Anguish (1987)

Ever thrown on a film you have never heard of with zero expectations, only to be stunned at how great it is? This is exactly what happened in the case of this unknown little entity from Spain, which is bound to satisfy even the most jaded horror movie fan.

It’s a fabulous, demented concoction of major horror movie themes; a merging of the macabre’s most twisted elements served as a new delicacy. The first shock is the gore level which is genuinely sickening in parts, even for a hardened horror movie watcher. Secondly, the visual style and wonderfully creative direction of Luna is stunning. The spiral sequences are completely wild and wonderfully effective. The movie begins with a tongue-in-cheek warning to the audience about the film containing various scenes of subliminal messages which may have a profound effect. What is surprising is that these sequences really are brilliantly effective and do indeed have some weird ability to draw the viewer into a mesmerized trance-like state. “go on, go on, go………………. ON” beckons the diminutive and terrifyingly demented Mother to her son through a psychic connection. She means for her son to go out and collect all “the eyes of the city” for her, and she seems serious.

Just when we are recovering from the horrors of the first gruesome murder scene, we are shown to be watching a movie within a cinema where most of the audience is disturbed by events on screen. Meanwhile, there is the raving Mothe. “Don’t let the eyes go……….all the eyes in the city will be ours!”

It is just such a whacked scene and Zelda Rubenstein, well you don’t know whether to laugh or be very wary of her. She is a scream as the Mother from the film, a most disturbed and sick person who controls her son with murderous thoughts and has a penchant for collecting eyes, among other things. Every scene in the movie involving this creature is compelling, especially those where her voice is playing over the film, and that spiral makes its appearance. It is reminiscent of the darkest moments from Phantasm but stripped of the overt comic undertones. The director displays a fantastic flair for conjuring up an atmosphere reeking with dread and horror, and the dubbing is also for once top-notch and discreet. “for years you were like a snail……….hiding, happy………hiding, happy!”

This movie contains some of the most bizarre and fabulously psychotic sequences that are truly memorable. It may have been somewhat inspired by Demons, which it resembles in plot structure, but it is streets ahead of that Italian splatter-fest. This movie has all the atmosphere and creepiness that Demons, with its rock soundtrack and horrid acting, lacked. It is imaginatively constructed and done in a massive gothic style, suggesting that the director could become a significant asset to the horror genre. This movie is no less than a mini horror classic based on its weirdness. It is enormously entertaining and fast-paced and has some very scary stretches along the way, and Zelda Rubenstein is a revelation. Those close-up shots of her eyes and mouth as she lapses into one of her murderous trances – Wow!

Anguish is fantastic macabre movie-making – another gem from Spain which has already provided us with the excellent Tombs of the Blind Dead. If you are serious about your horror flicks and are looking for something a little more twisted and far more creative than usual, not to mention gruesome – look no further than Anguish. This one is one of the most memorable horror films one has encountered in a long time.

Warning: If you find yourself getting mesmerized by one of Mother’s murderous Spiral sessions, well, turn the film OFF before you do some severe damage!………….”your eyes are my eyes……….your eyes…..all the eyes in the city will be ours!”.
An unheralded masterpiece of the macabre – watch it NOW!