Remembering... Mark of the Devil Part 3

Juan López Moctezuma's 1977 film Alucarda, a perverse gothadelic psycho-sexual romp that revels in a passionate fast burning anguish, grasped stronghold to my rapidly warping brain at the impressionable young age of fifteen. At the time my mind had become immersed in dark and lurid imagery, with my focus leaning more and more towards the blasphemous. Morbid curiosity and an affinity for horrific fantasies led my thoughts and desires to wherever they may go, but in most cases ended up fully engrossed in horror films. The allure of horror movie VHS box art back in the mid nineties was such a compelling and euphoric attraction, that I could spend hours at a time down at the video rental shops just studying each one of them.

The power of a single photograph from a horror magazine, or a screenshot from the back cover-art of a tape, can simply not be underestimated. Disturbing, provocative and unsettling images captivated me to no end. I would stare at them, visualize, and draw them for my own personal pleasure. I even dabbled in creating some VHS cover sleeves for tapes I had purchased online and/or illegally recorded. [To the left is a scan of the front cover I did for an alternative release of Alucarda, where the title "Sisters of Satan" pops up for a split second before being covered by a "Mark of the Devil 3" title card. The back and spine of the art suffered even worse 'water damage' than what is visible at the top of this glossy paper printout.] 

I originally discovered Alucarda under the title Mark of the Devil Part 3 during what I like to call my binge renting days (which coincided with my binge toking days, but preceded my binge drinking daze). These were the years where VHS was still running rampant and strong throughout the world, and DVD was only slowly starting to emerge. By this time the Horror Section of every rental shop, from mom-n-pops to Cockbusters and even some Unholywood, had seen visible signs on my nugget nectar on their product... and that's without a blacklight! There wasn't a day that I'd return a tape without renting a new one that very day, even if I had to strut like a boss down the road to the next shop, which most of the time I did... by getting driven there by my parents.

The tail end of VHS dominance due to the upcoming DVD path of destruction was indeed a sad time for horror fans, as many of the trve classics disappeared with a vengeance. Shitty used tapes with rewind damage on all the sexy parts were sold for ridiculous prices, but the crime proving to be even more despicable was that most of the tapes were either stolen by employees and owners or simply thrown into the garbage. EBAY probably didn't exist by this point or had only just started up, so you can just imagine the space saving procedures which were used to display the "new and improved" format. A basement full of expensive (yet not at this point all too rare) VHS probably seemed like a good idea at the time for some owners, but I'm thinking that a lot of them probably had wives who kept their fancy wigs and stuffed poodles down there for safe keeping. Women and their fancy wigs! Am I right fellas?

I rented Mark of the Devil Part 3 with a friend of mine named Chase, who supposedly suffered from ADHD. His mother was freakishly controlling and invasive, and forced him to eat baby food regularly. One thing I could tell right away when I first met Chase was that he was incredibly hyperactive. Or to put it more properly, he was a total and complete fucking nut. A year older than me and actually well versed in some areas that I was not at the time (such as vast exploration of heavy metal and many things that were "cool"), but aside from being a metal-head who looked like Beavis and Butthead fucked and he was the baby they had, he didn't really have a lot going for him. Chase was a tormented and demented soul, and was trying his damnedest to rebel like a motherfucker from his mom since he was scared shitless of being a lonely ass punk bitch. A task I would constantly try to help him out with, but would also ultimately fail at.

We got along like balls back then. Just two balls mingling together and swaying in the crisp, cold wind. The night in particular when I stayed over at his house I brought a bottle of vodka that I had grabbed from "The Box" (a story for another time). We chilled uncomfortably while his mother hovered throughout the kitchen and constantly opened the sliding blinds which she called a door to his room. It always took her a while to fall asleep in the chair outside of his room, so he'd eat cold Chef Boyardee Ravioli straight out of the can and masturbate to scrambled porn on the PPV channel, while I'd sit in the corner on his AOL dial-up login and contemplate suicide. It was fun. Not as fun as getting straight liquored up and watching Alucarda for the first time at midnight while eating nothing but baby food, raviolis and the occasional twinkie that is! Why this dude's mom would keep him on a restricted diet of baby food and canned raviolis, only to allow him boxes upon boxes of twinkies is totally beyond me, but what the fuck do I know!? I'm not an old psycho bitch with an invisible bloody cord dripping from my vag that's wrapped around my sixteen year old son's neck.

