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The evil eye might be bad luck but so is jacking off a goat, Boils and Ghouls. Tread lightly. Welcome this version of a fleshy and fantasy-ridden Hell, mofos! It is a place where touching yourself is permitted! Woot woot! This is Rosemary’s Baby with more skin, more Satan, and one very horny goat. If you felt Polanski's film didn't go far enough, then these Black Candles are definitely for you.
The Devil’s claw. It kills and kills and kills again. Black Candles, aka Hot Fantasies aka Los Ritos Sexuales Del Diablo, opens like an occultist’s wet dream. We’ve got some devil worshipping, a voodoo doll, and two naked bodies humping their way into Hell’s gate…until, thanks to a stab through the voodoo doll by a stranger, the man dies mid-hump. Bummer for the woman who seemed to rather be enjoying it.
Wait. But who killed the man?! If you care to find out, the next 84-minutes will a relatively harmless joyride through satanic sex. Just know what you are in for. Black Candles doesn’t hold anything back – even the simulated sex looks very real.
Black Candles, a film that quickly lays all its card on the table thanks to an unforgettable sex scene in a stable in which a goat mounts a feisty woman, arrives on blu-ray courtesy of Code Red. Atmospheric thanks to its windy location and full of grey skies, this demonic flick is full of witches and warlocks as they prepare themselves for the ultimate of covens assembled. {googleads}
This trashy Satan-worshiping flick from 1974’s Vampyres director, José Ramón Larraz, is all sorts of edgy and twisted. It celebrates the type of funk that can be smelled through the screen. Trust no one in this sick flick. And be prepared to shield your eyes because humans and goats are going to bump uglies together…all for the sake of the Satanic uprising. And, yes, it is graphic. Juices must mix to make the right potion, after all.
But let’s back up. You see, soon after that shocking opening, Carol (Vanessa Hildaggo) and her husband (Mauro Ribera) come to England to stay with her supposedly grieving sister-in-law, Fiona (Helga Liné), and soon she starts seeing visions and having fantasies involving her dead brother and so on. Something is amiss. Little does she know that is has to do with Satan himself and the occultists who are trying to summon her to them.
Satan wants Carol’s flesh. And these occultists aim to please. While the acting leaves a lot to be desired, the plus in this film is its sense of atmosphere as the darker sides of life soon eclipse the young woman. Her husband rapes her and then leaves her helpless; her family keeps lying to her; and there is no one she can trust. She is outnumbered and without any way to protect her from the gathering gloom. Unfortunately, you won’t care. Hildaggo plays the character like a cold and distant cranky ol’ cow, so we don’t really have much concern for her plight.
What we do care about are all the things we shouldn’t; just how far will this movie go in its depiction of Satan, goat sex, and era-friendly witches and warlocks. Oh, and did I mention that there is a lot of sex in this flick, too. Everyone gets nude and down and dirty. They are all drinking some form of the goat sperm and then fucking like rabbits. Satanists really do love the flesh.
Larraz, who also wrote the movie, keeps his film moving at a pretty gritty clip. There’s a lot of talk of wizards and witches and whether or not they even exist but, thanks to the peeking and poking of Fiona, who seems to be orchestrating the whole thing, the film remains a creepy flick through the very cold side of B-movie shenanigans.
In spite of all its sleaze and cheese, the Black Candles at the center of this trashy flick remain lit.
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: Not rated.
Runtime: 84 mins
Director: José Ramón Larraz
Writer: José Ramón Larraz
Cast: Helga Liné, Vanessa Hidalgo, Jeffrey Healey
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Sex and the devil... a wicked combination.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor:
Official Site:
Release Date:
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: August 30, 2016
Synopsis: It’s a stew of satanic sex when Carol and her boyfriend Paul travel to England after the unexpected death of her brother. Once there she finds out her sister-in-law is involved in a secret cult, and Paul might be getting pulled into their lusty web of diabolical destruction.
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Code Red DVD
Available on Blu-ray - August 30, 2016
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: None
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Code Red presents Black Candles on blu-ray thanks to a brand-new HD scan. With an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, this transfer is detailed and looks better than ever. Some shots, due to the era of the day, are fuzzier than others but the image is reasonably well defined with crisp contrasts and solid textures. Colors are solid, with reds being a standout. Blacks are, too. The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono soundtrack. The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono soundtrack.
Blu-ray Supplements:
Commentary:
-
None
Special Features:
- Only trailers for other Code Red titles.
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