Bell from Hell

This is a pretty well done film of its ilk. As is the case with most of these, we have the deep psychological, "Psycho" like motivations. The problem with this one is that we can't answer if we have a true victim or sociopath? Are we to take this young man's trials as an excuse? He spent time in an institution. Did he crack, or was he relatively sane, filled with revenge? Who's to know. What we have is a slaughterhouse film, full of horror and carnage. There is an enjoyment in seeing those who are evil get theirs, but, then, there are normal courses. This movie is pretty well filmed although I think some of the cinematography is a little trite (close up, long shot), but there are some startling images and a fair amount of imagination. The sound on my print is terrible, making the initial conversations virtually impossible to understand. Maybe this one might be worth some restoration.

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.

Back before cable killed late night television horror on local broadcast channels (its all infomercials now), this movie ran a few times on a Southern-California station. It has been some time since I've seen it, but this is the kind of movie that sticks with you: it has incest, mystery, a bee swarm, twisted family revenge, good-looking actors and cool cinematography in an intriguing mix of religious imagery, repressed sexuality and seventies rock'n'roll glamour. The story revolves around a young man's vengeful return home, and a parallel plot following the arrival of a new bell for the town's church tower. The result is a surreal, gothic, darkly humorous horror film - made during Franco's reign, no less! (The first time I saw an Almodover film - "Dark Habits" - I thought of "A Bell From Hell".) This film is also vaguely reminiscent of "High Plains Drifter": lone figure rides into town - this time on a motorcycle - and mayhem ensues in the reckoning. Morricone's influence might be why, at times, the gothic style seems to break wide open into heat and sunlight; think too, of Jagger, Richards, Brian Jones in Morrocco... And there's a big debt to the Hammer Studios style of horror, in that most of the terror is psychological (there is some interesting violence, but I don't remember any full-throttle gore) and the plot relies on a creepy, pervasive atmosphere of threat and sexuality to build the suspense. It would be great to see this re-released on video!

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