HumanoidOfFlesh Paul Marnac,the offspring of Alaric de Marnac(of "Horror Rises from the Tomb aka El Espanto surge de la tumba",1973)takes his ill wife Genevieve on a vacation.Marnac family's manor hides an terrible history beneath and after awhile it seems that something evil has risen from the past.At the same time young woman Julie is going to have an affair with Paul.It looks like either a cruel plot against innocent Genevieve or something evil and unnatural.This mix of horror,sleaze and black comedy works for me.There is a little bit of gore and a decent amount of fill-frontal nudity,so my grimy exploitation heart was satisfied.Simple but stylish camera work combined with vivid colours is very close to 60's era of Hammer Films' classics.But like Naschy in his lead role,the whole film contains fun and foolish camp tone in it and therefore cannot be taken seriously.8 out of 10.

capkronos This isn't all rotten if you hang in there. It's like a trashy Gothic soap opera running at half-speed with pretty decent acting, mild sex scenes, plenty of female nudity and a hilariously mean-spirited and lecherous roster of characters who use, deceive, manipulate, seduce and kill other people without thinking twice about it. It opens with a foggy, great-looking, atmospheric scene of infamous sadist Alaric de Marnac (laid over from Naschy's fun 1972 film HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB) tracking down a (nude) victim on horseback before mauling her to death. In modern times, Alaric's look-a-like descendant Paul (Paul Naschy) decides to take his terminally ill, wealthy wife Genevieve (Julia Saly) out to his secluded childhood home for a much needed break from the stress of big city life (and possibly buy her some more time). Waiting for them at the home are elderly maid Mabile (Lola Gaos), who's been around since Paul was a young child and used to spook him with stories about the family lineage, and her sexy niece Julie (Paquita Ondiviela), who had a rough childhood and claims she is looking to make something of her life. A month after arriving in the home, Genevieve has gotten close to both Mabile and Julie and her health is improving, but the peace doesn't last long as she's haunted by mysterious visions of Alaric back from the dead. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the forces conspiring against her are actually in human - not spirit - form, and said forces want her dead to get her money, but the less I reveal about this one the more you will probably enjoy it. It does sound like your standard issue psycho thriller, and in most ways it is a bit on the ordinary side, but the story does hold a few surprises that I won't spoil.One of the things that this movie has going for it is that none of the characters are portrayed as saints and there's a certain duality to everyone, making the interplay between them a bit more interesting and unpredictable than what you normally see. The cinematography is competent; very stylish and colorful anytime something "supernatural" is going on. The four leads are all good. Plus there's one moment of over-the-top gore that will definitely catch you by surprise. It's worth a look.Go straight for the Mondo Macabro DVD (an excellent print); quality for the Spanish language VHS version and the subtitled VSOM video don't do the film justice.

ma-cortes Jacinto Molina or Paul Naschy is actor, screenwriter and director of this film about his popular role ¨Alaric De Marnais¨ based on a real character , Gilles De Rais , a knight of the Dark age during XV century , under command of Charles VII of France in times of Joan of Arc and as well as a murderer of hundreds of children . The first film he appeared was ¨El Espanto Surge de la Tumba¨ (Horror rises from the tomb 1972) directed by Carlos Aured and where Alaric is beheaded in public execution , then he swears revenge facing the executioner and his descendants . Now is a ghostly presence that heckle his eternal rest for executing a merciless vengeance in a script plenty of gaslight , murders and adulteries at a countryside mansion .It's a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a ¨Naif¨ style . The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato . Revolting , horrible scenes and nasty images take place as slashing , decapitation , and bloody murders with axes and other tools . As usual , Paul Nashy exhibits breast , as he was a weightlifting champion . Julia Saly interprets as the suffered wife and Lola Gaos as the old servant . Abundant nudism in charge of gorgeous Pat Ondiviela . It's a sequel to ¨Devil's possessed¨ or ¨Mariscal del Infierno¨ based on the historic character Gilles De Rais . Gilles was a devoutly religious follower of Joan of Arc who fought valiantly on her side and was later trialed and executed by the Catholic Church for heresy and sexual crimes committed against children . As Rais served as a commander in the Royal Army , distinguishing himself by displaying reckless bravery on the battlefield during the renewal of the Hundred Years War . Rais's prosecution would be on charges which included murder , sodomy , and heresy. The precise number of Gilles' victims is not known, as most of the bodies were burned or buried. The number of murders is generally placed between 80 and 200 ; a few have conjectured numbers upwards of 600 . The victims ranged in age from six to eighteen and included both sexes.The motion picture was regularly directed by Jacinto Molina , being produced , wrote and shot in his peculiar style . The late Naschy was a good professional , writing, filmmaking and acting about hundred titles , mainly in terror genre . ¨Marshall of Hell¨ is written by Molina along with 21 screenplays as ¨Mark of Wolfman¨, ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Vengeance of the mummy¨, ¨Licantropo¨, among them . The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and horror genre enthusiasts . Rating : mediocre but entertaining .

