The Hanging Woman (1974)

one of my absolute favorites!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Hanging Woman, The (1973) ** 1/2 (out of 4) This Spanish horror film has been released under countless titles including TERROR OF THE LIVING DEAD, RETURN OF THE ZOMBIES and even Dracula, TERROR OF THE LIVING DEAD even though Dracula isn't even in the film. It's best known as THE HANGING WOMAN and that's the title on Troma's most recent release. In the film, a man (Serge Checkhov) arrives at a small Scotish village to collect an inheritance from his late uncle when he walks through a cemetery and comes across the body of a woman hanging from a tree. This sets off some strange events, which might be coming from a necrophiliac grave robber (Paul Naschy) but black magic and zombies are also included. I had always heard good things about this film and it turned out to be pretty good. There was plenty of bloody killings, sex scenes and wall-to-wall nudity that will certainly keep people glued to the film but there's also some great atmosphere and some nice performances as well. I think this film will work best if you go into it as a murder/mystery because its heart is in that genre with just the horror elements thrown in for market reasons. That's not to say the horror elements are watered down or just thrown in because they mix in with the mystery stuff quite well. We get several bloody killings including a decapitation and an early autopsy sequence that has plenty of organs being pulled out of a body. There are quite a few beautiful actresses willing to part with their clothes and we even get one of the most bizarre sex scenes in any Spanish film I've seen. I found Checkhov to be quite appealing and believable in the lead role. While the film has always been sold as a Naschy film, in truth he has very little to do here, although he certainly milks the role for all it's worth. The atmosphere is extremely thick from start to finish and the nice looking sets certainly add to this. Fans of the genre are going to find plenty to enjoy here even if everything really doesn't add up at the end. This here is certainly much better than Naschy's VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES, which was released around the same time.

Determined Serge Chekov (a solid performance by Stelvio Rosi) goes to a remote rural Scottish village to claim his inheritance. He stumbles across a coven of devil worshipers and a horde of lethal shambling zombies. Director/co-writer Jose Luis Merino relates the compellingly perverse and warped story at a steady pace, offers a vivid and flavorsome evocation of the 19th century period setting, and does an adept job of creating and sustaining a creepy atmosphere that really gets under your skin and becomes more increasingly twisted and unnerving as the morbid plot unfolds towards its genuinely surprising conclusion. This film further benefits from sound acting from a capable cast, with especially praiseworthy contributions by Maria Pia Conte as the wicked, but enticing Nadia Mihaly, Dyanik Zurakowska as the sweet, lovely Doris Driola, and Gerard Tichy as the rationale Professor Leon Driola. Renowned Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy acquits himself well in a nifty secondary part as grimy gravedigger Igor. Moreover, there's not only a decent smattering of tasty female nudity and grisly gore (said gore includes a gruesome autopsy and a juicy decapitation), but also truly sick elements of kinky sex and necrophilia as well. Modesto Rizzolo's shadowy cinematography boasts a few crazy tilted angles. Francesco De Masi's brooding, shivery score likewise hits the shuddery spot. An enjoyable and satisfying fright flick.

Watching this one I came beware that it was made a bit the style of the Hammer movies but this one has his slow start. There is a lot of chatting and for almost an hour nothing happens. But the end makes it a better movie. The zombies look convincing although how they became zombies is rather stupid. My copy on VHS was very dark so sometimes you see almost nothing especially the night and dungeon scenes. It isn't bloody at all, just one heart in a hand that's all. Never released on DVD this one, a shame, well it's watchable and if your in Paul Naschy you should search for this one. For the other actors, they convinced me, Get it while you can...

Frankly, I'm still trying to figure out why I got pleasure from a horror film as effortless and unhurried as this one. If I have to be objective for a second, I would probably say that "La orgía de los muertos" actually didn't have much to offer to begin with. A nice variety of clichés and a predictable ending, are some of the magnificent qualities about this film. Let's just get this straight: the reason why I'm not praising this film, is not because I'm against clichés or predictable endings. I don't think a movie is great, only when it has a plot twist or unpredicted states of affairs. I believe that in order to be decent, a horror film needs to be either entertaining, gory or at least mildly eerie. However, I'm not sure "La orgia de los muertos", provides much of these three virtues. For the contrary, it's a very sluggish movie, with no gore and almost no eerie situations. Perhaps we could say that the story gets interesting and mildly freaky during the last minutes, but that's all. If we were talking about a different film, I would almost certainly say that it doesn't reunite enough elements to be considered a decent horror flick. Nevertheless, there's something about this film that makes enjoyable and it has to do with the fact that it is awfully stylish and nice to look at. The striking and yet ominous European landscapes, the 19th-century wardrobe and the graveyard, create a perfect Gothic background that unquestionably belongs to the horror type. The atmosphere is somehow dark, but still enchanting in a way. The highland village exposes two facades, which makes the scenery so ambiguous and mysterious. This may be a film that could be considered worn out by some people, but it's still captivating and charming in a spooky way. I could only spot one or two unintentionally funny situations and dialogs, which is a great flattering remark, in this case. Let's just keep in mind that this is a low budget film with actors who didn't even speak Spanish, or at least not all of them, and the film was supposed to be in that language. One of the scenes that really made me burst into laughter, was the one where Stelvio Rosi gets in a fist fight with Jacinto Molina…that was just plain hilarious. Without anything else to add, I can only say that despite of the flaws I mentioned, I believe "La orgia de los muertos" is a film that could be easily enjoyed by Gothic horror fans. Especially the ones who don't need a really complex plot and can appreciate a charming esthetic like the one in this film.