La campana del infierno

I saw this film several times on the late night local movie when I was a kid back in the 70's. With a title like 'A Bell From Hell' you would expect the worst, but it is actually a highly entertaining little Spanish horror film. The plot concerns a man returning home from an asylum bent on taking revenge on those that put him there. These revenge scenes are both horrific and comical-sort of in the tradition of "Dr. Phibes" and "Theatre of Blood"-minus the great Vincent Price! Still, the performances are above average and the plot has not one sleepy moment in it...and watch out for the ironic twist of a finale-you won't see this one coming! Not to be missed-if you can find it.

This movie is NOT a bloody, gory film at all - it's quite the opposite! It's a Gothic psychological horror-thriller with a great ending! I was expecting it to be a trashy bloody and gory film but instead I found it to be a good movie.

A man is falsely accused of rape and being insane by his aunt and her 3 daughters. The aunt and the daughters want the mansion and all the money to themselves after the guy's mother died when he was younger. He was locked away and the aunt paid the doctor an insane amount of money monthly to keep him declared insane but his lawyer got him out on probation. Now that he's out he's going to find out why this happened and to get some revenge! It's not bloody nor gory revenge but a thrilling psychological film that will leave you wondering what's going to happen next and the ending is a surprise! :)

Recommended to those that like the slower starting films that build into a thrilling psychological horror.

8.5/10

This mythical film "La Campana del Infierno" (The Bell Of Hell) is a psychological thriller more than a Spanish Fantaterror film. Brilliantly directed by Claudio Guerin , resulted to be a damned picture , specially when turned out to be his untimely swan song since he died by mysteriously fall or jumped to his death from the central bell tower constructed for the movie and being eventually completed by distinguished fellow Juan Antonio Bardem . This near-legendary Euro-Cult item deals with an insane inmate of an asylum (Renaud Verley) is released and returns home for vengeance on his aunt (Viveca Lindfors) and her three daughters (Maribel Martín, Nuria Gimeno, Christina Von Blanc) who had him declared crazy in order to take his inheritance . The young man punishes his aunt and three daughters , with bees and hooks . Who will escape the terror ? . The most shocking horror of all time is finally here ¡

Thrilling as well as elegant film that contains suspense , intrigue ,cutting-edge set pieces and some terror elements . In 1973 Guerin produced and directed this French-Spanish film titled Bell from Hell (La cloche de l'enfer in France), a horror story , highly valued in its period . Guerin in a penetrating style makes a highly appropriate and bright filmmaking , he invite us into an active participation of a cruel game in which the protagonist seeks a peculiar vendetta . A few elements well developed he manages to create a mysterious atmosphere , a mixture among magical dreamlike scene of three sisters entry through the fog, and, of course without giving up a certain amount of cruelty and eroticism ; adding a touch fantasy . Interesting , suspenseful story and screenplay well written by prolific Santiago Moncada . Atmospheric as well as evocative cinematography by Manuel Rojas , filmed on location in Noia, Padrón,Betanzos ,Coruña, Galicia, and Estudios Roma, Madrid, Spain (interiors) . Very good support cast such as Viveca Lindfors , Tito Garcia , Erasmo Pascual as a priest and the extraordinary participation of Alfredo Mayo as a lewd old man , among others. Strange as well as adequate musical score by Adolfo Waitzman .

This very hard to find motion picture was stunningly directed by Claudio Guerin , realizing a personal staging . He had previously directed shorts , documentaries and his first film titled ¨House of the Doves¨ with Carmen Sevilla and Ornella Muti . However his sad and mysterious death cut his promising career . As he died in an accident during the filming of his second movie . In Noya church had built a second bell tower attached to a passage of real wood . Preparing a complicated plan, Guerin wanted to jump from the catwalk to a cantilever of the church, but lost his balance and fell into the void from twenty meters high ; died before reaching the hospital . Distinguished director Juan Antonio Bardem completed filming the last sequence about 7 minutes .

This fascinating and completely off-the-wall horror/art film is full of memorable imagery and surprising shocks. It's about a man who is released from a mental hospital into the care of his aunt and her daughters. They want to drive him mad again to inherit his vast estate, but he turns the tables on them in a series of surreal and sometimes disturbing "tricks". One of the best scenes takes place in a dungeon. The film is original and you never know where it's going. Worth seeking out.

This is a true unique creepy movie of the early 70's. No Hollywoodtrash, pure sickening. Scene's at an abattoir, incest, rape and that with no blood and almost no nudity. Excellent how this movie takes you to the end, a bit slow the first half but then suddenly it all start moving in the Italian way, sometimes it made me remind of 'The beyond'. Beautiful filmed and great performances. Weird how an open door and some fog combined with "frere jacques" can make your flesh creep. If you can stand animal cruelty search the full uncut of this one, I can't tell if the DVD release is uncut. You will stick until the end...