We rented Mark of the Devil 3 on my Hollywood Video card seeing how Chase wasn't allowed his own for being "irresponsible", even though he had never actually had a card in the first place to be irresponsible with(!) We also rented Mark of the Devil Part 4 at the same time, which turned out to be The Satanic Rites of Dracula... or Horror Rises from the Tomb... or Tombs of the Blind Dead, I can't really fucking remember which one it was. We watched that one after Alucarda and only halfway, as after the vodka kicked in we decided to go out for a middle of the night stroll throughout the empty town. As young men with mental problems, it was indeed a treat to witness the town as it slept, the lights blurring and swaying with each turn of the head. Looking back, these days I wouldn't even think it over let alone go walking around for no reason whatsoever. It's boring as shit when I think about it now, but back then it wasn't. That was adventure.

One of the many adventures me an this crazy little bastard had. And not our greatest, mind you. I kind of doubt that till this day he actually remembers this movie though. We were both especially fond of girls in black and found Tina Romero to be incredibly fucking sexy. The crusty orange stains on the front of his tidy whiteys the next morning was proof enough of that! There's no doubt though that this film did hold some sort of fiendish hypnosis over our brains as we both ended up dating goth girls just after seeing this. Of course this was around the time The Craft came out in theaters, so all of a sudden one out of every thirteen chicks in town was now a "witch". But I didn't have a problem with that shit at all, oh no. Black lipstick on my dick. Something about Mark of the Devil Part 3 that we both could instantly relate to was the fact that Alucarda was a total outcast. She's the weird one, the freak, and more importantly, the one that's "crazy".

Mark of the Devil Part 3 was a film that clutched me forcibly by the balls and never let go. I had seen movies with similar themes while growing up, such as Carrie and The Exorcist for instance, so I had already experienced blasphemous behavior, vulgarities and blood soaked revenge on the screen. But nothing had truly prepared me for the boner inducing madness that is this outlandishly arousing gem. Devil Worship! Bloody Rituals! Nudity! Orgies! Lesbianism!! By gawd, don't even get me started on the sweet, sweet lesbianism. And a Goat Head Motherfucker with a hand on each girl's titty, leading oh-so succulent flesh all the way straight to HELL. Not only was the movie just undeniably cool, but it was weird as all shit too. The bizarre music that comes booming out of fucking nowhere while Alucarda and Justine become entranced by something mysterious yet preposterously evil does the job of luring the viewer in. Add on top of that these two hot girls getting naked with the snap of the Devil's fingers and screaming for hours like god damned lunatics, and you've got yourself an instantly captivating viewing experience.

That night before laying my head down for some much deserved sleep, I reached inside of my backpack (moving aside my favorite CHERI porno mags) and grabbed a new Blank VHS tape so I could proceed to tape the shit out of the craziest movie I had ever seen. Being the nerd that I am I always had Blank VHS tapes handy, you know, just in case. At home I of course had four VCRs set up in my system for multiple taping possibilities, along with my NES and SNES. Chase had two hooked up in his room for easy taping and making compilations of his favorite x-rated scenes. Back in the day you weren't shit unless you had two fucking VCRs, and you sure as hell weren't a friend of mine if you didn't have more than one. But I digress. I think what has attracted me to this film more than anything else over the years - more than the nudity, cutting, screaming, bloody kissing, and taking delight in praising all that is evil - is its immeasurable sadness. I really get into that shit. But I've obviously grown intellectually since then, and that sort of thing appeals to me at a real profound and sentimental level. And while I could go on and on about that, I'm not going to sit here and delude myself. I think that what it all boils down to - whether you're looking at it through the eyes of an excited young teenage perv, or from the mind of the broken and sad old man that he's become - it's all about one thing: these chicks are getting naked for Satan! Awwwwwww yeahz.

Alucarda's Ultimate Corruption...

...and the Doctor who knew too little.

Mark of... the Devil!?

After Justine is brutally whipped and tortured to death by the priests and nuns sworn to "protect" her, Dr. Oszek enters the room and is horrified and disgusted by their barbaric, savage acts. "Release her damn you!" He finds Alucarda also strung up and clinging to life. "I'm taking this girl with me... before you kill her! As you killed Justine!" The nuns are ashamed of what has transpired, and cry in front of Justine's naked and bloodied body. The Doctor takes Alucarda back to his home, trusting that she is indeed not possessed as that would be rather unscientific, and lays her down in his daughter's bed.

