THE LIVING IDOL

James Robertson Justice, Liliane Montevecchi. Steve Forrest

THE LIVING IDOL (1957). Written and directed by Albert Lewin.

Down in Mexico Dr. Alfred Stoner (James Robertson Justice) leads Terry, a photographer (Steve Forrest), and Juanita (Liliane Montevecchi), the daughter of a colleague, up an inner staircase into a recess of a pyramid to see the idol of a jaguar god. Juanita is badly frightened, and Alfred wonders if she might be the reincarnation of a young lady who centuries ago was sacrificed to the god. When Juanita's father, Manuel (Eduardo Noriega), is crushed by a stone with a jaguar representation on it, she is even more freaked out. Alfred and his wife, Elena (Sara Garcia), take the orphaned Juanita under their wing, but Alfred develops an insane plan to get her out from under the alleged influence of the jaguar god. 

Beautiful beast: a stalking jaguar 

I had never heard of The Living Idol but hoped this might be a lost gem when I saw some familiar names in the cast, saw that it was in CinemaScope and Technicolor, and that it was photographed by Jack Hildyard. But my hopes started to fade the minute I saw the phony-looking and not very frightening jaguar-idol, which Alfred brings back with him to Mexico City. Forget about Juanita, the only one who seems to have an odd relationship with a jaguar is Alfred, who lets the beautiful beast out of a zoo in his crazy, senseless scheme to let it have an encounter with the poor young lady. Lest you mistakenly think that this all sounds interesting, be forewarned that The Living Idol is deadly slow and dull, with very little happening during a nearly two hour running time. At times the film almost seems more like a romance than a horror film, if that's what it even is. The shame of if is it could have gone off in so many different, much more fascinating and frightening directions, but it basically goes nowhere ... slowly. Manuel's death scene occurs off-screen and is poorly handled. Some nice scenery can't save this. You would never know that director Lewin had actually helmed a couple of pretty good pictures. This was his last one. 

Verdict: A major disappointment and pretty terrible movie. *1/2. 

DEATH'S ROULETTE

DEATH'S ROULETTE (aka Uno para morir/2023). Director: Manolo Cardona. Amazon Prime. 

7 strangers wake up in a fabulous estate on an isolated island and compare stories as to how they were all abducted. A disembodied voice tells them that they must choose which of them is to die and must also follow certain rules. For one thing, no one can volunteer to make the ultimate sacrifice. If they don't make a choice, all of them will die. As the deadly "game" proceeds, the participants are allowed entry into different sections of the house and many personal facts about these individuals are revealed. The captives include a police detective named Simon (Manolo Cardona, who also directed), a drug-addicted stewardess named Teresa (Adriana Paz), a surgeon named Armando (Dagoberto Gama), and others. Simon theorizes that they may be the captives of a sociopath named Pablo, and as the film progresses their various connections to this man come to light. Will any of them survive? 

Presented on Amazon Prime, Death's Roulette is a Mexican thriller that holds the viewer in suspense, boasts some excellent performances (especially from Cardona), and works quite well until it becomes a little too tricky at the end. The picture has a classy look thanks to some striking sets and Luis Enrique Carrion's often stunning cinematography. There's not much originality to the script, however, but there are many good scenes and an exciting climax. This is another film that suggests that the victims are actually worse than the perpetrator, and the movie seems morally confused.  Cardona's direction is good and the dubbing is excellent.

Verdict: Entertaining and twisty if a bit too familiar and with loads of loose ends. **3/4. 

THE CURSE OF NOSTRADAMUS

German Robles as Nostradamus

THE CURSE OF NOSTRADAMUS (1961). Director: Federico Curiel. 

The Curse of Nostradamus was originally a 12 episode serial that played in theaters in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. An enterprising producer decided to have the serial dubbed into English, divide it into four films (consisting of three chapters each) and sell it to American television. If you remember this film that's where you first saw it. This movie has Professor Duran (Domingo Soler) telling party guests that there are no such things as vampires and that he is forming an organization to debunk the supernatural. Unfortunately that very evening a man calling himself Erikssen (German Robles) shows up in Duran's parlor and announces that he is the 400-year-old son of the infamous seer Nostradamus. 

Julio Aleman 

Nostradamus -- for that is his true name -- is also a vampire who can control men's minds and transform into a large bat (although in this installment at least, he never drinks blood and only bares his fangs once). Nostradamus wants Duran to acknowledge who he is to the world so that he can recreate his father's cult. Until Duran agrees to do so, he will murder his colleagues. One poor man is hypnotized by Nostradamus into a death-like state and winds up buried alive. With the help of his handsome young associate, Antonio (Julio Aleman), the professor tries to save Nostradamus' future victims. Nostradamus finally resorts to kidnapping Duran's daughter, Anita (Aurora Alvarado), and the two men must affect a rescue.

The Curse of Nostradamus is a little slow-paced and decidedly low-budget, but also atmospheric and well-acted. German Robles, who has real presence, makes an effective vampire. This was followed by the oddly-titled Monsters Demolisher. Between the three of them, Robles, Soler and Aleman amassed literally hundreds of credits in Spanish-language films and television productions. 

Verdict: Minor but nevertheless intriguing horror flick. **1/2.