Alucarda (1977)
Alucarda
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Why watch this film?
Released in 1977, Alucarda (also known as Alucarda: The Daughter of Darkness) was panned by critics of its time, and one can understand why: its production values were obviously limited, the acting seems over-the-top to the point of ridiculousness, and the art design gives an odd first impression (in what world do Catholic nuns look like mummies?). However, over time, the movie has been reappraised, and it is now considered a cult classic of Mexican horror cinema, a mashup of influences that, despite its limitations, remains interesting even if it went misunderstood in its day. Directed by Juan López Moctezuma (who would only make a handful of films, such as La mansión de la locura and Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary), the movie tells the story of a teen taken down the path of darkness by another, in a story that includes, among other things, covens and orgies before Belzebut, exorcisms with naked and crucified women, a zombie nun, vampires, and pyrokinesis, all within a setting that looks lifted from a Francisco de Goya painting. In short, Alucarda is a movie whose iconoclastic and anticlerical ambitions exceeded what its means could achieve and what the Mexican audience of the time was willing to accept, a cocktail with notes from Alejandro Jodorowsky's panic cinema (López Moctezuma produced Fando y Lis and El topo), the works of the Marquis de Sade, and Sheridan Le Fanu's gothic vampire novel Carmilla.
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Plot summary
After the death of her parents, a young girl arrives at a convent and brings a sinister presence with her. Is it her enigmatic imaginary friend, Alucarda, who is to blame? Or is there a satanic force at work?
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