Satan's Blood (1978)

 

Escalofrío (1978)  AKA Satan's Blood, Don't Panic; Sprinkle yourself with holy water and grab your rosary because we're about to walk down a dark and sinister path.

Ana (Mariana Karr) and Andres (José María Guillén) are a happy young couple (think Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes).

They have nothing to do this afternoon, so decide to go out and enjoy the afternoon in Madrid.

Along comes this shady couple: Bruno (Ángel Aranda) and Berta (Sandra Alberti).

Bruno swears up and down he knows Andres from their college days, but Andres can't for the life of him remember him. They invite Andres and Ana to their house for some drinks.

Bruno and Berta live in a creepy mansion in the middle of nowhere.

Their home is full of creepy stuff namely a unspeakably horrific doll.

Ana wanders into the kitchen area and stumbles upon an alarming sight.

Berta is slurping up raw meat from a plate on the counter. When she's caught, she casually just offers Ana something to eat.

Andre still cluelessly struggles to remember Bruno. They've brought their German Shepherd Blackie with them - and Ana begins to worry about their dog. They don't realize Berta has locked the animal up because it was beginning to sniff out the evil.

Ana says she has an interest in the occult and supernatural. Berta and Bruno are experts in this area.

The two couples play with the Ouija. Things get even stranger and Ana nearly blacks out.

The Ouija session proves to be traumatic for Ana and the couple want to go home. However, Berta informs that the storm has made the roads impossible. So they'll have to spend the night here.

The Ouija session brought out a lot of baggage from their past. Ana asks Andres to forgive her.

They make up and fool around in the bath.

Afterwards, the couple settles in for the night.

Ana takes off her bathrobe and hops into bed, while Andres still labors over trying to remember Bruno. He has no recollection of him, yet Bruno produced photographs of them together.

Ana hears a strange noise outside. It's actually Blackie being killed by the groundskeeper. Andres, always level-headed, assures Ana it's fine.

Later that night, Ana gets out of bed to investigate the noise while Andres is still asleep.

She puts on her robe and heads downstairs.

Ana cautiously enters the kitchen and is attacked by the groundskeeper.

Lightning flashes as Ana is brought to the ground. She faints and the groundskeeper rips open her robe and prepares to rape her. Thankfully she wakes up in the nick of time, kicks him in the crotch and escapes.

Ana rushes upstairs into Andres' arms. She tells him what happened.

The couple go downstairs in search of her attacker. Instead of finding the groundskeeper, they come upon an unexpected sight.

Bruno and Berta are both naked sitting on a pentagram. As if sleepwalking, Berta approaches Ana and Andres.

Berta places her hands on the couple's foreheads and they are immediately put under a spell.

Berta guides the couple in a trance over to the pentagram.

Berta lays on an altar of sorts and Bruno rubs her with oils.

Ana and Andres are stripped naked. Ana is laid on the pentagram, then Berta and Bruno start kissing and fondling her. Andres sits on the sidelines under a spell.

Ana is mounted by Bruno. Andres remains in a trance on the sidelines as his wife is penetrated.

Berta is again laid on the altar. Bruno cuts his hand and puts it on her crotch. The blood burns into her skin and she screams. And that is how the night ends.

The next day, Ana and Andres have no memory of what happened that night - and Berta appears to be deathly ill.

Ana and Bruno go in search of medicinal aid for Berta. Alone with Berta, Andres is unexpectedly grabbed by her, and she agressively kisses him.

Ana returns to the room and catches Andres in this compromising position.

That night, the creepy doll enters the bedroom; Ana stares in horror.

Paralyzed with fear, Ana watches as Berta enters the room and strolls to her side of the bed. Berta carries a dagger and wears only a sheer gown.

Berta uses the dagger to remove the sheets, uncovering Ana.

Berta raises the dagger above Ana, but then only stabs the pillow by her head.

This all turns out to just be a bad dream. Or was it?

They find the storm has passed. They rush to get dressed and leave this place. But when they step outside they find not only their dog missing but also their car.

Bruno and Berta return the car to them, but they find it won't start. Worse, Ana is horrified to find Blackie butchered and strung up to the ceiling. She naturally freaks out.

Berta and Bruno get in an argument; Ana and Andres rush to get the hell out of there. But then they hear a scream. Upon returning they find Bruno is dead - and it appears Berta has murdered him.

They are able to contact a doctor who arrives and pronounces Bruno dead. He tells Ana and Andres to stay put with Berta while he goes to get the police. They hear Berta pacing around upstairs.

They check on Berta and find her in the bathtub with her wrist cut.

They bandage Berta's wrist and lay her on the bed. Ana says, "We've got to get her out of these wet clothes."

When Berta suddenly sits upright and speaks as if possessed, Andres loses his shit and strangles her.

Ana listens for a heartbeat and is horrified to find that Berta is dead.

Or so they thought. As they rush to leave, they are shocked to find Berta very much alive.

Berta holds them at gunpoint. Andres tries to take the gun from her. In the process, Berta falls and her head his a sharp object. This time she's definitely dead... but now it looks bad for Ana and Andres. When the police arrive they likely will be implicated in her death.

They undress Berta and put her body back in the tub, making it look like a suicide.

Ana undoes her bandages, then they rush out. Finally able to leave this godforsaken place.

They return to their apartment only to find it completely empty. They are subsequently attacked (and seemingly killed) by a group of satanists (including Berta and Bruno).

In the final scene we find that Ana and Andres (looking a bit different, slightly undead) are now like Berta and Bruno. Just as before, they find a young couple and solicit them to come to their mansion in the countryside. And so the satanic cycle repeats. THE END

VZ6 SCORECARD

THE GOOD: One of the best examples of satansploitation you'll find.  It is absolutely dripping with evil, marinated in a sense of dark satanic vibes.  Add in a ton of sleaze, and this is a total banger.

THE BAD:  Ana (Mariana Karr) and Andres (José María Guillén) are basically Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes.  So, calling it a Rosemary's Baby ripoff wouldn't be wrong.  Also, it's an extremely slow build.  The Ouija scene is halfway through this movie; so literally half the film is just getting to this point, and still nothing particulary scary or significant has happened yet. Up until this point (about forty minutes in the film), things are pretty tame.  There's been a foreboding air, a sinister vibe, but nothing explicit. 

However, you might say both of these are features not a glitch. I happen to like the slow build, which makes the insanity that follows all the more shocking.  And I don't really care about ripping off other movies; all movies no matter how supposedly original, are borrowing heavily from something before them.

Mariana Karr (María Elena Copola) was born in Buenos Aires. She went on to star in a bunch of soap operas in the 70s and 80s such as Rebelde y solitario (1982), Llena de amor (1980), and Quiero morir mañana (1987) - with literally hundreds of episodes to her credit.  She provides a good deal of nudity in this film, and I was especially suprised at the sex scene on the pentagram which was particularly graphic.

Sandra Alberti was in a number of Spanish exploitation films in the seventies.  She dropped off the map for a couple decades before appearing here and there on TV shows and other projects in recent years.  

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ 9/10