José R. Larraz’s 1982 film “Black Candles” -- original title, “Los
Ritos Sexuales del Diablo” -- has been released on Blu-ray by the specialty
label Code Red. Carol (Vanesa Hidalgo)
and her boyfriend Robert (Jeffrey Healey) fly to the U.K., where they accept an
invitation by her widowed sister-in-law Fiona (“Martha Belton,” aka Helga Liné)
to stay at Fiona’s country estate. As
the viewer already knows from a pre-credit sex scene, Fiona and virtually
everyone else on and around the estate are members of a devil-worshipping orgy
cult. But Carol and Robert are clueless,
even after they see satanic lithographs on the wall and Carol experiences bad
dreams. Fiona seduces Robert into the
coven, while the coven’s master, the sinisterly goateed Reverend
Hübner, decides to initiate Carol at the cult’s next satanic ceremony
. . . And that’s probably all anyone
needs or wants to know about the plot, which unabashedly copies “Rosemary’s
Baby” and adds all the nudity and simulated intercourse that Euro-movie fans
would expect from the relaxed censorship of early 1980s, low-budget
sexploitation cinema. Like Larraz’s
marginally more famous “Vampyres” (1974), it’s probably better judged against the
criteria of Joe Bob Briggs, “The Bare Facts Video Guide,” and “Mr. Skin” than
by mainstream critical standards. That
is: How many skin and sex scenes are in
the film? Where do they occur? How long, umm, do they last? And how much skin do they show? By those benchmarks, Larraz delivers the
goods. And for the record, his film at
least is more honest in meeting the viewer’s baser expectations than any of the
terrible sequels and remakes of “Rosemary’s Baby,” not least the now mercifully
forgotten 2014 TV miniseries. The only
actors in the cast likely to be recognized by anyone are Helga Liné, the foxy
leading lady of countless 1960s and ‘70s Eurospy films, spaghetti westerns,
giallo thrillers, and gladiator movies -- yes, she’s frequently nude in “Black
Candles,” and in sleek form at almost 50 -- and Carmen Carrión, a familiar
supporting actress in Jess Franco’s Eurotrash soft-core sex movies.

BCI Eclipse released “Black Candles” on DVD in the U.S. in 2007
as part of a “Welcome to the Grindhouse” double feature. Before that, there was a DVD-R pressing from
Midnight Video under Larraz’s original Spanish title. The Code Red hi-def Blu-ray in anamorphic,
1.78:1 widescreen is far superior to either in sharpness and clarity, and
likely the best home video edition we’ll ever see. The BCI Eclipse DVD lists an 85 minute
running time, and Code Red lists 82 minutes for its Blu-ray. Based on a comparison viewing, however, the
two editions seem to be substantially the same. The opening credits of the Code Red print give the title as “Hot
Fantasies,” once used for late-night cable showings. The only extras are other Code Red
trailers. The Code Red Blu-ray, which
retails for $24.95, is available from Screen Archives Entertainment HERE.

FRED BLOSSER IS THE AUTHOR OF "SAVAGE SCROLLS: VOLUME ONE: SCHOLARSHIP FROM THE HYBORIAN AGE". CLICK HERE TO ORDER ON AMAZON