Two sisters Marta and Verónica run the local inn in a small town in Spain. It’s a place in which many tourists decide to stay, however the sisters have a very strict set of values that doesn’t really mix with the young female women that decide to stay. The music, ranging from jangling modern riffs to Bach like organ interludes which might be appropriate for a high Mass, underscore the action effectively. The atmospheric cinematography of Jose Aguayo further cements the film in a high place among Spanish horrors of that era. This is a horror film which also takes cultural, historical, gender, political, geographical and psychological depths into account, making it all the more layered and worthy of repeat viewings

The new Scorpion Releasing DVD, a Blu-ray is also being released, is the best home video release yet of this film which I have seen. It’s had a rough history on home video, including a severely truncated release on bargain DVD compilations as IT HAPPENED AT NIGHTMARE INN. The portrayal of the two sisters is also a key strength to the film, with both actresses keeping things tightly reigned in despite the underlying madness that is obviously at work within their characters. Had this film been made a decade later it would no doubt have taken a different route and gone for a Norma Bates-style show of dominance but as it is there is a remarkable amount of restraint that has gone into it, and that includes restraint within the more exploitative elements of the plot. There are brief flashes of nudity and blood but no more than you would see in an average Hammer movie from the time and director Eugenio Martin ( Horror Express) doesn’t linger on any of it in the same way as Fulci or Argento would.

Side guide

The film is directed by Eugenio Martín with the cinematography side of things that’s taken care of by José F. Aguayo. Set in a small Spanish village it has a different feel from your typical horror film which is a nice change. The story flows well and the tension builds to the inevitable climax.

I love watching horror films from the seventies, the one I’m taking a look at here is a Spanish horror starring Judy Geeson whom you may recognise from the Hammer film Fear in the Night (1972). So without further ado here’s my A Candle For The Devil blu-ray review. Films are set to release the Spanish horror film A Candle For The Devil on blu-ray this October in the UK. This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. It Happened At Nightmare Inn" is not very good. The more sexually charged "A Candle For The Devil" is far more interesting. In 1973, "Candle" probably could not be shown in the U.S. The theme of sexual repression caused by religious fervor is very different from a couple of crazy ladies who like to kill young women. What makes A Candle for the Devil so intriguing are the characters of Marta and Veronica. Both sisters are repressed but in different ways; Marta is scarred by a previous relationship where her husband-to-be left her for a younger woman whereas Veronica is repressed by Marta and her irrational behaviour and twisted religious views, a fact borne out by her secret affair with a man 20 years her junior. This outlet of sexual frustration isn’t entirely straightforward for Veronica and her lover as she won’t undress in front of him because she believes it is sinful and she steals money to give to him, despite him not wanting it, as a way of easing her guilt.Films merely state that this version is a “HD Transfer in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio”. I have a feeling it may well be the same version as the Odeon one I previously looked at. The image is pretty sharp and clear but the biggest negative has to be the colour. The colours are washed out giving an overall faded look. What it did have, as it took the moral high ground, was a sleazy atmosphere apparently at odds with the anti-hypocrisy message since we were invited to indulge ourselves in the sex and violence as a visual distraction, all the while nodding and tut-tutting about how the sisters’ actions were pretty reprehensible (alternatively, if you thought their reactionary mindset was fair enough, this may not be the right film for you). Although many of these horrors would invite the audience to feast their eyes on young female flesh, that was not necessarily the case here as it was the distinctly middle-aged actresses served up as something desirable, only in a curious fashion that had you being dared to find them attractive when you sense you shouldn’t, as much because of their age as because of the murders they conducted in their hotel. A Candle for the Devil AKA It Happened at Nightmare Inn, is a gruesomely satisfying early 70s piece of exploitation cinema, bristling with dark tension and Giallo-style overtones.