A Candle for the Devil (original title: Una vela para el diablo) is a 1973 Spanish horror film directed by Eugenio Martín (Death at the Deep End of the Swimming Pool; Horror Express; Supernatural) from a screenplay co-written with Antonio Fos (Cannibal Man; The Vampires’ Night Orgy).
In the US, the film was released in a heavily censored, truncated version as It Happened at Nightmare Inn (on a double-bill with Things from the Grave). The current British Odeon DVD is fully uncut.
The film stars Judy Geeson (10 Rillington Place; Doomwatch; Fear in the Night), Aurora Bautista, Esperanza Roy, Vic Winner (Horror Rises from the Tomb; Count Dracula’s Great Love), Lone Fleming (Tombs of the Blind Dead; Evil Eye; Wax), Blanca Estrada, Loreta Tovar, Julia Montserrat.
Plot teaser:
Two old maid sisters are running a little family hotel in Spain. They are very religious and when the perceived lack of morals displayed by a young female British tourist is too much for them, they start to kill…
Reviews:
“The adorable Judy Geeson is very likeable and is quite good as Laura, but this one really is about the two sisters. Aurora Bautista and Esperanza Roy who plays Marta and Veronica do one hell of a job! Although these are two huge personalities they are played with a fair amount of restraint that doesn’t allow the performances to get campy. Really the entire film is about restraint. The film is subtle and isn’t nearly as exploitative as similar films from the decade.” Goregirl’s Dungeon
“As a mere horror film, this is a perfectly serviceable tale not unlike Tigon’s Beast in the Cellar but the direction and style brought to the sexual repression are of a higher order. It may be that politics were far from the film-maker’s minds but it is hard to believe that the dictatorship around them didn’t inform the themes…” The Digital Fix
“Religious iconography also plays a major role in this picture (from paintings, to architecture and to faith, as distorted as it may be from the perspective of the sisters). This speaks volumes on the subject of Christianity through the ages and its decline with each passing decade.” Cool Ass Cinema
