing elements of the film is the engrossing atmosphere and suspense present, which generate some enjoyable elements. The entire layout of the house, with the modest Gothic decorations, dozens of cobwebs, and dirt strewn around an area of disuse for what looks like several decades, is a serviceable state to provide for a haunted house film. The continuous decorations of the strange woman in the erotic photos adorning the walls and the decorative human remains found in the jars hidden in the secret room create a full-on immersion into the haunting atmosphere present in the house that sets a chilling tone throughout.
As well, the film gets a lot to like once it finally gets going and delivers on the expectation set by the atmosphere. The series of stalking scenes taking place in inside the house, where the cast are picked off one-by-one by the shadowy figure emerging out of the darkness offers some chilling moments despite the relative blandness of stabbings that result from their encounters, and they manage to take full advantage of being out in the hallways and various buildings inside the darkened house which adds a lot to the film by ramping up the excitement at the finale. The gore is also at least plentiful enough to make up for that repetitive state of stabbings, and with some solid eroticism to go along with it, there are some enjoyable aspects that hold it up.
There are some issues to be had here. The main problem is the decided lack of action here, managing to feature hardly anything happening for long stretches of time, that it quite dull simply watching the group wander through one creepy room to the next. The build-up is admittedly successful in creating a strong atmosphere, but hardly ever is that atmosphere given any significant boost that would propel it along, as the generally tepid pacing where nothing is going on. It takes until nearly the hour mark before they discover that something’s wrong, and when it does, it’s incredibly underwhelming with lame reasoning and ridiculous payoff due to the backstory that sets up what’s going on, that it nearly worthless to have done so. These are what hold the film back.
Overview: ***/5
A fine atmospheric genre effort that doesn’t capitalize on the setup it provides to the fullest extent, this one is still watchable enough for what it is that it becomes a serviceable entry if not necessarily a mandatory watch. Give it a shot if you’re a fan of these low-budget indie efforts or a fan of the creative crew, while those who want something more than that should heed caution.
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