Heartbeat (1983)

Am I Missing Something?

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Hasn't Naschy already done the ancestor/descendant thing? No matter, for watching Naschy direct and write and act (he does it all here) is always a pleasure - a guilty one, of course, as his films will win no awards.The film opens with a man on horseback in full armor swinging a mace as a naked girl runs for her life. Let's see Scorsese do a better job of directing that scene! Initially, the film does not appear to be more than lots of screaming at ghosts and gore, semi-transparent nightgowns, and a man determined to rid himself of a sick wife. But, hey, that's enough for an enjoyable film. However, more murders occur, the gore gets ratcheted up, and there are some interesting twists.Besides Naschy, Paquita Ondiviela by herself makes the film worth watching. Too bad it is the only film available in which to see her. Silvia Miró is no slouch either. Both provide considerable full frontal.

Paul Naschy films can be more than just a little bit hit and miss - and unfortunately there's a lot more misses than hits, but every now and again you happen upon a good one and this flick is certainly among the better Naschy films that I've seen. The film is directed by Naschy himself, and true to form (considering how a lot of his films are rather similar to each other) this one takes a hell of a lot of influence from Naschy's earlier works, particularly the boring Horror Rises from the Tomb. It's not original by any stretch of the imagination, but Panic Beats works well thanks to its atmosphere, gore and plot twists - it's almost verging on being a Giallo! The plot focuses on Paul; a rich descendant of a legendary knight named Alaric de Marnac. The knight has his own legend, and apparently he reappears every 100 years to batter any unfaithful women around his house. Paul decides to move his rich, but terminally ill wife up to the castle where the knight is reputed to have lived. Strange things start happening, and it appears the legend may be true...The film gets off to a great start as we watch the knight chase down and slaughter a young woman. The film slows down from there and focuses more on the plot and characters. I won't say that it's all that interesting, but the film never gets boring and the way that we focus on the legend of the ancient knight is good. The film really picks up around the middle when the twist in the tale is revealed and it becomes obvious what the film is actually about. Naschy packs this flick with plenty of gore which is nice and the way that it's dished out is often unpleasant, which of course is also nice. There's a fair bit of bloodshed and the budget constraints were obviously a problem as it looks rather cheap - but it's still nice to watch. There's not as much nudity on display as some Euro-horror fans will be used to but Naschy is nice enough to cast some beautiful women and we do get some nudity. It all boils down to a predictable but well worked ending and while I cant say that Panic Beats is right up there with the best that Euro-horror has to offer - it's certainly a decent little film and above average for Naschy flick so I can recommend it.

Paul Naschy was quite an important contributor to the industry of European horror films, and I'm an unusually big fan of his work and persona, but he undeniably never accomplished anything major or classic during all his years of film-making. The titles in his repertoire provide large portions of gore and sleaze (thumbs up for that!) but his screenplays are generally uninspired and too often revert to the same old and repetitive basic premise. Apparently, Mr. Naschy just loves to play his own descendant in stories that revolve on ancient folklore legends and family curses. The entire "Hombre Lobo" cycle is based on this principle as well. "Panic Beats" is sort of like a re-telling of Naschy's earlier film "Horror Rises from the Tomb", as both films feature a murderously mad 16th Century knight - Alaric de Marnac - who supposedly returns from the grave to slay unfaithful women. In this film, 20th Century sleaze-ball Paul uses the petrifying myth to scare his wife to death, inherit her family fortune and marry a young & viral beauty. But, unfortunately for Paul, there's a lot more treason going on behind his back and he also never took into consideration that the myth of his malevolent ancestor might have some truth in it. The plot of "Panic Beats" is overall very dull and it doesn't feature a single story-element or twist that you can't see coming from several miles away. Every dire cliché and stereotype you can think of regarding isolated country mansions and medieval curses is predictably processed into the script, including the loyal old servant and the knight's armor that seemingly moves all by itself. But hey, as usual it was the high gore & sleaze factor that eventually convinced me to reward "Panic Beats" with a positive rating after all. There are a handful of truly nasty murders, committed with axes and other typically medieval armory. Beautiful feminine nudity is provided by luscious women such as Silvia Miró and Paquita Ondiviela, who both go full frontal without hesitating. I just wished Paul Naschy didn't insist on showing so much of his own naked and unusually hairy torso. Oh well … Recommended to all fans of trashy euro-horror, and the Mondo Macabro DVD is a real treat full of phenomenal extras!

PANIC BEATS is another Mondo Macabro release where all the good parts are pretty much in the trailer. The film isn't terrible by any means, and actually has a few decent "twists" in the plot (though much of it is pretty predictable...) - but I also found it dull at points and unremarkable overall...Paul (played by Euro-horror mainstay, Paul Naschy) is the descendant of a knight who used to bash his out-of-line bitches with a mace. Legend has it that the knight comes back every 100 years to lay the smack-down on any ho's that are messin' around behind the man-of-the-house's back. When Paul moves his terminally ill (and rich) wife up to the old castle that used to be the home of the knight - weird things begin to happen that supports the legend...OR is it all just a figment of the wife's imagination...OR is there something even more diabolical going on???The storyline for PANIC BEATS is decent enough, and the acting and cinematography are up to par for this sort of mid-budget Euro-trash - unfortunately, I like a bit more sleaze in films of this sort, and although there is some nudity (including full-frontal), it doesn't come til towards the end of the film (other than the brief opening scene). The gore is decent - nothing to write home about, but a few decent scenes. The twists in the plot make it somewhat more interesting than some other Euro-horror entries - but most of those are predictable as well. Overall, not a bad diversion, but I wouldn't consider it a "must-see" either...6.5/10