Alucarda begins screaming in her sleep and is frightened when she awakes to find Oszek hovering over her. She of course freaks out when the doctor tries to touch her... but at that moment, his hot, young and not to mention blind daughter Daniela, walks in. "Don't be scared darling. She just had a nightmare." Alucarda is immediately intrigued by this strange girl. You can see that look of fiendish desire, that devious gleam in her eyes. "May I stay with her for a little hwhile father?" Daniela asks. The Doctor sees no problem with leaving his susceptible daughter in the grasp of this wrongfully persecuted and misunderstood young lady, no not at all.

Alucarda: "I'm afraid of dreams. The things I see are so real." Spoken just like her mother. She looks over the glossy eyed princess before asking her a question: "Have we ever met before?"

Daniela: "I don't think so. Because, I do remember people's voices." Daniela then caresses Alucarda's face before telling her how pretty she is.

Alucarda: "...and you are beautiful. Please don't go. Stay with me!" With that, another rainbow connection is formed.

Meanwhile, Dr. Oszek is, for some reason or another, doing a bit of reading up on SATAN.

He looks at the book, throws it down and yells "Rubbish. Pure Rubbish!"

Indeed it is.

Innocence.... From Hell!?

Was Alucarda born pure evil? 

Early in the film, while out and frolicking about, Alucarda and Justine stop as a group of robed men carry a coffin through the field. Alucarda knew the girl apparently, as she speaks her name and how she will soon be buried in unhallowed ground. Though very little to nothing is known about this girl Cynthia, who had recently "killed herself", and one may speculate that perhaps this girl had shared the room with Alucarda just before Justine's arrival. It is a strange coincidence.

Or it could be nothing. Right? Alucarda is after all, an observer of peoples. Though, on that same note, she doesn't seem to observe so much for too long without somehow becoming involved with matters eventually. That of course being due to her sexual intrusiveness and attempted subdued anger. 

Was Cynthia's body being carried away just something that Alucarda and Justine stumbled upon while giggling and roaming throughout the flowers? It's an interesting question. Alucarda brought Justine out there the first time after all, which led to a place where the strange Gypsy man and his goat faced wife taught them about forbidden interests. So then are we to assume that by chance, they had come across these burial rites?

It's as if Alucarda desired, nay, needed, to see this event. Even with the newly appointed Justine at her side. Death, and love, after all, is what interests Alucarda the most... and what better a way to bring up both of those subjects to a potential new lover? But if that is the case, is she acting strictly out of pure "EVIL" and lustful ambitions? Or is she simply mourning the loss of her previous girlfriend?

Perhaps both?

Sisters.... of Satan!?

After Alucarda looks on in bone chilling terror as Daniella loses her balance amongst the chaos and falls (for about five minutes in slow motion) down the stairs unto a skeleton, her life is like, sooo totally over. She's truly horrified at this moment. Even though she admittedly was beginning to go Bat-Shit crazy.

Was she planning on saving this girl from what she perceived to be the ultimate evil? She seems so intent on taking her with her, not out of lust mind you, but out of a caring nature. It's difficult to tell as she's painted in such a negative light. But negative light often brings forth the beauty and salvation in a gut wrenching soul aching to be free. Whatever the hell that means.

Was Alucarda not damaged once or twice by the time of Daniella's accident, but three times? What if Cynthia was Alucarda's first lesbian lover? Imagine in such a short time span, losing not only your first love, but the next two loves of your life. It's no wonder to me why Alucarda faded into dust.... Her anger had grown so strong from being deprived all this time of what she so desired the most. Love. Love with another young woman like herself, yes, but love nonetheless! So sad.

Unholy Passion: 5 Freaky Scenes from Alucarda (1978)

Spirits of the Past.



A grave situation.

After an afternoon of frolicking and combing each others' hair, Alucarda and Justine decide to play house in a dusty, cobweb-ridden Mausoleum. The doors slowly creak as they cautiously push their way in. Light, flickering musical notes with a hint of forbidden romance set the tone as we get a look around the interior of this strange building. The shot lingers on a Sarcophagus for a few long moments, before Alucarda mentions that she's been hearing voices "from the past". Recalling her Déjà vu, she leads Justine around by the hand and speaks to her of death and love. As Alucarda's words become more intense with each sentence, Justine retorts, "Alucarda for heaven's sake, don't talk of death!" 

"Then ask me the most simple question, what do I eat?" ... "Pussy!?"