FieCrier This is out on DVD from Mondo Macabro, and I confess I own every DVD they've put out, even the UK-issued PAL ones. Well, one exception: I did not get O Ritual dos Sádicos (1970) AKA Awakening of the Beast, since I'd seen it already in Image Entertainment's Coffin Joe box set and I absolutely hated it. I'll also admit to the fact that I get a kick out of watching horror movies that have relatively few user ratings on the IMDb (less than 100, less than 20). So of course I bought Panic Beats when it came out!The lead in Panic Beats is played by Paul Naschy AKA Jacinto Molina, a very prolific Spanish actor specializing in horror. In spite of his many films, I think the only ones I'd seen previously were La Orgía de los muertos (1973) and Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (1972), the latter of which was one of Mondo Macabro's PAL DVDs. So far, I don't see the appeal of him as an actor. He looks a little like the late John Belushi, but seems to lack the humor and charisma. Naschy's acting, particularly in Panic Beats is very stoic, very nearly expressionless.Panic Beats starts off energetically, with a scene set in the past with a knight chasing down a fully nude woman and killing her with a mace. The knight is Alaric du Marnac, a Gille de Rais-type character Naschy'd played before in Espanto surge de la tumba, El (1973).After that, it's in the present day. Naschy is married to a nervous woman prone to nightmares. He takes her to an isolated home owned by his family, and their trip is not without incident. At the home is an old family servant and a pretty young relative of hers. The movie's pace is pretty slow for some time after their arrival, and it becomes evident that Naschy intends to "gaslight" his wife (Naschy, as the film's writer/director was consciously drawing from Gaslight, and Rebecca, the novel of which is mentioned by a character). Also being referenced is Les Diaboliques (1955), particularly in one scene stolen from that film, and poorly imitated here.Much of the terror of the film is supposed to come from what is supposed to be a ghost of du Marnac, dressed in armor. Naschy, as writer/director again thought the idea of a knight moving like a tank through a modern home to be terrifying in itself. Given the incongruity, perhaps it could have been, but it is not here. It doesn't help, for example, that the house is already filled with several sets of armor; gone the incongruity - this is no "clown at midnight" to borrow Robert Bloch's phrase. The armor is also quite plain and shiny, which I didn't think helped either. And for myself, I'll add that I more or less immediately thought both of the knight in Scooby Doo, and the rubber-chicken wielding knight in Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series. An example of a terrifying knight in a modern context that worked would be the knight in Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King, so the idea is not without potential.Naschy has lovers, and confidants, and people outside his plot yet within his circle, so there is the potential for things to start going wrong. The movie gets more interesting when this happens. There is some gore, but really not a lot. There is some full frontal nudity, and you also get to see rather a lot of Naschy who for an ex-weightlifter looks more burly than muscular.I found the movie to be disappointing. I did like the special features, though. There is one on Spanish horror films, making particular mention of Naschy, Jess Franco, Jorge Grau, and Amando de Ossorio. There is another that is an interview with Naschy. Both are quite interesting, and made the movie not seem like such a bad purchase.