La mansión de los muertos vivientes (1985)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Jesus Franco (novel)
Jesus Franco (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 November 1985 (Spain)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

Poison | Ancient Curse | Hotel | Tomb | Death Cult

Cast

Lina Romay	...	Candy (as Candy Coster)
Antonio Mayans	...	Carlos Savonarola (as Robert Foster)
Mabel Escaño	...	Mabel
Albino Graziani	...	Marleno
Mari Carmen Nieto	...	Lea (as Mamie Kaplan)
Elisa Vela	...	Caty (as Jasmina Bell)
Eva León	...	Olivia

Also Known As:

Mansion of the Living Dead (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Golden Films Internacional S.A.

Movie Connections:

Remake of La noche del terror ciego (1971)

Watchable sleaze outing with a misleading title

This is only my third venture into the crazy world of Jess Franco and like the first couple that I watched this is some odd stuff. The title is pretty inaccurate, as there is no mansion involved in the film and most people attracted by the prospect of living dead may be bemused by the fact that the titular undead occupy, at best, a third of the film. The rest is taken up by naked women, some nice and occasionally surreal visuals and plentiful lesbian sex, including more rug munching action than I expected. The women in this film are uniformly quite beautiful, especially the great Lina Romay and Franco's camera simply adores them. One of the highlights is an amusing close up shot of Lina Romay's bush, the sort of moment that reminds us that Franco is one crazy cat and he really, really likes the female of the species. The attractive yet deserted setting and the contrast between the beauty of the beach and hotel with sights like the cheapo zombies or a rusting drum create a serenely surreal atmosphere, aided by the lack of music or indeed, much in the way of sound effects apart from the wind and love making. Unlike the freaky rotting dead folk of Oasis of the Zombies, the ghouls here have faces like pancake batter masks with big crazy grins. Its cheesy, but it reminded me of the masks people wear on Day of the Dead celebrations so I found it quite interesting. The film is very much hampered by the lack of any gore or bloodshed and it does occasionally slip into boredom but at the same time its is often oddly hypnotic and has a good dreamlike feel. There is also some funny dialogue delivered by a crazy gardener, especially his reaction to the idea of coffee. Apparently whiskey is the drink of democracy. I wouldn't be surprised if Franco literally did come up with this one in a dream, as there really is little substance to it, though I have read that the zombies are supposed to represent the catholic church or somesuch so maybe to Franco this is actually intellectual stuff. Altogether, this is no classic for sure but its impossible to dislike, even if it does seem to forget its a horror film and spends much of its time wallowing in lesbian antics. Worth a watch for sleaze hounds, just don't expect a conventional zombie picture.