Verdict
Summary
Just released as a four-disc box set in a handsome and sturdy case, Danza Macabra Volume Three: The Spanish Gothic Collection is a special features-packed collection of four unusual films that are geared to please fans of these types of films. My favorite of the set was easily The Night of the Walking Dead, and if Severin doesn’t make that one available as a standalone, then the set is worth it mainly for that one film.
The Night of the Walking Dead (1975) Plot:
A young woman is seduced by a vampire, upending the entire village with an uprising of undead.
Review:
An attractive young woman named Catherine (Emma Cohen) lives in a small village in the 19th century, and for years she’s been sickly and dejected, sheltered by her family. She’s a beautiful young woman with prospects, if only her condition would improve, and the locals in the village have long warded off any hint of its past evils, namely an epidemic of the undead, or what we would consider vampires. When a handsome, worldly man named Rudolph de Winberg shows up in town, he immediately sets his sights on Catherine, who quickly succumbs to his method of seduction, particularly after inviting him over for dinner where he compliments her humble home and her choice in wine. Soon, he has completely swept her off her feet and made her vibrant and sexy, but locals in town are experiencing a fresh wave of the undead again, with disturbed graves and mass gatherings of famished “walking dead” vampires who congregate for orgies and feeding frenzies. The townsfolk gather their strength, grab tools and weapons and begin proactively exterminating the undead, but not before de Winberg has played his ace in the hole: Catherine, who begins feeding on her own family, spreading the disease …
A sexy and stylish vampire film from Spain, The Night of the Walking Dead had me invested from start to finish with colorful gore, weird atmospherics, sympathetic villains, and foxy women who undress for eye-opening nude scenes. It reminded me a lot of the Hammer Horror films, and fans of the genre will absolutely appreciate this one for all its generous helpings of the stuff they hope to expect from classy horror films of the 1970s. This was a really solid find from this dedicated horror aficionado. From director Leon Klimovsky.
Severin’s disc comes with a new audio commentary by author Kat Ellinger, a visual appreciation, two video interviews, a video essay, and more. The transfer is warm and sharp in high definition.
Cross of the Devil (1974) Plot:
A writer goes to visit his sister in Spain, but finds that she’s been murdered, leading to a nightmarish investigation.
Review:
British author Alfred Dawson (Ramiro Oliveros) and his fiancé Maria (Carmen Sevilla) receive an alarming letter from his sister in Spain, prompting them to drop everything and visit her. When they arrive, he’s blindsided when he finds his sister Beatriz (Emma Cohen) has been murdered and is already in an open casket, about to be buried. Alfred, plagued with nightmares about his sister being killed by a bunch of hooded skeletal Templar knights, and when a shady and sinister man – an acquaintance of Beatriz named Cesar (Adolpho Marsillach) – lurks around and insults Beatriz’s character to Alfred, it appears that something weird is going on. Cesar and another man might be in on some dark secret about Beatriz and plan on luring Alfred and / or Maria to the same sort of grisly fate, but if Alfred has time to stop it and get to the bottom of all this macabre activity, he’ll certainly try … or die in his attempt.
Written by Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy and directed by Hammer horror filmmaker John Gilling, Cross of the Devil resembles the Blind Dead series in some ways by using the ghoulish Templar knights as a starting point, but the movie only uses that as seasoning rather than a centerpiece theme. The movie is more mood, dread, and buildup, and when the conclusion comes, it’s a little underwhelming and disappointing. I was with the plot and the characters as much as I was able to be, but the movie lost me towards the end with its slow pace and draggy direction. A shame, because it had potential.
Severin’s Blu-ray comes with a new audio commentary by author Kim Newman, an interview with one of the screenwriters, a video appreciation, and a video essay. The transfer of the film is vivid and colorful in a new 4K scan.
Cake of Blood (1971) Plot:
An anthology of four macabre tales.
Review:
The first tale in this four-short film anthology is “Tarot,” which is presented in an abstract, almost wordless fashion: In the Middle Ages, a man with the plague wanders around until he comes to a marsh where he’s clobbered to death by robed men who hunt down and extinguish the lives of infected people. The second tale is “Victor Frankenstein,” an odd rendition of a story we thought we knew, but is offered in a completely new way. Victor, after a long absence, returns to his estate with new knowledge and a penchant for killing. His newest creation is a man who behaves like a newborn, but who has an insatiable lust to extinguish life. Victor makes a pact with his creation and they commit suicide together. The third story is “Terror Among Christians,” which is set about a thousand years after the birth of Christ in Rome. A holy man is bitten by a vampire, and he contemplates his newfound fate in life and wails in anguish that he’s now evil. The fourth and final tale is “The Dance or Emotional Survivals” is the most intriguing segment: A voyeur vagabond is propositioned by a man to kidnap and torture an attractive young woman. They grab her, tie her up, and take her to a house where they eventually kill her. The vagabond watches as the woman’s ghost waltzes off with the other man, who also happens to be a ghost: This was his plan – to join his woman in the afterlife.
A very uneven mixture of (sub)genres and execution by four different filmmakers makes the very obscure Cake of Blood a mixed experience. All but the last one had any resonance with me, and yet the film remains watchable thanks to its strangely overall haunting mood. They should’ve stuck with the tarot as a theme for all four stories, but only the first one had the forethought to do that.
Severin brings Cake of Blood to North America for the first time in any format, and it looks and sounds great in a 2K scan. There’s an audio commentary, three interviews, and an appreciation feature on the disc.
Necrophagous (1971) Plot:
A man returns to the estate where he grew up, only to find death and a strange cult haunting it.
Review:
Michael Sherrington (Bill Curran), a young scientist, is summoned back to the castle where he grew up, and he is told that his wife has died giving birth to their child, who was stillborn. To anyone else, this would be enough news to crush them, but Michael is curious and he digs up the grave and finds it empty. Since he’s been gone, the estate has fallen into deep disrepair and even worse is that the castle seems to be plagued with a masked cult who trawl around the castle, causing terror and death to anyone who gets in their way. Multiple people are killed or disappear (even a child), but is it the masked specters or is it … something from beyond the grave? Michael will eventually find out!
A strange and decidedly weird pace and direction make Necrophagous and odd one for sure, but it’s colorful, unintentionally funny, and the big reveal at the end is a real humdinger of creature design, with the monster looking like a vegie version of The Creature From the Black Lagoon with a very, very green plant look, with a design that’ll either impress or cause you laugh. The movie works a spell that might not be very effective, but it tries a different approach to macabre horror and you’ve got to give it points for trying. From director Michael Skaife.
Severin’s Blu-ray disc for this one comes in a vivid 2K scan with an audio commentary, an appreciation, a remembrance, and trailers.
Just released as a four-disc box set in a handsome and sturdy case, Danza Macabra Volume Three: The Spanish Gothic Collection is a special features-packed collection of four unusual films that are geared to please fans of these types of films. My favorite of the set was easily The Night of the Walking Dead, and if Severin doesn’t make that one available as a standalone, then the set is worth it mainly for that one film. It’s affordably priced to own now.
