Secta Siniestra — Secta Siniestra( Blu Ray & DVD)
Secta Siniestra( aka Blood Sect) appeared in 1982- and it was directed by Ignacio F. Iquino( as Steve MCcoy)- who had an impressive eighty seven directing credits to his name- going from Spanish spaghetti westerns, 007 rip-offs, and soft-core. And it’s clear the film was a latter-day attempting to rip-off the likes of Rosemary Baby, and similar satanic baby movies- but the way Iquino stitches it all together comes across often deranged, unsettling, and at times downright silly.
The film's plot is somewhat confusion & often head-scratching- and this isn’t down to it been sub-titled, it’s down the script and directing- think a more lose ‘n’ lazy take on the type of thing Lucio Fulci did with his ‘Gates Of Hell’ Trilogy- though with a host of soapy bickering & angering scenes thrown in. The film opens with the moustached Frederick laying with his lover Helen- when the pair nod off the sleep his estranged & mentally unwell wife finds the nude pair and decides to poke out Frederick eyes. Moving forward in time & the now permanently blind Fredrick and Helen are married, but are unable to get pregnant- so Helen goes in for artificial insemination. It turns out that the clinic she went to is a run by a group of Satanist who are trying to impregnate women with the devil's seed- so he can be reborn on earth. The group has already attempted in on a few other women, and throughout the film, we met these, mostly just before they are brutally dispatched by a pair of goateed & sinister-looking killers in dark priest suits- who whenever they appear are shrouded in unnatural red light. We also, of course, follow Helen's pregnancy and her life in general.
Even by cult Euro-horror Secta Siniestra is a real scattershot oddity- the killings move from OTT window breaking, roof falling, and telekinesis trolled moved attacks. Onto bloody & prolonged glass attacks, throat slashing, and general extreme gory/ cruel killings- which very often move towards Grand Googol territory. We also have a nasty edge that appears at points, and one of the most unpleasant of these is where we find a frog getting stab multiple times- this looks real, and I’m not at tall conformable with animal cruelty.
Then the rest of the film is made up of blend euro 80’s soapiness, similar medical room footage with Helen been examined with high heels on, more than a handful of softcore moments, and a few bizarre/ creepy touches- which is all soundtrack by synth/ organ, score that moves from sustained & brooding, to manic and discordant. I can’t say I was wholly satisfied with Secta Siniestra, and the animal elements added an unpleasant edge to proceedings- but if you enjoy Euro-horror madness of the 1980’s I think you’ll get a kick out of this.
On extras front we get a commentary track from genre expert/ author Kat Ellinger- and as we’ve come to expect from Ms. Ellinger, it’s a wonderfully researched track that’s both informative, honest, and at times slyly amusing. She starts off by talking about the listed actors/ crew real Spanish names, instead of the Americanized names in the credits. Going onto discuss the blend of horror genres on display here moving from gothic, satanic, slasher/ Giallo, demonic impregnation, living dead, and beyond. Later on, she goes on to discuss the dubbing work a few of the actors went onto doing after this film, other similar crazed 80’s euro horror movies, the many swear words in the Spanish language and commenting on-screen action. It’s another very worthy track from Ms. Ellinger. The only other extra here is an image/ promotion gallery- and this is fair enough because apparently( and understandable, I guess) those still around who took part in the film didn’t want to be interviewed.
In finish, if you like whacked-out & wholly unpredictable euro horror that flits between camp amusement, cruel & prolonged murders, and sub-genre mix & match you’ve got to pick up this new VS release of Secta Siniestra.