ALUCARDA (1978)
(a.k.a. SISTERS OF SATAN)
Article #1120 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-8-2004
Posting Date: 9-5-2001
Directed by Juan Moctezuma
Featuring Claudio Brook, Tina Romero, Susana Kamini

Two young women staying at a convent become worshippers of Satan.

The blurb that graces the cover of the DVD of this movie is from the Psychotronic Film Guide, and describes the movie as having “More blood, loud screaming and nudity than any horror movie [he] can think of”. That’s probably a fairly accurate description, though the fact that the quote appears on the front cover of the DVD is a sign that those marketing the movie aren’t exactly aiming for the audience that appreciates subtlety. For those who are curious, yes, there is quite a bit of full-frontal female nudity in this one. There is also a LOT of screaming, and I’m glad I took the cautious step of listening to the movie over headphones, else I would have annoyed and alarmed the neighbors, not to mention my wife. There is also a wealth of blood, but this is actually one of the more interesting aspects of the movie; I couldn’t help but notice that the blood occurs in almost equal measure on both sides of the struggle between good and evil; the blood ceremony and the dead woman who rises from a blood-filled coffin on the side of evil, while on the side of good, we have a bloody exorcism, stigmata, and flagellation, not to mention the fact that the (white) gowns of the nuns of the convent all look like they have blood stains on them. However, despite the occasionally effective use of sound, a nice visual sense, the occasional interesting idea and it’s intense desire to shock, I’m afraid that the movie didn’t have any real impact on me; once it was over, it was over. All in all, the effect was akin to watching a Jean Rollin movie with the artiness level turned way down, and though I’m no big Rollin fan, his movies do linger in way that this one doesn’t. The movie isn’t without interest, but I do think it is primarily for those who would be impressed by the blurb on the front cover.