By Melissa Antoinette Garza
LUCIFERINA (2018) is a new Spanish sexploitation film brought to us by the brilliant mind of writer/director Gonzalo Calzada.
It begins with young 19 yr old Nun Natalia (Sofía Del Tuffo) working in a kitchen at HOGAR LOS HIOS DE MARIA or St. Mary’s Children’s Home.
She is serving lunch where she sees a familiar face. Lucas (Agustin Daulte)a former resident who has come back to see Natalia, seems a bit off. He sports a denim vest circa the 80s and though a bit intense, gives her a necklace to keep her safe. He seems in-tune with something paranormal as he knows Natalia is going somewhere before she does. He also asks if the glow is gone.
After he leaves, Natalia goes to speak with her mother superior. She is told that her mother has died and her father is ill. She must return home, but doesn’t want to go. The head nun insists she go.
Before leaving, the pupils of Natalia’s eyes turn temporarily white and a light surrounds the other nuns. Then, everything returns to normal. It’s a condition she has had since birth that leaves her momentarily blind.
She reluctantly leaves, but begins having nightmares on the way there. In the vision, she sees a woman standing in a strange position up against a tree. Undeterred, she continues on her journey.
At her father’s, she first meets her sister Angela’s (Malena Sánchez) boyfriend Mauro (Francisco Donovan). I hate Mauro. He has unearned confidence and an attempt at swagger that needs to be beaten out of him. He reminds me of Adam Levine.
She then ventures to see the old man who now is living in the attic. The scene builds great tension as one can certainly see she doesn’t want to go. We just don’t know why yet. It’s shot very well and the unease it stirs feeds into the dark sinister tone that is slowly building.
Her father (Vando Villamil) is in a hospital bed with his face wrapped in gauze. He’s apparently in shock and can’t speak. Angela shows up and reveals that after her mother painted some unusual artwork, slit her wrists and when their father tried to intervene, she attacked him too. You figure, Mother Superior could have given her a slightly better heads-up. I was expecting a car accident – not a homicidal mommy gone mad!
Natalia looks at her mother’s paintings. They’re filled with blood, crucifixions and occult symbols, but most odd is the woman from Natalia’s nightmares is in one of them being held up by limber tree branches that wraparound.
Natalia pressuring her sister for more details, learns that their mother had been living in the attic and refused to leave. Now, her father is doing the same. There’s a lot of unresolved anger as Angela wants nothing to do with him. She also initially wants nothing to do with Natalia.
Their mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease but Angela thinks something darker is going on. She accuses Natalia of escaping to get away from their crazy parents and whatever evil was inside of the house. She swears that her mother was possessed, but Natalia accuses her of being on drugs.
Angela gets heated and takes off downstairs, while Natalia takes a naughty little shower with a chanting demon bringing on a masturbatory moment that is quite sexy until a cockroach appears. Damn bug!
She goes downstairs and finds Angela and deadbeat dick Mauro having a pot party with some psych students. I hate Mauro. I don’t even know what type of demon we’re dealing with yet, but I hope it kills Mauro. He picks on Natalia for being a virgin to which the badass fem saunters over and confirms that she is one. Not satisfied with his level of douchebaggery, Mauro grabs his small wang and makes an obscene gesture to which Angela hits him. Of course, Mauro hits her back! Asshole!
In fact, the entire group is a bunch of assholes, except one good-looking gent named Abel (Pedro Merlo). I’m usually a Cain girl myself, but this Abel is very nice! He’s not a psych student and is also a virgin. He’s a shy, awkward boy who can strike hard if he has to. He has cerebral paralysis that screwed his nervous system horribly and made it so he didn’t go out much. (Well, let’s see if Natalia can go from nun to nurse, shall we? – Sorry…inside thoughts typing again!)
He’s got a cute wavy hairdo and an innocent charm that hits the right fem spots. He knocks out bitch Mauro and then pops a few chill-out pills to bring himself down. Mauro calls him a freak, which just solidified my love for him. I do love me some freaks, especially when it’s the alpha-male scumbags who consider them that. He also is immediately taken by Nun Natalia, which if that’s a prelude for naughty nun sex later, I’m in. Get those two crazy kids a sex swing. They’ve been good long enough!
Natalia goes to comfort her sister Angela who sits alone on a swing. They bond over what happened and Natalia takes a hit off a cigarette to try to show she isn’t the perfect daughter. Angela confides that she had an abortion after an unwanted pregnancy. She claims after that her mother went mad drawing pictures of uteri. She goes on to say that she believes their father actually murdered their mother in efforts to lure Natalia back home rather than the suicide story from before. Yeah, this family is pretty dysfunctional.
Angela is now questioning everything. She doubts the adults are even her parents but instead kidnapped them as children. She wonders why they were forced to stay in the secluded house for so many years. There’s a family secret and she has a way to figure out what it is.
