Oh dear the Spanish inquisition where the Catholic church hunted out heretics , devil worshippers and the cult who were responsible for killing Jesus . Not much different from Franco's regime and since this is was made just after the death of the military dictator one might have hoped for a political subtext to this but there really isn't any that I can see . Setting the story in 16th Century doesn't help and it seems that if the Jews aren't getting the blame for something then the French will suffice but one would have hoped for a latent meaning to this film
As it stands INQUISICION is the debut of Paul Nsschy as director and the first Naschy film I've seen that has subtitles with the cast speaking in their native Spanish which makes a very nice change watching something that isn't like an episode of EUROTHRASH with gore . That's another striking thing about the film - there's a lack of it and is much a cheap period horror film with some violent bits but lacking in torture porn which isn't necessarily a bad thing though there is one scene featuring the interrogation of a witch that caused me to wince
Getting to make a historical drama is what probably attracted Naschy to direct this film but he does have a bit of a problem developing the characters in that none of them are likable and there's no one to root for . There is a man of medicine who is rather scathing on the methods of the church and he's probably the closest the film has to a goodie but he's more than happy to follow unscientific mores like using leeches to treat the sick that one wonders if Naschy is being ironic on purpose . Of course that's how the medical profession did treat the sick but one had hoped for some dramatic anachronistic licence . The director also uses some ineffective camera shots where you get the feeling there's medium shots when there should have been close ups and vice versa . I also got the impression there might have been bits missing during the editing but that might be down to the copy I saw
For what it is , a period horror it's an okay film . Some people might complain about the lack of blood and guts but as someone who has seen enough Naschy gorefests the director concentrates on he storyline and emulates and probably exceeds the emulation of those latter horror films by the Hammer Studio that are historical dramas rather than out and out horror movies
As it stands INQUISICION is the debut of Paul Nsschy as director and the first Naschy film I've seen that has subtitles with the cast speaking in their native Spanish which makes a very nice change watching something that isn't like an episode of EUROTHRASH with gore . That's another striking thing about the film - there's a lack of it and is much a cheap period horror film with some violent bits but lacking in torture porn which isn't necessarily a bad thing though there is one scene featuring the interrogation of a witch that caused me to wince
Getting to make a historical drama is what probably attracted Naschy to direct this film but he does have a bit of a problem developing the characters in that none of them are likable and there's no one to root for . There is a man of medicine who is rather scathing on the methods of the church and he's probably the closest the film has to a goodie but he's more than happy to follow unscientific mores like using leeches to treat the sick that one wonders if Naschy is being ironic on purpose . Of course that's how the medical profession did treat the sick but one had hoped for some dramatic anachronistic licence . The director also uses some ineffective camera shots where you get the feeling there's medium shots when there should have been close ups and vice versa . I also got the impression there might have been bits missing during the editing but that might be down to the copy I saw
For what it is , a period horror it's an okay film . Some people might complain about the lack of blood and guts but as someone who has seen enough Naschy gorefests the director concentrates on he storyline and emulates and probably exceeds the emulation of those latter horror films by the Hammer Studio that are historical dramas rather than out and out horror movies