A Candle for the Devil (1974)

Working at a hotel together, a pair of sisters find themselves believing that they've been divinely-bound to dispatch of the undesirable sinners who stay there and begin killing them off while the police investigate the missing people.This was quite a fun Spanish horror effort. One of the better aspects of this one is the fact that it really manages to get plenty of mileage out of its central premise ensuring that the sisters are just that off-center in their beliefs. This one accurately paints them as being so old-fashioned in their religious teachings that they've become brainwashed into the school of being the morally- sound viewpoint against the modern world and committing far more dangerous transgressions than what they're victims are accused of which makes this fall right in line with the vast majority of such films from that time period as their actions take this into a fun route. Their relentless pursuit against those that defy their viewpoint of righteousness allows for plenty of manic raving about their convictions which are put to use in several rather fun confrontations made all the better for being based on this backwards thinking, from the first encounter in the stairwell to the dealings with the town prostitute and finally the fine brawl that erupts from the battle in the basement with the single mother. The way these develop from their psychosis makes for quite a fun time overall here, and with the film picking up considerably in the action stakes for the final half with the race to bring them to justice leading to plenty of chasing around the property which gives this the kind of high-energy and enjoyable finale. Added together with some nice sleaze and a solid, engaging storyline, there's plenty to like here while there's a couple flaws holding it down. Among the films' few flaws is the fact that, despite it being quite a strong offering of their mental problems, there's just not a whole lot of action in this one. It's quite a while here before anything actually happens as the vast majority of the first half consists of the two debating about their ethical quandary killing off people and what they're doing, which makes this one really drag out and feel really endless as they're attempting to get their stories straight while also managing to feature them engaging in the same type of behavior with her boyfriend so it's not only bland but also hypocritical. That makes it hard to get into this one for quite a while due to this, and when the film spends the majority of the time not featuring many of these action scenes overall it really stands out with a dragged- out pace. The only other flaw here is the other storyline involving the missing woman's sister journeying around the town trying to find out what's happening to their utter cluelessness, which is quite strange with their desire to keep their crimes hidden and her noticeably poking around in their business being left to deal with until the very end which is quite a troubling effort. That really makes it hold itself back for the most part.Rated R: Violence, Full Nudity and Language.

In an inexplicably popular tourist spot (a remote, one-donkey Spanish village), two deranged sisters, Marta (Aurora Bautista) and Verónica (Esperanza Roy) run a busy boarding house where they are very particular about their female guests: those that they deem immoral wind up dead and dismembered, body parts thrown into a wine vat in the cellar. When Laura Barkley (Judy Geeson) turns up at the house looking for her sister May (Loreta Tovar), the murderous proprietors say that she has checked out of the establishment, when in reality she has fallen foul of the twisted innkeepers. After other female guests also 'leave' the boarding house without notice, Laura begins to suspect foul play and decides to investigate.Beware of the severely edited version of this film that comes as part of Mill Creek's Pure Terror box set: it is missing key scenes (most notably, the death of May), some bloody violence, and all the nudity that usually goes with the territory—all of which makes the truncated film a rather frustrating experience (I could tell as I was watching my copy that it was missing the good stuff). Thankfully, YouTube has once again come to the rescue and filled in the blanks for me, and I can now report that, if you can find it, the full film is definitely worth a go for fans of trashy Euro-horror, director Eugenio Martín delivering a satisfyingly sleazy time that sticks it to the strict censorship-happy political regime of early '70s Spain.Geeson doesn't take off her clothes, but her on-screen sister does, pushed down a flight of stone steps after sunbathing topless. Both of the killer sisters show some flesh, Veronica romping naked in bed with houseboy Luis (Charley Pineiro), and Marta's blouse falling open to reveal some blood-drenched boobage whenever she gets cray-cray. Martin even delivers some very exploitative full frontal male nudity from a group of young lads who get Marta all worked up by skinny dipping. The violence/gore includes a bloody stabbing, a young mother being killed in front of her infant son, a severed head in the vat of wine, and—get this—a woman's eye accidentally being served up to a paying guest in her lunch. But remember, you can only see ALL of this trashy stuff in the uncut version (or by paying YouTube a visit).6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb (this rating being for the full version of the film).

I was inspired to watch A CANDLE FOR THE DEVIL simply because I'm a big fan of Eugenio Martin's other Spanish terror flick, HORROR EXPRESS, so I wanted to see what he'd achieved here. I have to say I was disappointed, because I realised halfway through that this is a mood flick and I'm no big fan of mood flicks. By that I mean, it's all about (admittedly creepy) atmosphere, without a whole lot else going on. There are four or so murders but they're all spread out so thinly that I was half asleep waiting for the next one. The film itself concerns the doings of a couple of crazy sisters, whose religious repression is hinted at but never fully explored in the same way as in a movie like ALICE, SWEET ALICE.It's a shame, because these are two very interesting characters. The actors playing them, Aurora Bautista and Esperanza Roy, are both accomplished and fine in the parts, giving subtle turns despite the film's frequent descent to melodrama. Most of this film just sort of goes by out of your notice... there's a bit of talking, a sex scene, more talking, some wandering around in Spanish streets, more characters come and go... and then the movie ends exactly halfway through the climax, leaving you scratching your head and wondering how it ended (although I can appreciate that the freeze frame is effective in itself).I did want to like this film. Martin has a good sense of visual style, and some shots reminded me of Mario Bava's superior, nightmarish LISA AND THE DEVIL. The set-pieces are well-handled and the murders quite chilling, without being overly graphic. There's a strong focus on exploitation values, as Martin strives to cram in as much nudity as he possibly can, and much of it is outrageous: there are nude pre-pubescent boys, nude corpses, a nude middle-aged woman... no normal cheesecake that I can remember. Judy Geeson is quite ineffectual as the film's supposed heroine, because she doesn't seem to be in it much, and when she is on screen she's not doing anything. In the end, I have to say that A CANDLE FOR THE DEVIL is a very average film, not much we haven't seen before in this PSYCHO derivative sub-genre, and I'm mainly disappointed because it could have been so much more.

Two old maid sisters are running a little family hotel in Spain. They are very religious and the moral of the foreign tourist girl is too much for them. They start to kill them.First of all, 3 minutes into this movie there is hot blonde nudity which in my mind is a great beginning.Then there is one of the shortest skirts and longest legs I've ever seen.It's not a bad movie for the genre. Sort of a cult movie.