Justine becomes concerned once more when Alucarda says that she was almost murdered. Holding her heart, where the pain had come from, Alucarda's words invite Justine into her forlorn world. When Alucarda suggests the two of them make a love pact in which their blood shall be as one, the submissive as always Justine agrees. At that moment, Alucarda's face goes from sweet and loving, to completely insane and then delightfully deviant as she pulls from her sleeve and produces the knife she had taken from the Gypsy-Goat man. She holds out her hand, and Justine is slow to reach out but does so, as it is what her new found lover desires. Before Alucarda can slice into her offering, yet completely horrified girlfirend however, Justine pleads for her to stop.

Love spurts.

Without pause, Alucarda comes up with another idea. The two shall swear by the corpse of the woman in the stone coffin besides them. "Lucy Westenra. Died in 1850. Fifteen years ago Justine, our age! Let's swear by her." Alucarda quickly opens Lucy's resting place up, much to the mortification of Justine, and the two girls are hit with some sort of agonizingly painful, ghostly power. Alucarda writhes in pain, pulling at her hair while Justine screams, terrified and worried for her. Mysterious noises that sound like heavy breathing and soul penetration fill the room, before the girls go running for their lives. "I told you this place frightens me, and now look what's it's done to you!" says Justine. The two then head back to the orphanage.

The Blood Pact! 

After the seemingly-possessed Alucarda gets medieval on Justine's submissive ass, she demands their love pact to be pledged in nothing less than BLOOD! Hey, my kind of woman. "We Shall make them Pay!" Suddenly out of the shadows, the strange Gypsy Goat-man arrives once more, and hell, just in time with that dagger that Alucarda had previously desired and/or stolen. He agrees with her assessments of making 'them pay', and proceeds to begin the following ceremony with some "Rain... unt Thunder!"

Bloody Kisses!

"Now Call Them... Call Them.... CALL THEM!" Alucara at this point goes Ssssssatan crazy, screaming out the various names of His Devilness, while bending backwards at some six hundred and sixty-six degrees. It's quite astonishing actually when you see it, and one of the first thoughts is "How does she do that?" Well, don't worry a single little bit because a few seconds later you're showed just how she does it, because now she's completely fucking Naked! God damned and all that, Gypsy Goat-man rips off Justine's clothes and sits them facing together on their knees. He places the dagger between their hands and raises it upwards. "You will blend into each other... and then, into me!"

Gypsy Goat-man performs his strange-ass half-silent ritualistic cutting of their young and nubile titties, afterwards allowing one another to lick off the knife blood from his fingers and despair in their horrid situation. The rain and thunder that's been coming down suddenly turns Blood Red as the girls drink each others' fluids. Now that the hard work is done, Goat-man disappears into thin air and leaves Alucarda gazing lusciously at Justine's bleeding tit flesh. Sweet! Finally it's just the girls... and me watching, of course! Alucarda leans in and kisses her true love. Titty blood on both of their lips! They share bloody kisses for about three minutes... before Alucarda swiftly makes her way down to Justine's blood-dripping left breast. As she starts to kiss, lick and suck away, Justine seems to completely lose her fucking mind! She screams like an insane woman, and her teardrops flow down Alucarda's face. Very gothic romantic.

As if things weren't uncomfortable enough for the average viewer, there's some crazy psychedelic music going off in the background. I happen to find all of this sexy though, so I'm good. I am however realistic enough to notice how uncomfortable this may make some people feel. Or how this scene in particular is supposed to convey a sense of unease. It's definitely weird viewing, but if someone doesn't get it I'm not going to sympathize with them. They can go fuck themselves with a crucifix. ;)

Orgy of the Undead!

The master.

A Mummy Sister gets down on her knees to pray for Justine after the strange and erratic behavior she displayed during the intense and scrutinizing sermon the night before. That is, if you can consider passing out to be 'strange and erratic' behavior. The two girls have once again disappeared somewhere and by the looks of things this Nun has every reason to be concerned. It just so happens that Justine and Alucarda are being led into the forest by the frazzle-haired, Wife of the Gypsy Goat-man... and she's coincidentally nude. Yup, into the forest, and straight into some sort of Satanic, hippie-commune, ritualistic, orgy of the damned! Gypsy's wife sits the two girls down upon the grass and welcomes Justine. A note of interest is that she does not welcome Alucarda as well. Hmm.

As the naked hippies begin to chant and circle around the girls, Gypsy Wife goes on about leaves and flowers and fruit, as well as other earthly delights. All the while Sister is back in her chambers, writing around in insurmountable amounts of struggling pain while begging Christ to not let any harm befall poor and innocent Justine. "Behold the body of thy new servant!", Gypsy Wife screams out. And thus, out of the light comes the Dark Lord himself, Goat Head Satan! Sooner than the Horned One himself commands his minions to get down to some dirty exploration of flesh, Toilet Paper Nun begins to cry Tears of Blood and Levitate. Naturally. All of the sudden a lightning bolt strikes dead the Wife of the creepy Gypsy Goat-man, and that party's over.