There is a rite involving a sacred plant deep in the jungle, which will reveal all and may also cure Abel’s disease. They need to go to the jungle and meet with a Shaman (Tomás Lipan)to get cleansed.
Natalia is hesitant to go with them at first. The same light that appeared around the nuns, glows around them and the night before they leave, Natalia is plagued by another nightmare. It is then that we get the first close-up of the woman from both the paintings and the other dream.
Awakened in a fright, the horrors continue as her father is now in a wheelchair in front of her making strange noises. Worse still, sounds of a woman crying come from the nearby closet. She goes to investigate. Natalia is braver than I am. I would have been like, “Two -one way tickets to HOGAR LOS HIOS DE MARIA.” Well, I’d bring Abel with me! It’s awfully boring at the convent and I’m sure God doesn’t mind the nuns having a little fun. Chastity should be saved for people like Mauro, not goddesses like Natalia or sexy, little fem boys like Abel.
Mauro doesn’t agree in chastity or consent, for that matter. Before any blood is shed, he comes back and gets all rape-y toward Natalia. He starts going all Robin Thicke Blurred Lines, telling her that she wants it. Dude, virgins still can tell when guys are packing no heat. Move along! Thankfully, she gets away virtually unscathed, but at this point sadly so does Mauro.
Angela, not knowing how disgusting he had just been, jumps on the back of Mauro’s bike and starts the jungle journey with the rest of her friends.
Natalie decides to go and sits in the backseat with yummy Abel. Riding shotgun and summing up the group, is the every-man Osvoldo (Gastón Cocchiarale) and Mara (Stefanía Koessl). Again, I don’t care about them. They both were kind of jerks toward Natalia the night before. She’s more forgiving than I am. I’m definitely #TeamNataliaAbel.
On the way over, Natalia and her carpool buddies travel by a small boat to an old asylum that was shut down after the nuns running the place spoke of abortions and ritualistic abuse. They are supposed to meet Angela and dipshit, but they’re not there and they’re not answering their phone.
Natalia comes across a large memorial which brings back serious déjà vu as it’s the same place from her dream. An old woman appears and tells her that it’s not a good moon for the witchery they’re planning and then leaves with the ambiguously freaky statement, “one of you is lying.”
Where are those one way tickets?!
Natalia goes on a little adventure hike her own where she visits all the religious statues. Soon, she is joined by sweet Abel. Abel’s dad was a deacon, but he isn’t super religious Thank God! He’s down with whatever.
He breaks down crying about his disease and Natalia becomes not only a sympathetic ear, but reveals that she was born with the ability to see the glowing aura around people. They begin to get closer, when buzzkill Osvaldo and Mara show up. They find Angela and Mauro. Mauro is his typical charming self and pulls a knife on everyone.
Thankfully, Mara ponies up and has a gun! Okay, I’m warming on Mara. Though she’s not the best party guest, she packs some serious heat. Mauro backs off, but not before threatening everyone with death. Seriously, Fuck Mauro!
With asshole gone, the sisters get closer. The group goes off to see the Shaman, but not before Abel gives Natalia a watch and Natalia gives Abel the necklace from Lucas. It offers some worldly protection and makes certain they won’t get lost in the spiritual abyss they are conjuring.
Each person drinks from the Shaman’s cup and despite Natalia feeling as if she had been there before and having an aura spell, she does so too. They all then lie down to experience the effects. It’s sort of what you would expect at a peyote retreat if Aleister Crowley handed out the meds. The Shaman plays the drums while chanting, but the trip is a bad one. Everyone is coughing, having spasms and experiences terrifying visions.
Natalia is told by the Shaman that her presence is a prophecy and not to fear. We then begin to learn the truth regarding their family and the ties to old fashioned crazed satanism. The effects are marvelous and it’s really a no-holds-barred, violent spectacle that modern horror movies don’t incorporate enough. It’s brilliant in its insanity.
In the end, the drug opens up the possession porthole and Abel becomes overtaken with a demon. Natalia flees to safety, but returns with the old woman from before to save him. I want these crazy kids to be together! The conclusion is spectacular and very very naughty. It’s most certainly worth the wait especially for those of us who find demon sex enjoyable. Hey, everyone needs kicks!
LUCIFERINA is a fantastic roller-coaster ride that excels in pace, dialogue, tone, symbolism and most significantly an intricate plot where twists-and-turns are aplenty. The cast is spectacular as every actor sold their performances brilliantly. It’s equal parts gore and sex appeal.
Currently this is available on all streaming sites for digital purchase and rent. It is also available for DVD and Blu-Ray. Personally, I’d pick this one up as a buy. This is certainly a flick to be enjoyed multiple times.
Rating: 8/10
