The Grim Cellar

1973, Spain, Directed by Carlos Aured

Colour, Running Time: 89 minutes

DVD, Region 1, BCI/Deimos, Video: Anamorphic 1.85:1, Audio: Dolby Digital Mono

I first came across this movie as an n’th generation VHS cassette about fifteen years ago and after a couple of viewings pretty much consigned it to the back of my video shelf, though I suppose opinion is never helped when something is cut, cropped and looking worse than Vanessa Warwick’s rear end. So the digital age arrives and matures and BCI/Deimos comes along and releases the definitive version of a film that I had condemned to being crap, but behold, it seems to receive a few good reviews - time to re-evaluate maybe… So around a quarter of a century after its production, how does El Espanto Surge De La Tumba hold up? Hugo, Maurice and friends are chatting away one evening when the subject of a respected medium comes up and they decide to go visit the woman, for a bit of a joke in the case of Hugo in particular. Knowing about the legend of a medieval sorcerer, Hugo’s ancestor Alaric, who was killed for his sins centuries before (which we get to see in the prologue), Hugo facetiously asks the medium at the séance to call forth his spirit, which of course she appears to do. Alaric tells them where his severed head and body are buried hoping that the reintegration of them will bring him back to physical life from the netherworld which he is forced to wander in ethereal limbo. Hugo decides to take his friends on a mission to do just this, all of them heading up the mountains to a decrepit castle where they get the servants (!) to dig up half of the castle grounds looking for the separated body parts. Of course, once the inherently hostile Alaric is recomposed by a hypnotised/possessed Maurice, along with his lover who was also killed centuries ago also, Hugo and his friends are confronted with all manner of evil occurrences which they find themselves unable to control or escape from.

It’s difficult to describe something like this as superior film-making from a conventional perspective; Spanish horror exists in a universe of its own, much like the Italian equivalent but different again. While I tend to find these Spanish films very talky there have been one or two classics hiding beneath dirty rocks for those willing to look, notably Satan’s Blood and The Vampire’s Night Orgy for example. Jacinto Molina (AKA Paul Naschy) was sort of the king of Spanish horror if ever there can be considered one but his films have often been variable in quality while his acting ability was limited - put it this way, he‘s no Peter Cushing. Despite this what comes across is his perennial passion for this kind of material, almost compensating for any shortcomings, plus the fact that he wasn’t afraid to throw in copious amounts of gore and nudity to shock or titillate where relevant. Though his work is hardly the epitome of originality, usually being a strange concoction of other people’s ideas (probably a side effect of writing films like El Espanto… in two days), you can almost imagine him considering how a Universal monster movie would have appeared had they injected it with visible bloodshed and female flesh, then making something that approximates that ideal. Sometimes he may be egocentric (playing principal dual roles sometimes: one good and one evil as he does here) and living out his fantasies on screen (he brushes off beautiful women or takes them as he pleases), but he’s a likeable bloke who’s contributed much to exploitation cinema and is loved by many for his persona and work. His usual formula is adopted for El Espanto…, taking elements of witchcraft, vampirism, reincarnation, zombies (the latter resulting in the film’s best sequence) and mixing them together to produce a world where almost anything goes, however it’s not nearly as schizophrenic as it could have ended up. Hugo (Naschy) is, when it comes to the supernatural, a stereotype non-believer who is about to have his fixed perspective twisted way out of shape as the rebirth of his ancestor brings about doom to everything around him. One particular aspect of this film I really like is the setting: driving off into the mountains they’re pretty much isolated from the rest of mankind and almost seem to have entered another sinister dimension where they’re incarcerated. Their car is hijacked and ruined during the trip and they’re forced to buy an old banger from some locals which looks more like a hearse. From there they realise that they’re trapped in/around the castle with limited rations and a growing threat to their lives as terrible things begin happening around them. Hugo is himself the catalyst for all of this, first as he insists on summoning forth his ancestor at the séance, then when he drags his friends on a weekend adventure that will only lead to devastation, though considering Maurice seems to be bowing to the influence of demonic infiltration himself even before the trip, perhaps it isn’t entirely Hugo’s fault after all: Alaric may be exerting some influence beyond the grave or maybe it’s simply uncontrollable fate at work. Referring to the previous comment about female flesh, there are some incredibly beautiful women omnipresent in this movie and this is part of the appeal I’m not especially ashamed to say. Clothed scenes were filmed for less tolerant markets (included as an extra on the BCI/Deimos disc) and are unbelievably boring once you’ve seen the ‘proper’ version. Leading up to a fantastically downbeat climax El Espanto… is slow moving but thriving on its own rules and consequently quite enjoyable, though may work better I suspect once under the influence of some mind-altering substance.

There have been a few releases on disc, primarily in the US: Brentwood put out one of their typically messy discs a few years ago, this being followed by Crash Cinema’s SE which compiled several versions of the film; cut, uncut and clothed. The prints used weren’t of a high standard (the uncut version faring the worst) plus the audio tracks were English dubs only, however the fact that Crash had brought together all of this material into one package was commendable and their disc remains relevant. BCI/Deimos have effectively trumped that one with the uncut unclothed version being presented here with a stupendous looking image with options to listen to both the English and Castilian language tracks - a major bonus. There’s also an audio/text commentary, a nice introduction by Naschy himself, some extensive liner notes and one or two other titbits rounding out an amazing package. I must comment on the BCI/Deimos cover designs: I think they’re perceptively conceived and really attractive on the eye. This company have been an exceptional contributor to DVD horror of recent and they can turn the most mediocre of films into collectible material with their attention to perfecting what they release. Considering the film here is an odd but likable entry from the Spanish seventies/eighties era, this DVD is well worth adding to related collections.