la visita del vicio jose ramon larraz 1978.

La Visita Del Vicio Jose Ramon Larraz 1978. Full Of Foreboding

Hes most well known for Vampyres (1974) but would probably prefer to be remembered for Symptoms from the same year.

As the victims pile up, the authorities attempt to keep a lid on the situation, whilst computer whizz-kid Gerald and girlfriend Lillian seek to unmask the killer before the town population reaches zero.

Nominally set in Northern California but shot primarily in Madrid, giving the film an off-kilter, AmericanEuropean atmosphere akin to the likes of Pieces, EDGE OF THE AXE is a late entry hack-and-slash masterpiece from one of the titans of Spanish terror.

An orgy of bloodlust Whilst en route to a lake, a group of youngsters make an unscheduled stop-off at a remote, seemingly abandoned mansion where they plan to spend the night.

La Visita Del Vicio Jose Ramon Larraz 1978. Full Of Foreboding

But the property is full of foreboding signs - a blood-stained car wreck in the garden, coffins in the basement, scalps in the closet, and photographs of a beautiful but mysterious woman adorning every corner of the house.

Before daybreak, the group will unwittingly uncover the strange and terrifying truth that lurks behind the walls of this dreadful place.

The last in a trio of transcontinental slice-and-dice co-productions helmed by Larraz towards the end of the 80s (all of which which he directed under the anglicized moniker of Joseph Braunstein), Deadly Manor - released on VHS in the US under the title Savage Lust - is a fitting capper to the directors prolific career in fear, now finally unearthed for the first time on a streaming service, right here on ARROW.

Then theres the nearby camping couple (Deacon and Faulkner) who keep an eye out on the strange ladies and their latest prey while slowly getting drawn into the bloody web themselves.

Directed by Jos Ramn Larraz Starring Patricia Granada, Lydia Zuaso, Rafael Machado Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (USUK R0 HD) WS (1.85:1) (16:9), Pagan (UK R0 PAL) WS (1.78:1).

His debut feature, Whirlpool, was picked up for American distribution by Jerry Gross and given an early X rating (easily in R-rated territory now), then followed in quick succession by Deviation, The House That Vanished, Symptoms, and Vampyres before he stayed with Spain permanently until his death in 2013.

Three of his films have been collected in a 2019 Blu-ray set by Arrow Video as Blood Hunger: The Films of Jos Larraz, offering a welcome opportunity to enjoy a trio of films from different points in his career.

The Larraz style is already unmistakable here over the idyllic countryside opening as photographer Theo (Larraz U.K.

Lanchbury) rows across a lake to the accompaniment of a haunting score by the great Stelvio Cipriani.

Theo lives in the middle of nowhere in a modest home with his lesbian aunt (though not by blood), Sara (one-shot actress Andersson), who scopes out models for his camera.

The latest one is Tulia (Neves), who soon starts an affair with Theo and starts asking questions about Rhonda, a missing Irish girl whose presence seems to haunt the entire house.

Things quickly get more perverse as Theo and Sara conspire to lure Tulia into a threesome and end up staging a molestation in the middle of the woods for a photo shoot, but thats just the start of an arrangement that cant possibly end well.

Its quite strong stuff for the time, when an X rating was usually just applied for more bare breasts than usual; it goes into some rough territory in the final stretch, with a kicker that still feels pretty transgressive today.

Exactly why this film became so infernally difficult to see is a mystery given how widely it played, with the U.S.

Interesting, the U.S.

European cut to give it a contrived justice prevails coda for the censors.

Its a real treat and a major miracle to see the film in this kind of prime condition, and the LPCM English mono track (with optional subtitles) is also in prime condition.

Bonus points for the hilarious recreation of distributor Hallmarks most notorious ad campaign gimmick, too.

The featurette Obsessive Recurrence: The Early Films of Jos Larraz (24m1s) features Kim Newman exploring the Larraz British cycle including the omnipresence of Lanchbury, and the grim, twist-free nature of most of his narratives.

A Curious Casting (9m10s) finds actor Larry Dann recalling his hour or two spent on the film, which was shot under the title She Died with Her Boots On (later morphed into the U.S.

The fascinating Deviations of Whirlpool (27m12s) offers a side-by-side study of the differences between the U.S.

European cut, illustrating exactly what was changed along the way to tighten up the pace.

You can also see Neves a couple of years after making this film in an excerpt from the BBC Parkinson show (13m19s) in 1972 as she talks about being a model and becoming nationally famous for her revealing ad appearances.

Its also great to hear her natural voice, which is a lot more charming than the one heard in the feature itself.

An archival Larraz interview (3m48s) shot by the Mondo Macabro gang in the mid-90s is a quick discussion of the film and its budget, and the disc rounds out with a wild U.S.

Sounds like the perfect scene to open a solid exploitation film, right Well, as anyone whos already seen the seminal European arttrash classic Vampyres can attest, that doesnt even begin to prepare you for what in store for the rest of this outrageous, insanely bloody, and relentlessly sexy classic thats lost none of its power to seduce and shock newcomers.

You see, those two women from the opening, Fran (Morris) and Miriam (Anulka), are still inhabiting that same house, except they now have an insatiable bloodlust they satisfy by luring visitors home, bleeding them dry, and dumping their bodies nearby in staged auto accidents.

Enter Ted (Brown), a traveling businessman who picks up a hitchhiking Fran and takes her home for a night of carnal knowledge that leaves him with a suspicious, very disturbing gash in his arm the next morning.

Everyone keeps making references to Ted being awfully familiar, too, which indicates there might be some reason the gals have decided to keep him around and keep draining him out far more slowly than usual.