Death Bed Confessionals.

After Alucarda and Justine praise all hails to Satan in bible study, they both appear to black out for some short time. Though, Alucarda seems to be more aware of what has happened, while Justine appears weak and sickly. Mother Superior is informed of their blasphemous behavior and orders them to be seen by the doctor, and  also to go to confession as "they're not little girls anymore."

Look at the size of that thing.

Justine lays in bed, looking deathly ill, apparently "getting worse by the minute." After checking her pulse and laying his head upon her breast, Doctor Oszek informs the nuns that she is very sick and her heart is weak. At that moment, Sister Bling leans in and says "Pray Justine. Pray my Child!" The sight of Sister's huge effing cross necklace (<--Wut wut!1) sends Justine into a screaming, trembling mess which pretty much freaks everyone the fuck out. She covers her eyes, whining and petrified, mumbling while the Nuns look on, shocked and worried. Justine then lets out two blood curdling screams, and dozes off again.

Meanwhile, Alucarda has stepped into the confessional booth while wearing an incredibly arousing black veil over her face. She makes her statements, and confesses that she has done no wrong.

Sinned? You bet your ass.

"The facts were explained to me, my child. You have sinned.", replies Father Lazaro.

"I don't recall anything wrong.", says Alucarda.



"Liars rot in Hell for Eternity! I know for sure you were doing wrong."

"Yes, perhaps I have done wrong. I did not lie. I love life. With... with Justine. She came close to me. I love Justine. And, you call yourself Blessed and believe in the heavenly armies, and Worship Death!? I worship life!" Alucarda rips the veil away from her face! "Justine and I, we are not to be blamed. You are! With a black cover over your strong body. You're ashamed of it. You are afriad of life. Yet you would like to have me. Wouldn't you? Well take me! TAKE OFF THAT FILTHY ROBE!" Alucarda lunges through the booth and violently grabs Father Lazaro by the cock while he screams in anguish and retreats. Soon after, the Father orders an Exorcism! Justine is then dragged off, with Alucarda following shortly behind.

Rise From Your Tomb!

With my blood...

So Sister Burrito decides it's a good idea to 'go check on Justine's corpse', as she has been unjustly left in the mausoleum to rot before they bury her in unhallowed ground. She approaches the coffin slowly and cautiously, as she should. Obviously, this nun isn't as enthusiastic about opening coffins, graves and/or tombs as is Alucarda. She's scared. But she 'believes in Justine's honest and wrongly convicted soul.' So she opens the coffin that's conveniently been left on top of soil for easy tampering. Curiosity skins the cat, as she finds Justine completely nude, bathing in blood, when all of a sudden... her eyes bust open like a madwoman, vampire-zombie bitch!

...I'll find your love.

One of the most memorable moments of the film for most people, Justine rises completely nude out of a coffin filled with blood(!), and proceeds to scratch the shit out of her former 'friend' and Sister Nun. She bitch-slaps the hell out of stupid ass Angelica, but is eventually calmed down by her pleading and wanton begging. Justine may be undead, but her innocence still resides within. Her human side, the confusion and the regret that she shows after this attack is heartbreaking. Then as fate would have it, some dumb-ass bastard priests and the doctor run in out of the nowhere and douse her with Holy Water. Her body blisters and smokes! She screams in horrifying agony for what seems like half an hour, before coming to her undead senses, lunging forth and biting a fist-sized chunk out of that mummified bitch's neck! They both die shortly afterwards, with sister leaving more than enough spurting arterial juice to refill that now-empty coffin.

Justine dies twice in this. Tell me that isn't some fucked up nonsense. The most innocent girl in the whole film has to not only be tortured and killed, but resurrected and killed again. And that was after her parents had died and she herself had died a little inside. What a poor, poor soul. At least she had Alucarda as a friend though. Well... for how short of a time it was. And thus, as thus was the tale of two morning star crossed lovers.

Both life and love, could not be saved. She took them both... to the graaaaaaaaaave.

But why would the doctor of all people, and he being the one who opposed the stupidly violent nature of the excorcism that killed Justine, later go after her and Alucarda with holy water? Tune in next time to find out! For more Alucarda madness check out my Previous Posts on the film, and visit Adventures in Nerdliness (another cool site that has reviewed this movie).

