El caminante

'El Caminante is grimly set in doomy medieval times, and the sublimely talented writer/director Paul Naschy appears to be having a devilish good time playing an itinerant, mesmerisingly mysterious, traveller Leonardo (Paul Naschy). A darkly enigmatic, murderously philosophical rogue, which, unsurprisingly, appears tailor-made for someone with Naschy's bravura, almost preternatural talent for creating fascinatingly larger-than-life villains. His exemplary acting prowess, ably matched by a no less conspicuous talent for compelling, fear-festooned filmmaking!

Observing this perverse pilgrim's progress, it becomes obvious that, Leonardo is a far from righteous individual. His motivations are mercenary, perhaps, even satanic in nature! Along with his young eager-to-please acolyte, the fornicating, exquisitely eerie epicurean finally finds himself stripped of all his nefariously acquired wealth. Retreating to a bordello wherein his lustful propensity for evil percolates to ever more profane levels of ignominy and foul licentiousness! His degeneracy culminating in a grisly, theologically intriguing, blood n' thunder climax that certainly gives the viewer much more to ponder on than the soporific recycled junk of today. 'El Caminante' is arguably one of the more diabolically intriguing occult offerings from the Iberian iconoclast, and remains a must-own title for all avid Naschy fans!

No werewolves this time as Paul Naschy writes, directs, and stars in a film about the Devil.

It seems that the Devil (Naschy) is traveling the world on a sort of holiday to take stock of how mankind is doing. A tale of debauchery and gluttony, he discovers the seven deadly sins are alive and well.

Silvia Aguilar and Adriana Vega both star in this film. They have long resumes of nudity in film, and they do not disappoint here. Of course, there are lesser stars appearing nude also.

In the end, the Devil finds that men are as bad if not worse than he is. He robs, and fornicates, and cheats his way, but he is robbed and cheated and left for dead himself.

Paul Naschy's third historical outing proved to be not just the best of the loose trilogy but perhaps his finest work ever, a feat rewarded with a couple of nods at Fantasy Film Festivals. Interestingly, it presents yet another facet to the question of Evil which is so often treated in films boasting a medieval setting: indeed, in THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED (1974), he had been a Satanist; in INQUISITION (1976), an oppressor and – eventually – victim of Devil worship; whereas, here, he is the personification of all that is unholy, since he plays Lucifer himself in human form (his face occasionally taking a red sheen for maximum impact)!

Naschy's script, too, is undoubtedly his most fascinating – as its episodic structure intelligently takes a logical progression. The Devil (disguised as a wanderer) meets with a man who directs him to a nearby house for shelter, but proceeds to kill him instead. Then, he meets a younger man being tormented by his blind master, whom he helps and takes under his wing. Going to the indicated premises, he seduces the crippled woman while her husband is away at work but subsequently denounces, and brands (which scene even became the film's poster), as a whore and robs of her savings. Later on, he goes to another family, where he purports to save a dying girl's life – the price being to share her mother's bed (even getting her pregnant, with the begotten child's fate left hanging in the balance by the film's conclusion and the woman herself a suicide!).

Our 'heroes' next hit upon a caravan – where Naschy plays the idiot to distract the noble couple at its head, while his companion cleverly gets rid of their entourage (by promising gold but leading them into a deadly trap). On to a convent (to which he and his ally turn up dressed in the habits of two friars they had come across and assaulted) where, naturally, superstition and repressed sexuality are rampant – thus easy prey to The Devil's wiles. Here, however, he had counted without the nuns' lusty gardener who gives him a piece of his mind on sensing the threat to his 'territory'! They wake up in a whorehouse, where the two obviously find themselves at home – but this time their ties are irrevocably severed (though not before the young man is allowed glimpses into mankind's less-than-encouraging future via newsreel footage of WWII, the Holocaust and the Atom Bomb!), when Naschy sells his partner to a gay nobleman!!

The boy takes revenge by having the lackeys of his new master (thanks to whom he is finally on his way to Court, and to where he had previously hoped Naschy would lead him) crucify his former companion/tutor – leading to a brief but striking moment where The Devil asks a stone figure of the martyred Christ how could he have given his life for such an ungrateful species as the human race! The film ends with a reversal of its opening sequence: Naschy helping out an apparently weary traveler and being turned upon yet again…only he now opts to show off his omnipotence, and merely – jeeringly – laughs in the face of man's selfishness and greed.

While fully displaying the inherent appeals of this type of film, namely cinematography (by "Euro-Cult" stalwart Alejandro Ulloa, with especially nice candle-lit interiors), production design, costumes and music, the tone here is curiously – yet endearingly – bawdy (with the star himself participating in nude scenes and sarcastically exclaiming "Vade retro, Satanas!" while bedding the convent's Mother Superior). This was actually the style adopted by countless erotic comedies of the "Decameron" variety that emanated from Italy earlier in the decade; a speeded-up orgy, then, clearly bears the influence of Stanley Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971).

Incidentally, I had recently come up with a premise in which the coming of the Anti-Christ is treated in Bunuelian, i.e. agnostic, terms – and I knew Naschy's effort would be among those I was required to watch for inspiration! In conclusion, in view of the recent discussion I had with Michael Elliott about the star's work, I ended up acquiring the intriguing sci-fi piece THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK (1976), which I will be checking out presently...

Paul Naschy plays The Devil in human form,who walks among morally corrupt mankind.He destroys lives of all people with whom he met.Naschy uses temptation and mischief to achieve as much sexual pleasure and money as he can.His loyal acolyte is named Tomas."El Caminante" was written and directed by Paul Naschy himself.The film plays more like black comedy and morality tale than horror movie.It's loaded with sleazy nudity and moral decay.Lying,cheating,stealing and manipulating.Everything is permitted to obtain money and sexual pleasure.There is truly disturbing footage from Second World War when Tomas has a vision of the future.The acting of Pauly Naschy is excellent and the film is rich in atmosphere.8 amoral vices out of 10.

Another review of a Paul Naschy film from me and this time it's a tongue in cheek bawdy historical black comedy where Naschy plays the devil in human form , calls himself Leonardo , takes a young man called Tomas under his wing and shows how humanity can be easily taken in they give way to the sins of lust and greed

That's basically it story wise but to be fair it is relatively amusing and Naschy appears to be having a lot of fun in a type of role I rarely see him in which probably explains why I think it's one of his better performances from an actor who isn't really in danger of being Oscar nominated . That said EL CAMINANTE is very one note and episodic . Leonardo and Tomas arrive at someones dwellings , Leonardo rogers the mistress of the house to within an inch of her life and then it's back to the beaten track for a couple of minutes before arriving at another dwelling to do a bit more rogering . Keep repeating again until the end credits come up . There's not really much more to the plot than that and any subtext there is is all too obvious - don't give in to temptation . There's also a rather haphazard element to the editing which gives the impression some of the film has ended up on the cutting room floor when it shouldn't have but like I said things happen that are relatively amusing in a relatively amusing film