The Library of Congress print of this bizarre, apparently hybrid film clocks in at 45 minutes, so if you've seen a shorter version, you haven't seen the 'whole' film. Cobbled together from what appears to be three or possibly four different pieces of footage, The Penitente Murder Case (as the LC print is titled) outlines in bare detail the journey of a newspaperman into the barrens of New Mexico, where he stumbles upon a hardcore Catholic sect of peons who practice bizarre rites of self-flagellation. He hooks up with a cooperative local 'boy', Chico, who escorts him, unseen, to a number of secret rituals. At the end of the film the reporter is murdered so that the 'secret' of the sect stays within the local community.
The distinct sets of celluloid include some apparently silent footage, which appears to be real, of New Mexicans performing their Good Friday ceremonies (these segments were clearly shot at 16FPS); extremely bad hand held footage with enough pan shots to give anyone a headache; incredibly dull footage of the reporter and Chico standing around 'watching' the natives; and some ve ry fine dramatic footage that is clearly staged--especially good is the circular shot of the police interrogation at the end of the film. Credited director-cinematographer Roland Price was probably responsible for the character shots, but I can't imagine the man who also shot Marihuana: Weed With Roots In Hell and Son of Ingagi being capable of the 8 or so competent minutes in this film. Penitentes was apparently butchered by the Hays Office, but the extant footage is still pretty strong stuff, as the film features whipping, nudity, and crucifixion. Narrator Zelma Carroll flubs several lines and sounds like he was given a single take to record his unctuous overdubs. He also sounds like he was well lubricated for the task at hand.
This is truly a roadhouse classic, a film so strange and so ineptly made that I find it hard to criticize. Essential viewing.