Unheavenly Creatures: 5 Things I love about Alucarda (1978)

Mysterious Entrances.

No slow motion or thumping beats necessary.

What better a way to introduce a dark vampyric heroine than to have her slowly emerge out of shadows and startle the cute new girl? Justine sits seemingly alone in her new convent room, looking down at a locket with pictures of her deceased parents inside. She is vulnerable and crying. Aluclarda slowly and silently approaches her from out of nowhere and though this is rather unnerving for Justine, she is quickly calmed by Alucarda's dark psychic powers emotional openness.

Alucarda: "What's that?"

Justine: "My mother and my father. Momma just died."

Alucarda: "I never met my mother or my father."

Justine: "Oh, I'm sorry."

Alucarda: "I have something to show you too."

Do you see how well she does it? Justine, after the death of her mother, arrives at an unfamiliar and rather run down looking convent where she is all too alone. After being taken up to her noticeably empty room and left there, Alucarda appears and offers her something desperately needed in a kindred soul mate. Even though Justine was never told of Alucarda and the room was empty when she entered it, her sudden startling presence was made serene by  a gentle "hello" and sharing of a common bond. Whether or not Alucarda is genuinely EVIL is up for debate, but it may not help matters that two other rather particular lost souls in this film are presented as materializing from absolutely nothing as well: The strange gypsy, who commences their Satanic lesbian blood pact(!), and Goat Head Satan himself whom brings them into the midst of a drug fueled hippie orgy(!). Though all three instances lead to the ultimate corruption of pure and fair Justine, I'll still maintain my speculation that Alucarda is not simply out for blood.

Alucarda's Secrets.

"I've been watching you while you sleep for months."

"These are things I never show anyone. These are secrets! Everyday I find a new secret." Just after Alucarda mysteriously appears from the corner of the room and introduces herself to Justine, there she begins to unveil her strange world of secrets. First, she hands Justine a charm and tells her it means that she likes her. Afterwards, Alucarda holds small insects in her hand and the two observe them. "Do you know how small creatures love each other? One is identical to the other, just like an image in a mirror. Like you and me." All this can understandably be considered confusing at first, since how exactly are a rock and some cute little bugs "secrets"? Ah, but that's precisely it, what is truly being presented here aren't the items themselves but rather Alucarda's feelings. Those are the true secrets she is speaking of. When Alucarda encourages Justine that they go look for some more secrets, the two merely giggle and frolic about the mountainside and then lay together for a short moment in the grass. Just as the light shines through the clouds, exposing her diamond-like skin, the not so subtle secret is quite apparent: Alucarda loves Justine. It isn't much later that Justine becomes aware of this, mostly in part due to Alucarda's extremely forward and brazen announcements of the fact. "Darling, darling Justine. I live in you. Would you die for me? I love you so. I have never been in love with anyone, and never shall, unless it's with you! The time is very near when you will love me as much as I love you. You may think me cruel and selfish, but love is always selfish. You don't know how jealous I am. You must love me to Death!" How sweet. After this moment, Alucarda doesn't speak much of secrets since her love no longer is one. Yet, I do belive that she may have many more secrets within her, some she may not even know herself.

Beauty In Death.


"They are burying Cynthia. She killed herself!
They will bury her in unhallowed ground."

"One can live eternally instead of turning into a little pile of dust." So says the Gothic beauty with the long, dark hair and pale white face. Upon seeing Cynthia's coffin being carried away, the two share a heartfelt moment.

Justine: "Funerals frighten me!"

Alucarda: "You have to die. Everybody has to die. But there can be happiness beyond death!"

Alucarda's tone put some importance on the fact that Cynthia, whom we know practically nothing about, will be buried in unhallowed ground. I wonder if she will find happiness beyond death. Surely, if she killed herself she found happiness in death, but beyond? I suppose the whole unhallowed ground factor could give her a chance for some form of unearthly Resurrection that leads her beyond death, but would being "alive" again really bring her happiness? A coffin full of blood would be hard as hell to carry as well, so I guess we can all assume that she was bloodless upon her death. Interesting.

Alucarda: "Are you afraid of dying?"

Justine: "Yes. Everyone is."

Alucarda: "I mean dying loving each other! Dying together so we can live as one forever, with the same blood running through our veins!" 

