Alucarda

[abbycomix]

I just saw this and thought it was pretty freaky and bizzare. Worth checking out though. Definitely something you can talk over with your friends. Who has seen it?

[mictlan]

Just saw it. It wasn't scary but definitely worth seeing for the atmosphere and situations. I thought it was interesting that the things that were supposed to be horrific usually involved women acting out... lots of screaming and fire... ultimately a very Catholic vibe.

The director worked with Alejandro Jodorowsky on stuff like El Topo and Holy Mountain. At times Alucarda reminds me of Jodorowsky trying to make a straight horror film.

Did the director make any other horror films?

[abbycomix]

To Kill A Stranger and Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary are two of Juan Lopez Moctezuma's other movies listed on imdb. I think I'll try to check Bloody Mary out.
I thought the bloody nun's habits in Alucarda were one of the freakiest parts. There was no explanation for that! Personally i thought it was evocative of menstruation, but why would nuns walk around wearing white bandage dresses all bloody down there? Weird, but it added to the creepiness. Plus they cried blood and all that whipping! I guess it was a special bloody nun sect. I think I like it when there are weird unexplained things like that but it's even cooler when there is a creative explanation behind bizarre occurences. (like in Phantasm or Hellraiser for instance) The sets were definitely arty and pretty high quality.
Other than The Exorcist this was the most Christian horror movie I've seen so far.

[Ritualistic]

yeah you have got to like this type of horror to enjoy it. I myself love spanish horror...

[mictlan]

Yeah, the dresses really did seem to refer to menstruation. It makes me believe that the director was trying to scare us by showing women
-expressing themselves
-making decisions for themselves
-having relationships with other women
-not hiding or ignoring menstruation
I only saw it once and it was about a month or so ago - so forgive the details that may be a little hazy - but didn't the bloody dresses tie into a sympathetic bleeding/stigmata thing, with Alucarda or her friend, the protagonist (whose name I forget)?

[avenger00soul]

Originally posted by Ritualistic
yeah you have got to like this type of horror to enjoy it. I myself love spanish horror...

Spanish horror, eh? Have you seen Horror Express? I love that movie.

[abbycomix]

That's a good feminist reading of the movie. I've heard the Exorcist is also supposed to be a metaphor for a girl's adolescence. How it's scary to those around her when a female changes and matures physically, tying it in to dark forces and posession.
From a girl's point of view it can be scary, but it's probably even more frightening to guys, most of whom are really uncomfortable about menstruation. Definitely a good horror topic. Cronenberg also does that great fear of the body type horror.
I think Justine was the protagonist's name. The dresses were bloody from the beginning so I don't think they tied in to Justine specifically though that one nun seemed to have a special interest in her and cried bloody tears when her and Alucarda were having (what I refer to as) their lesbian Satanic wedding scene.
My fave scene was when justine pops naked and covered in blood out of the coffin and attacks the nun. So simple, but so scary and a great powerful image! To me it was a stronger scene than just some slasher in a mask.