Juan López Moctezuma- La Mansion de la Locura/The Mansion of Madness (1973)- DVD5 (NTSC Format)

Someone requested The Mansion of Madness back during "Fuck You Tarantino!" Week, when we posted another Moctezuma film, Alucarda. It took some searching to find, but here it is, complete with custom Russian overdub track, in case you'd prefer to hear all of the parts voiced by a single Russian man.

While the story may not be as followable, per se, as Alucarda, this film has some beautifully set-up shots and is well worth the download.

Besides, I'm pretty sure the official FTD stance is that follow-ability is overrated.




From Rod Barnett at Eccentric Cinema:

Juan López Moctezuma only directed a handful of films, none of which made money or were widely seen, but his influence on Mexican cinema is still felt today. First working on the stage, in radio and television he branched into film in the '60s and became an assistant to legendary Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky. After helping produce Fando & Lis and El Topo, Moctezuma made his first film — The Mansion of Madness. Being a fan of horror and fantasy tales he chose an Edgar Allan Poe story as the basis for Mansion but imbued it with his own ideas and odd vision. Moctezuma shares with Jodorowsky a love of surreal images, symbolic stories and a fierce independence that makes his movies true auteur pieces.




In the mid 1800s, journalist Gaston Leblanc (Athur Hansel) travels to the French country estate of Dr. Maillard (Santo in the Wax Museum's Claudio Brook) to learn about his methods of treating mental illness. Maillard has converted his palatial home into a private institute for the mad and claims to have made great leaps in treating various diseases. Leblanc is carried to the mansion by Julien Couvier (Martin Lasalle) and his wife (Mónica Serna); as the couple leaves, patients dressed as soldiers attack their carriage and take them and their coachman captive. Unaware of this, Leblanc is given a lengthy tour of the place and shown dozens of patients who seem to be living with little or no supervision. Maillard explains his "soothing method" by which he claims to harness the inmate's madness and control it. Leblanc sees chaos and torture instead of healing and says so. Maillard is only amused. Finally the doctor introduces him to Eugénie (Ellen Sherman), who dances to entertain the men, but at the climax of her performance she tries to stab Maillard. Outraged at the treatment of the girl (and enamored of her as well), Lablanc can only barely be calmed and persuaded to retire for the evening. Upon escaping from his locked room he discovers Eugénie about to be killed as part of some strange ritualistic ceremony. Rescuing her he learns that she's the daughter of the real Dr. Maillard... The man masquerading as the doctor is actually named Fragonard, a madman who thinks he can rule the world. Recaptured by the inmates, Leblanc must find a way to stop Fragonard and save Eugénie before he, too, is driven insane.




Mansion of Madness is not a great film by any stretch but it has its points of interest. More a series of strange scenes, odd moments and surrealist visions of mad people doing weird things, it's ripe for discovery by fans of Moctezuma's mentor Jodorowsky. Indeed, some segments of this movie recalled to mind scenes in Jodorowsky's amazing 1989 film Sante Sangre as well as El Topo. Even with a meandering story and a certain lack of forward momentum, Mansion Of Madness has so many striking images that it exerts an odd effect not unlike being mesmerized. The film is able to establish a dreamlike feel that slowly seeps into the (patient) viewer and pulls you along — its not the most exciting movie but if you can accept its quirks you'll find a thoughtful exercise in style. Moctezuma seems to be commenting on society's mad blind spots and rigid systems, but although he sometimes ties his ideas together mostly he's just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. The most irritating moments are the pointless shifts in tone such as several comic scenes with accompanying 'funny' music that destroy whatever sense of dread or importance that had been building. The first of these comes on the heels of a brief instance of implied rape, so is jarring to say the least. It's a beautiful movie but an unfocused one — or if it is focused I must have missed the moment that made its aim clear. I much prefer Moctezuma's third film, Alucarda (1978), with its fantastic story of religious possession being much more haunting and satisfying. Mansion is a mess of a film but one that I'm glad I finally got to see for myself... Your reaction my differ significantly.




