News

With the third installment of their Danza Macabra series, the fine, twisted folks at Severin Films shift focus from the boot of Italy to the Iberian peninsula. This collection spotlights four fascinating Spanish examples of the sort of moody gothic filmmaking that Italian directors like Mario Bava and Antonio Margheriti, not to mention Hammer Films in Britain, helped to popularize for international markets.

Rife with reptilian monsters, vampires, zombified Knights Templar, and even a cameo from Frankenstein and his misbegotten creation, these films vary considerably in tone and approach, ranging from rambling shaggy-dog tales to almost esoteric fables. They also differ in how far they’re willing to go with their respective lashings of sex and violence, growing bolder as the restrictions of the Franco regime lifted after the dictator’s passing in 1975.

Writer-director Miguel Madrid’s schizoid Necrophagous, from 1971, divides its time between two principal storylines that barely cohere in the end.

Severin Films Goes Goth On June 4th With Danza MacAbra Volume 3: The Spanish Gothic Collection: "Coming June 4th! Danza MacAbra Volume 3: The Spanish Gothic Collection is the latest in our acclaimed series of Gothic Horror Blu-ray box sets and the first to focus on Spain’s tradition of Gothic Horror, which – particularly during the Franco dictatorship – was characterized by daring concepts, lush visuals, extreme sexuality, and a startling aestheic all its own. These four classic shockers from the 1970s represent the genre at its most audacious: In Necrophagous, the debut feature by writer/director Miguel Madrid, a fractured family in a crumbling castle conceals a grisly graveyard secret. The anthology film Cake Of Blood – never previously available outside of Spain – presents a quartet of supernatural tales by four young filmmakers. Hammer Films director John Gilling brings his inimitable style to the occult thriller in Cross Of The Devil.