Espiritismo

A group of friends gathering a friend's large mansion to dabble in the black arts find themselves under attack by a series of supernatural attacks related to one's purchase of a cursed artifact.

Agonizingly slow Gothic effort, probably slower because of the language barrier but even still, the amount of ghostly activity in this one isn't high at all and really doesn't have a whole lot to do anyway, leaving this to consist of endless scene-after-scene of them standing around talking to each other in different rooms around the house about what's going on. When it gets to the good stuff, namely the séance scenes, this one becomes all the better since it's all first-rate stuff, and those séances are just magical all around without much improvement to be done on them. Though, without a lot of horror elements to be found, this one doesn't have any real lasting impact at all.

Today's Rating-Unrated/PG: Violence

Spiritism (1962)

1/2 (out of 4)

This Mexican-horror film is among the very worst I've seen. A mother decides to make a deal with the devil after her son gets into some financial hardships and her husband helps, which just comes back to haunted them because they might lose their home. This Mexican variation on The Monkey's Paw is one of the most confusing and boring films I've seen. Even in the American dubbed version you can't help but feel as if you're missing out on some sort of story or events that appear to be missing. The film starts off with a séance where nothing much happens but as the movie goes along you realize that what was happening in that opening sequence is actually more than anything else that follows. What really kills the film is how the story is constantly jumping around. It's as if the screenwriter really thought he had something deep to say about death but it just all comes across very childish and silly. There's one sequence where a woman is at one of the séances not realizing that she's already dead. Then we have the ending, which is beyond silly but I'll avoid spoiling it for anyone. It also doesn't help that the production was certainly very low-budget and this leads to some silly moments. There's one scene where a severed hand comes to life and we get a shot of it on the ground moving. It's easy to see that it's a full arm down there moving so the effect is just silly. There's even another make-up effect where a woman sees her "dead" self in a mirror and the effect is just laughable. The biggest problem with the film is just its lousy, unimaginative direction, which can be seen in the opening sequence where everything is a medium shot with two people in the frame. No matter how you look at it this film is among the worst of its kind with very little going for it.

If you prefer more modern horror films where the gore is significant and the action is fast, you might not like this at all.

It is an eerie, yet slow-paced, retelling of the famous Monkey's Paw story, with some significant differences. What it has going for it is great atmosphere, a literate plot, some nice performances, and some well-done séance sequences with apparitions.

In this case, the paw is replaced by a disembodied human hand, which is a nice, gruesome touch. The aspect of the three wishes given to the holder of the paw (hand) is not relevant here, as instead the story involves calling upon satanic powers to grant financial benefit. There's no limit of wishes granted, but the sacrifice of one's soul for the desires granted.

Fans of older-styled pre-1950s horror ought to enjoy this.

I bought this DVD from half.com for $1.88 and the shipping was more than that. I am a fan of movies like the Brainiac and all the wrestling horror flicks so when I read about this on a fansite, I thought I'd give it a go.

I propped the Mintek on my lap, leaned back and watched...then fell asleep. I woke up, backed up to the last scene I remembered, pressed Play...and fell asleep. The next time I woke up, I made a strong cup of coffee, then another because the first tasted so good, went back to the Mintek, pressed Play...and fell asleep.

Maybe this is one of those weird tapes like in the Ring, only instead of dying in seven days you fall asleep in 7 minutes.

What I remember was a bunch of Mexican people talking about Ouija boards with dubbed voices. There didn't seem to be much action...maybe it happened when I was asleep. Somehow I don't think so.

I recommend this movie to anyone who is having trouble sleeping.

Remember those SAFETY films we sometimes had to watch in class? How to use electricity without burning down the house? Water safety? Drivers ed? This plays like one of those. Actually follows the rules of the form, right down to overacting, people getting FREAKED when things go wrong...and the inevitable BAD STUFF when the poor saps DON'T obey the RULES. In this context, the film is almost fascinating. It's like it's a health film from some alternative universe where this stuff REALLY WORKS..and they HAVE to put out public service movies, to prevent people from having street fights between good and bad spirits... The dialog is up to K. Gordon Murray's usual high standards of total overkill, and the special effects actually have a kick to them..Of course, you get more questions then answers...like just who IS that dude at the door??? The whole film has a nice slow eerie vibe that builds right up to the end..and if you liked to wait for the car crash, the electrical fire, or the drowning in the safety films, this one won't disappoint.