Technical Information:

Title: La Mansion de la Locura/The Mansion of Madness
Year: 1973
Country: Mexico
Director: Juan López Moctezuma

Source: DVD9 Retail
DVD Format: NTSC
Container: .iso + mds
Size: 4.35 GB
Length: 1:23:35
Programs used: Unknown

Resolution: 720x480
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Video: MPEG2 @ ~7500 kb/s
Frame Rate: 29.97

Audio 1: Spanish- Dolby AC3 Mono @ 448 kb/s
Audio 2: English- Dolby AC3 Mono @ 448 kb/s
Audio 3: Russian Overdub- Dolby AC3 Mono @ 192 kb/s

Subtitles: English

Menu: Yes
Video: Shrunk very slightly from 4.85 GB to 4.35 GB

DVD Extras:
- Theatrical Trailer
- Featurette: Juan Lopez Moctezuma: A Cultural Maverick
- Guillerom del Toro Interview
- Moctezuma: Biography, Filmography, Text Interview
- About the Film
- Stills Gallery




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"Fuck You, Tarantino!" Week: Juan López Moctezuma- Alucarda, la hija de las tinieblas/Sisters of Satan (1978)- DVD9 (NTSC Format)

We're giving you a break from Norifumi Suzuki (for now), but we're not giving you a break from nuns. Mexican nuns that fight the Devil! Take that, Tarantino!




From the University of Maryland Mexican Film Resource:

This film was apparently shot in English and was later dubbed into Spanish for its Mexican release. The English-language version (which is the one I have seen) features Claudio Brook and (apparently) Tina Romero (and possibly David Silva) doing their own voice-work. As noted in my review of La mansión de la locura, I believe López Moctezuma shot his '70s films primarily in English, using mostly English-speaking performers (although some minor characters' dialogue may have been post-dubbed). The plot synopsis of the film printed in Emilio García Riera's Historia documental del cine mexicano varies considerably from the English-language version, although it is possible that his source for the synopsis (he doesn't seem to have screened the film himself) was in error. Some scenes he describes are not in the English-language version, and a reference is made to a third role played by Claudio Brook, but only two are seen here. The English-language version released on Academy video runs 76 minutes, nine minutes shorter than the running time cited by García Riera.

After a prelude in which a young woman (Tina Romero) gives birth to a baby in barn and hands it over to a wild-looking gypsy for safe-keeping, the film begins with the arrival of Justine--whose parents recently died--at a convent/orphanage run by an order of nuns. The year is 1868. Justine is befriended by Sister Angélica, who shows her the room she will occupy. Justine's roommate is the black-clad Alucarda, who seems a bit (well, quite a bit) odd. However, the two teenage girls become friends.




One day the duo wanders away from an outing in the woods. They meet the hunchbacked gypsy, who invites them to his encampment. There, a gypsy woman starts to read Justine's palm but turns away; Alucarda is upset by the hunchback's cryptic statements, and dashes off. Justine and Alucarda discover a strange, ruined house in the forest; inside, they find a crypt containing a moldering corpse. When they open the coffin, a strange roaring sound is heard, and they run away.

Back at the convent, Justine faints during a fiery sermon preached by Father Lázaro. Later, Alucarda becomes possessed by a demon; the gypsy hunchback appears in their room; using a dagger, he pricks their breasts and forces them to drink each other's blood. The two girls participate in an orgy in the woods, but Sister Angélica's prayers seem to call up a strange power which strikes down the gypsy woman. During a catechism class, Justine and Alucarda mock the nun in charge and begin to praise Satan. Justine collapses into shock; Alucarda attacks Father Lázaro in the confessional. He comes to the logical conclusion: "That's it--a heliophobic demon! That's a sixth-category devil who hates light! We must prepare--an EXORCISM!" (You have to admit it, the man knows his demonology)

Justine is stripped and tied to a cross. She is pierced with needles while Alucarda--also tied up--looks on helplessly. When she screams in protest, Alucarda is knocked out. The town doctor, Dr. Oszek, arrives and criticizes the monks and nuns for their hysterical behavior, but it is too late: Justine is dead. Oszek takes the unconscious Alucarda back to his house. Alucarda is befriended by Daniela, Oszek's blind teenage daughter.




