John
Gilling's Final Movie... written by Paul Naschy
director:
John Gilling
starring: Carmen Sevilla · Ramiro Oliveros · Emma Cohen
· Monica Randall · Eduardo Fajardo
Spanish horror icon
Paul Naschy wrote this film (under his real name of Jacinto Molina) and
convinced his friend British director John Gilling to come out of retirement,
visit Spain and shoot the movie. As it turned out, regardless of Mr Gilling's
years of filmmaking experience at Hammer Studios in the '60s, the Spanish
unions would not allow a "non-Hispanic foreigner" to work inside
their studio system. A special Ministerial permit was needed to overrule
their objections. The bad feelings aroused by this action resulted in
very poor distribution and the picture virtually disappeared after its
opening in 1975. Additional problems surrounded the production: the friendship
between Gilling and Naschy was strained when the British director decided
that Paul wasn't right for the leading role and replaced him with Ramiro
Oliveros. Mr Gilling also began rewriting numerous scenes causing Naschy
to abandon the shoot.
The final film, however,
is considered one of John Gilling's best movies. The story deals with
a young journalist named Alfred Dawson, suffering from writer's block.
He has since gone to smoking a lot of hash. The drug causes him to blackout
and experience recurring dreams about a girl being tortured by Templar
knights on horseback. Then, a letter arrives from his sister Justine;
she begs him to come to Spain as things haven't been going well since
she suffered a miscarriage. Alfred and his girlfriend leave the UK and
arrive in Madrid only to find his sister dead. Apparently, her body had
been found at the foot of a mountain, under an iron cross, the victim
of devil-worshiping Templar bandits.
A Spanish
film with English subtitles; widescreen format, totally uncut version
(96 min.), DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT, playable on any
American machine. Extras include theatrical trailers.
Graphic
Violence/Drugs/Adult
themes:
Intended for Mature Audiences
