Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Noche de fieras (1990)



Here's a film that doesn't even show up on the IMDB, despite having the presence of the great Hugo Stiglitz and being directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna, whose lengthy resume reaches as far back as 1945. Previously available on a video from Mexcinema, it also appears to have had a DVD release on a budget Spanish label.

With a plot that involves getting a wife to go insane so the husband can gain her wealth, Noche de fieras (Night of Beasts) most reminds me of Paul Naschy's Latidos de panico (Panic Beats, 1983). Budget-wise, the Crevenna film can't hope to match the Naschy one, though it does manage to be oddly entertaining in brief parts, sometimes not intentionally so, as with the ridiculous presence of a beefy pseudo mummy (looking, interestingly enough, like Naschy!). The predictable plot gives Stiglitz a chance to emote as never before, and a bathtub scene where the Stiglitz character does away with one of his helpers is genuinely suspenseful and moderately shocking. Beware the disco-style hairdos on the women, however.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Santo contra los burocratas

I think we can all relate, even without knowing Spanish!