Memorias del ángel caído (1997) Poster

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7/10
Eerie and creepy Spanish Horror/thriller with top-notch interpretations and adequate filmmaking
ma-cortes1 January 2015
Intelligent edition, attractive religious scenarios and slick utilization of shock images make this one, an acceptable suspense/thriller/terror plenty of strange events . More spine-tingling from the director of ¨Mas De 1000 Camaras Velan Por Tu Seguridad¨ , a convincing sense of impeding dread and essential to any effective Horror-Thriller . This suspenseful and frightening movie was produced by the successful producer Luis Mendez ; it displays relentless horror , thrills , intrigue , shocks , hard-edged drama , plot twists , creepy images and some gore at its finale . During a ceremony in an old parish in the city center, a group of worshipers die of poisoning after priests handing out and they taking holy communion . The police commanded by Inspector Carlos (Juan Echanove) takes up the investigation while the priests (Hector Alterio , Emilio Gutierrez Caba) , who have remained in the church, begin suffering strange visions . The starring priest called Francisco (Santiago Ramos) sets out on a desperate search for encounter the killer , but he only finds red herrings . Other mysterious clues appear , indicating that Sacristan's (Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez) son is a suspect . Later on , Francisco gets an ancient book in which explains the frightening events and uncovers a terrible truth . He finds out incredible deeds : a sect of the occult with conceal things and dark secrets which rejects God and wishes the essence of pure evil , the devil .

This exciting , bizarre film contains tension , thriller , drama , mystery , plot twists and shocks , including decent scares with tense terror sequences especially in its final part , in a creepy denouement . This tale about a priest well played by Santiago Ramos who is involved into a twisted intrigue begins well and grows more and more until a downbeat finale . B-entertainment with a fairly suspenseful and horrifying story about an rare killings when priests are giving the holy Communion along with an ancient fanatic religious cult of followers . This dark intrigue with frightening events and strange atmosphere results to be thrilling and some moment brilliant, and the players are quite reliable . Enjoyable main actors formed by Santiago Ramos , Hector Alterio and Emilio Gutierrez Caba , they form a real Spanish-all-star-cast . Being supported by fine secondary actors such as Tristan Ulloa , Asuncion Balaguer , Eduardo MacGregor , Valentín Paredes and special appearance from Juan Echanove and the great Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez .

Dark and appropriate cinematography by Fernando Arribas and atmospheric musical score by Javier Camera that includes religious chores . This motion picture displaying genuine chills , suspense , mystery , tenebrous atmosphere and a twisted finale , being skillfully proceeded by David Alonso and Fernando Camera and turned out to one of the most unusual Spanish thrilling movies of the nineties and certainly one of the most unsettling . Shortly after , Spanish terror cinema realized several successful terror movies as ¨Rec¨ saga by Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza , both of whom also made ¨The Nameless¨ and ¨El Segundo Nombre¨ also dealing with religious sects ; furthermore other ¨Slashers¨ movies directed by young filmmakers such as : ¨School killer¨ , ¨Tuno Negro¨, ¨El Arte De Morir¨ and ¨Mas De Mil Camaras Velan Por Tu Seguridad¨, the latter also co-written/directed by Fernando Alonso and David Camera .
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10/10
Superb, subtle and deeply haunting occult drama
mcnpauls4 October 2004
Some of the very finest actors in Spain star in this superb gem. It is a genuinely unsettling drama that investigates the effect of matters Satanic on an "ordinary" Catholic parish.

Highly recommended to all fans of "The Name of the Rose" "Crimson Rivers" or "The Exorcist" films - although it's a great deal more believable than any of them.

This film in many ways prefigures the great run of sophisticated Spanish horrors of recent years, like "The Others" "Abre Los Ojos" "Los Sin Nombre" and "Darkness".

Fantaterror fans should also check out films like "Intacto".
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