Human Beasts (1972)

Paul Naschy stars as a mercenary who double-crosses his partner/girlfriend Meiko and gets shot for his troubles. Failing unconscious he is taken in by a wealthy doctor who has two beautiful daughters. His recuperation is slow and in the meantime he is seduced by daughters and apparently haunted by the ghost of their mother. Strange things are going on at the house and if he is going to survive the night he ll have to escape the house.SPECIAL FEATURES: Spanish credit sequence Alternate footage Still gallery of photos posters and other advertising material Liner notes by author Mirek Lipinski (www.naschy.com) with rare photos and stills. Introduction by star Paul NaschySystem Requirements:Running time: 84 mins. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 787364716494 Manufacturer No: Carton Qty 25 Product Description

 Escape from the House of Hell
In "Human Beasts," Paul Naschy is an assassin/thief who betrays his pregnant girlfriend and murders her brother. He is a "human beast." The movie begins as an action thriller involving a tremendous amount of shooting and death. (Naschy kills one would be assassin with her own hand grenade.) His girlfriend, who knows how to use a rifle, manages to seriously wound him. Naschy loses consciousness.

Naschy awakes and finds himself in a house with a doctor, his two daughters, and their African maid. Now the remainder of the plot becomes similar to that of "Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll," another Naschy vehicle that was released one year later. This house is full of bizarre secrets. In particular, why are the doctor and his daughters devoted to taking care of a stranger, knowing that people are looking for him? We later learn that the people in this house, like Naschy himself, are "human beasts."

Next, the movie takes on elements of a giallo in that someone wearing black gloves begins slicing and dicing intruders. One victim is fed to ravenous pigs. [In the same year as "Human Beasts," "Pigs" (a.k.a. "Daddy's Deadly Darling") was released which also involved victims being fed to pigs.]

"Human Beasts" has elements of "Frightmare" or "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but predates these movies by two years.

The film transfer is great. This movie is presented in widescreen and looks as though it was just released. The DVD also has plenty of extras. I highly recommend this rare film for fans of Spanish slashers, Spanish gialli, and of horror icon Paul Naschy (the women can't seem to keep their hands off of him).
April 7, 2008

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