Justine is terrified by the thought of death, and Alucarda's morbid words really tend to freak her out tremendously. And yet, perhaps due to Alucarda's bewitching entrancement, she never strays away and at times even plays a rather submissive roll in their newly formed relationship.

Alucarda: "Let's make a pact. If we ever depart, from this life, we will do it... together!"

Justine: "Alright, if it makes you happy."

Even more strange is that we are led to believe that this is the first day they met. It could be the second, but these things are a bit unclear. Alucarda seems to know a lot of the ideals concerning romantic vampire lore, especially for a fifteen year old goth born and raised in a nunnery. When Justine is hesitant to cut herself open with Alucarda for their true love pact, Alucarda instead chooses to swear their pact by opening a tomb. Unbeknownst to her, it is the tomb of her dead mother and Dracula's mistress Lucy, and thus let the demonic possession commence.

The Satan Chant!


DarkThrone or else it's not trvu!

This film really took the whole love for Satan angle and pushed it to the fucking limit! On one hand you've got this beautiful love story about two young girls who are full of fantasy and wonder. Then you've got the otherworldly realms of vampires, demons, fortune and destiny thrown in. On top of that it's set in a convent where these two girls who's true love is not to be accepted, and they rebel in the name of the Dark Lord. She is of her father the dragon, and the lusts of her father she will do!

Alucarda: "And this is what the Devil does. He grants us virtues to expand His kingdom, the only valid one."

Justine: "God, with his lack of knowledge, does not understand this truth. And opposes them with false thoughts and prayer!"

Both: "Satan! Satan! Satan! Our lord and master, I acknowledge thee and my god and prince. I promise to serve and obey thee and long as I shall live. I renounce the other god and all the saints.

Who's feeling horny?

Satan! Satan! Satan! Our lord and master, I acknowledge thee and my god and prince. I promise you that I will do as much evil as I can. I will draw everyone else to evil. I won't fail to serve and adore thee. I give to you my life and my soul."

The women in this convent are horrified by the thoughts of their bodies suffering "everlasting torture". The priests are madmen without reason, caring, science, or hair. When this scene hit the screen I was eating it up like Satan at a flesh picnic with two new Mexican fifteen year old chicklets as the main course. Sure, praising the devil got a bit played out as time went by and technology started winning the war of the brainwashed, but it was fun while it lasted eh Beezle?

Alucarda Goes Batshit Crazy.

Immortal Forever... despite non-Satanic lyrics!

Throughout the film Alucarda shows signs of increasingly and seriously disturbed behavior. She's at first somewhat stalkish and mildly menacing, especially when she becomes passionate or ponders losing that which she loves the most. Though even then, she is extremely loving and warm.

Soon enough she's losing her goddamned mind! Writhing. Crying. Laughing. Twirling about. Ripping her hair out. Screaming out the various names of Satan! Suddenly she rips the crucifix from around Justine's neck and stares at it with an anger unlike any other. "God can't help me!" she screams, and her descent into madness continues. Justine is in a panic now and tries to calm her new girlfriend. Then when you just think she's snapped out of it, she backhands Justine with a bitch like fury and finally shows her controlling side.

Alucarda: "We shall make a pact and seal it with our blood!!!"

Justine: "..."

Of course, things didn't turn out the way Alucarda had planned, and loss followed her. With this loss, the rage inside of her grew and nuns started to spontaneously combust upon her malicious stare. I guess you could say that anger "smoldered within her like an unwholesome fire" and that fire had to be let loose. Love does crazy things to people. How did she get the power to make them all Burst Into Flames!? Perhaps she got high with a little help from her fiends. No matter the case, she went all out Carrie on their asses and got her short lived revenge for their bothersome meddling. And those are five things I love about this masterpiece of love horror.

Alucarda (1978)

Alucarda, la hija de las tinieblas, an absolutely fascinating and erotic film by Juan López Moctezuma. It is to this day my very Favorite film of all time. What can I say? I'm a damn suckerfucker for romantic vampire stories. So let's get this sparkling Halloween party started!:



I feel as if somebody has been watching me sleep!

The torrid story of desire and an emotionally eruptive friendship between two fifteen year old girls in a convent is intensified not only by the true love expressed between the two, but also by a mystical mindscape and series of spiraling events which lead the two down a destructive path.



My parents are dead. Mine too. Lesbi friends?

