‘ You’ll eat your heart out!’
The Lorely’s Grasp is a 1974 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio (Tombs of the Blind Dead; Demon Witch Child; The Ghost Galleon). The film’s original title is Las Garras de Lorelei and it was released in the US as When the Screaming Stops.
Main cast:
Tony Kendall – Return of the Blind Dead
Helga Liné – The Dracula Saga, Horror Rises from the Tomb, The Vampire’s Night Orgy
Silvia Tortosa – Horror Express
Josefina Jartin
Loreta Tovar – Curse of the Vampire
José Thelman – Tombs of the Blind Dead
Luis Induni – The Horrible Sexy Vampire; Dr. Jekyll vs. the Werewolf; The Werewolf and the Yeti
Javier de Rivera – The Awful Dr. Orloff; Night of the Seagulls; A Dragonfly for Each Corpse)
Antonio Orengo (Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror, Tombs of the Blind Dead
Betsabe Ruiz – Werewolf Shadow, Horror Rises from the Tomb, Autopsy
Plot:
The legendary shape-shifting Loreley has been living for centuries in a grotto beneath the river Rhein in Germany. Every night when the moon is full, she turns into a reptile-like creature that rips the hearts from its victims. After young women from a local boarding school are sacrificed, and then a blind violinist, a hunter named Sirgurd (Tony Kendall) is engaged to kill the beast…
Release:
As was the practice, certain scenes were filmed a clothed and unclothed for different export markets.
In the US, the film was initially released in 1976 as When the Screaming Stops, with the addition of red warning flashes preceding each gory murder.
This US-edit was subsequently released to movie theaters in the early 1980s with artwork that implied it was a slasher film, rather than a monster movie, and then on VHS by Lightning Video. Patrons were issued with vomit bags.
In November 2007, BCI released a remastered, uncut, 1.85:1 aspect ratio version on DVD in the USA.
Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
The film is available uncut, with a 16:9 – 1.77:1 aspect ratio, on a Unbekannt Blu-ray with English, German, and Spanish audio options, an image gallery and trailers.
Buy: Amazon.co.uk
Reviews:
“Shot primarily in shaky POV, the Loreley’s killings are erratic and unexpected, as if to mimic the attack of a wild animal. Initially only the creatures encroaching hand is shown, but as more of the legend of Loreley is revealed, so is her lunar form, that of a green scaled reptilian, shrouded in a black cape.” Jason McElreath, DVD Drive-In
“There are some really nice de Ossorio touches in the film – particularly, a scientist who is testing a moonlight machine and a radioactive knife to use against Lorelei (and the subsequent trashing of his his laboratory is awesome, too), and Lorelei’s underwater castle, complete with skull-adorned bikini servants.” The Brooklyn Cult of Mystic Horrors
“What an extraordinary film. It’s not bad actually if you like 1970s Euro-horror: the acting’s passable (though the dubbing is risible) and the direction … is competent. The storyline is enjoyably daft and at least it’s original, rather than being yet another damn vampire / werewolf / mummy / horde of zombies. The monster is monstrous, the deaths are violent and bloody, and the pseudo-scientific explanation is complete hogwash of the highest order. Top stuff.” MJ Simpson
” … this is a lost fucking classic that is severely underrated and I think any horror fan worth his (or her) salt will find it an enjoyable ride. It’s fun, it’s bloody, it’s ridiculously easy on the eyes.” Jocelyn, The Church of Splatter-Day Saints
“As with the Blind Dead films, Loreley offers a series of moody interludes between the gore scenes and exposition scenes. We see the seductive redhead striding across marshlands on cloudy afternoons, siren song playing softy in the background. These scenes – heightened by earnest acting, creative direction, and tight editing – help make the picture very good for its kind.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
“The amphibious green slime monster with big teeth is more comical than frightening, and an eye-filling parade of curvaceous cuties in bikinis and other skimpy costumes will please males. But these facts don’t necessarily make a good movie…” John Stanley, Creature Features
Trailer:
