Reviewed By-Steve Genier
Directed By-Juan Lopez Moctezuma
Cast-Claudio Brook, Tina Romero, Susana Kamini and David Silva
Source-Mondo Macabro DVD NTSC REG ALL
Runtime-74mins with extras

When arriving at the orphanage located in a convent, Justine forges a friendship with Alucarda. Together they learn that they have more in common then just being friends, they hold a pack to incase just that. Little by little they become devoured by the underlying power of Satan. They begin to serve he and destroy all that stand in the way. Meaning hell-bent consequences for the convent. There is only one way to stop this rampage, an only Father Lázaro knows the way to safety. This is hindered by the lack of knowledge presented by the town's doctor, Dr. Oszek. Together they must quickly patch up their mistakes and stop Alucarda and Justine from achieving the Devil's goal, total destruction.

One insane cinema trip into the bizarre world of Satan! ALUCARDA displays some of the most highly energized scenes in a horror movie. There is more screaming, demon moaning, blood and nudity in this film to fill your carving for years to come. This all said in a good way of course, Mexican director Juan Lopez Moctezuma paints a picture of hell on earth and does it with style and of course all this on a micro budget. This once very obscure piece of Mexican horror displays some of the best set designs as well, almost as if it was all already there, historic in sight. Great care and craftsmanship was taken into finalizing the major sets of the convent and the other hidden convent that both Alucarda (Tina Romero) and Justine (Suzana Kamini) stumble upon during their there journey. The convent isn't you usual one either, like mentioned in the DVD's extras, the nuns are wrapped like mummy's and their methods are very unorthodox in the eyes of the norm. They are very fanatical in their religious views and in many scenes it's hard to tell who is more fanatical, Alucarda who goes off into these spurts of lunatic Satanic rants or the priest (David Silva) along with the nuns who are very extreme in their methods of dealing with the evil intends of the Devil. 

Moctezuma makes great efforts to highlight many of the major characters in ALUCARDA, not does he only go in-depth with character critiques, but he also fills them with their own colours in a way. They all have their little traits that are very visible. Alucarda dressed in black, automatically you know her past is very troubled and seeks a different guidance then God. Justine, so sweet and almost too innocent, open to be exploited. A hidden gate way to evil, waiting to be exposed and opened. Father Lázaro, strong and stern, dressed his black and as Alucarda mentions, ashamed to show his real self. Dr. Oszek (Claudio Brook) who is very knowledgeable, but very naive to Satan's real intensions. Lastly our very manipulative friend the hunched back gypsy who is very wise in knowledge and misguides the two girls into their own fate. The gypsy is also play by Claudio Brook who can be considered the Vincent Price of Mexican horror cinema. With all this incase by a very hauntingly rich score from Anthony Guefen (listed as Tony Guefen). Church like organs lurk through the convent dark halls, leaving you with a vision of impending terror. Close your eyes and see what I mean!

Mondo Macabro's remastering of this very rare film from Moctezuma has shown that there was great care taken into bringing it back to the general public and more. Everything from the print's audio and visual to the amount of extras that round out an excellent release. Although at first I was disappointed at the full-screen ratio, I'm sure there was good reason for doing so. The picture itself is very clean with the odd little lines passing by. The sound is very crisp and clean and is presented in either English Dolby Digital stereo or Spanish Mono. This is certainly a major upgrade for all those days of enduring that old beat-up CUT pre-record released by Premiere years ago. Now for the gravy part of the DVD, the extras! Let me say, fans will not be disappointed with this purchase, to begin with there is a very in-depth documentary on the career of director Juan Lopez Moctezuma. There's a very interesting interview with hot Mexican director Guillermo del Toro (Cronos, Blade 2, Hellboy). Also there's a trailer, still gallery and of course a matching red keepsake case!