A path mind you, which is worth every second of agony if you are lucky enough to experience what these two had. Alucarda's uncontrollable ambition and Justine's somewhat reluctiveness to accept and delve into what she doesn't know, yet desires, takes their relationship as well as the film to heavy extremes. Satanism and death included. ;)

But death is something Alucarda is more than willing to accept since her lustful ambition will not be subdued, and as proven when you see Justine rise nude from a blood filled coffin, it becomes clear that their love transcends death. These moments of insanity as well as the pain of love expressed emotionally and very apparently, are made that much stronger by the more gentle scenes.

When Alucarda speaks to Justine about secrets and holds two small insects in her hand, or when the two frolic about the fields; There's an aura of innocence, yet as it would come to be, curiosity holds profound answers. When Alucarda stares into the double edged knife blade you can see by the look in her eyes that she is fueled by an unholy passion. Being very passionate, and not to mention evil, she clings heavily to her lovely Justine. But whether or not she's a predator is left for the viewer to decide.

The daughter of Lucy Westenra and Lord Dracula, Alucarda comes from a unrelentingly passionate and quite romantic bloodline. Such as in the case of her father, with her dark nature and morbid state of being, she can easily be seen as a villain who's deeds corrupt the innocent. Though these things are initially shadowed by her mother's passed down beauty and charm, she much like her father becomes the target of suspicious thoughts. Being both young and extremely rebellious, while in a convent run by a maniacal tyrant along with his horde of mummified nuns, her quest for happiness through true love is doomed from the start!

This knife... it sparkles!

Oh fuck! She's corrupted!

Do you believe in love? Do you believe in destiny? True love may come, only once in a thousand lifetimes. I too have loved. They took her from me. I prayed for her soul. I prayed for her peace. I believe that Alucarda truly loves and loved Justine, and I do believe that she fell instantly in love with her. Despite knowing her for all of no seconds, and at first only admiring her from the corner of a room before approaching. She is true to her nature and follows the whims of her soul. I've been prone to fall madly in love with a beautiful woman that I've done nothing more than simply lay eyes upon. Not a crime, but a curse, and yet, a fundamentally beautiful one at that.

"I know what you are."  "Say it." ... "Satan Worshipper!"

Alucarda brought the doe eyed and soft faced Justine into her dark world of pain and loneliness, not against her will, but because they were kindred souls. Alucarda is more in tune with the environment of these things, so she knows this far before Justine would have ever imagined the thought. Justine, even though at times utterly terrified of the idea of undying love, still was in need of it. Alucarda did not trick Justine into loving her as the female burrito wrapped women of god believe! Nor did she intend to move on after Justine's final death by making a rainbow connection with El Doctor's blind and easily influential daughter. Alucarda simply falls in love too easily. There are far worse things awaiting man than death, come taste what I have seen!

For the sake of argument, there are always two sides to a story. Some believe that Dracula is a fiend who enters windows as mist and rapes innocent blond sluts. Others say that Dracula once had a true love whom he adored above all else and would suffer through the ravages of time to meet once again. To love once again. I say, what is true love? I have loved a few select amount of the long haired gothic girls in my time. Does loving one tremendously mean you cannot love another? I too believe in Lust, but I know what love is. In the case of Alucarda and the doctor's daughter, or Dracula and Lucy even, can lust become love?

 

These are the unanswered questions, since as we all know, circumstances beyond their control got in their way. Shortly after the blind daughter took a nasty spill down several flights of clay stairs unto skeletal remains, Alucarda's heart simply couldn't take losing another love while avenging the previous. And she died. Lucy was restrained against her will and beheaded, presumably after giving birth to Alucarda. And she died. Everyone that Dracula loves dies, but they die with love in their hearts. Evil fucking love. Is it any wonder they are tortured souls? I am the dragon of blood... the relentless Prince of Pain.

Carrie. Eat your period out!


I first knew Alucarda back in 1995 when I rented the film on VHS under the title of "Mark of the Devil Part 3". I actually rented it along with MotD Part 4 which is really Tombs of the Blind Dead. Tina Romero scrambled my brain when I was fifteen and just messed up all my shit. When I saw this she became the Goddess of my dreams and I never looked back. In every woman since then I have looked for a bit of her in all of them. Hard as it is when half of the young gothic Satan worshiping chicks are lesbians, I still got my fill of the darkness, and therefore I regret nothing!

For two really great Alucarda blog reviews check out:

Killer Kittens From Beyond The Grave

Reverend Phantom: Overfiend Of The Underworld 

I seriously cannot watch that Rev Phantom video without grinning from ear to ear. "A love for.... sssSATAN!? Check." Very good show. Also, check out this nicely done video of Alucarda set to the music of London After Midnight: Spider & The Fly.