Dr. Oszek is called back to the convent: Justine's body is missing, and the horribly-burned corpse of a nun is discovered. Father Lázaro chops the head off of the body with a sword, and the "corpse" screams and twitches. Oszek learns that Alucarda has taken Daniela away. The searchers go to the mysterious house in the woods. Sister Angélica finds the nude Justine lying in a coffin full of blood. Justine revives and attacks the nun, but then becomes calm. However, Oszek arrives and tosses holy water on her, which burns the undead Justine like acid. Before she dies, Justine bites Angélica's throat, killing her.

Oszek and the others return to the convent, where Alucarda is terrorizing the nuns, the monks, and the orphaned girls. The building shakes, people burst into flames. Alucarda is upset when Daniela, bewildered by the commotion, falls down a flight of stairs. The monks bring in Angélica's dead body, holding it aloft in a Christ-like pose. Alucarda is overcome by this image, and dies, her body disappearing.

Alucarda is a bizarre and confusing film, with definite echoes of Jodorowsky, López Moctezuma's friend and associate. For the exploitation crowd, it has a fair amount of gore and considerable full nudity, although even the most hardened bad-film aficionado would probably flinch at some of the stilted dialogue in the earlier sections. The plot cannot be "explained" simply (in fact, the synopsis given by García Riera alludes to vampiric aspects which simply do not exist in the English-language version), although basically it has to do with demonic possession. But whether this is caused by the coffin that Justine and Alucarda open, thus "releasing" a demon or spirit, or whether it is caused by the hunchback gypsy (= the devil), or both, is not made clear. López Moctezuma indicated that he initially planned a two-film series, so perhaps the sequel (which was never made) would have explained something. The film isn't exactly anti-clerical: while Dr. Oszek berates Father Lázaro and the nuns for torturing Justine to death, it later turns out their diagnosis of demonic possession was (apparently) correct. Furthermore, Sister Angélica is a positive figure throughout the film, and the other church members are depicted as somewhat overzealous, but not evil.




Alucarda is, at least visually, a rather stylish and interesting picture. The nuns wear non-traditional outfits, dirty-white looking gowns and head-gear that makes them look sort of like mummies. The old house in the forest--and the convent, to a lesser extent--have rather "organic" interiors, as if designed by Alien artist H.R. Giger. The photography and other technical aspects of the film are satisfactory, and althought the film was (according to López Moctezuma) made very cheaply, it does not look that way.

Top-billed Claudio Brook chews the scenery as the hunchback, speaking garbled German-French, and wearing outrageous makeup (curly wig, stringy goatee, snaggle-teeth), but is nondescript as the skeptical Dr. Oszek. Tina Romero is convincingly weird as Alucarda, although she rather too quickly forgets about the dead Justine and adopts the innocent Daniela as her new friend (with definite lesbian overtones). Susana Kamini, who appeared in four of López Moctezuma's feature films (and little else, unfortunately, since I think she's great), has her largest role here, and is perfectly adequate, as well as being quite attractive. The film's best scene is Kamini's emergence from the blood-filled coffin. Kamini's feral attack on her former friend--and then the sudden cessation of violence, as recognition dawns in her eyes--is extremely well-done. Kamini's naked, blood-covered body is not used in an exploitative manner at all in this scene, unlike the earlier sequences which combine sex and gore for titillation.




Technical Information:

Title: Alucarda, la hija de las tinieblas/Sisters of Satan
Year: 1978
Country: Mexico
Director: Juan López Moctezuma

Source: DVD9 Retail
DVD Format: NTSC
Container: .iso + mds
Size: 5.25 GB
Length: 1:17:51
Programs used: DVD Decryper

Resolution: 720x480
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Video: MPEG2 @ ~7500 kb/s
Frame Rate: 29.97 fps

Audio 1: Spanish- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 448 kb/s
Audio 2: English- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 448 kb/s

Subtitles: English (Custom)

Menu: Yes
Video: Untouched

DVD Extras:
- Theatrical Trailer
- Documentary- Juan Lopez Moctezuma: A Cultured Maverick
- Guillermo Del Toro Interview
- Juan Lopez Moctezuma Biography, Filmography, Interview
- Stills Gallery




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