A Candle for the Devil 4K 1973 Ultra HD 2160p

Two sisters running a small hotel in Spain kill female tourists whose morals do not meet their strict religious standards.

User Review

In my opinion, this is a brilliant classic of the genre! The film, in the manner typical of the thriller genre, kept me in suspense from the very first minutes of viewing. The first conflict situation involving the main characters, or rather the heroines, of this film makes it clear that the sisters, who own a small hotel, do not share the opinion of young people about frivolous, overly liberated behavior in society, and therefore it becomes obvious that everyone who enters their property must adhere exclusively to their rules!

I will note the pros:

1) the film manages to clearly “catch you off guard” and keep you in a state of suspense and unpredictability until the end, periodically giving the viewer chills;

2) The murder scenes occur spontaneously and unexpectedly. I wouldn't say that they are particularly effective, but their cruelty is felt rather than seen in the film, and the director has clearly succeeded in staging and conveying these scenes to the viewer.

One of the sisters in the film, Martha, as the head of the more modest “assistant” Veronica, takes everything under her wing and considers it right to pass God's judgment on all the, in her opinion, promiscuous girls who have fallen into their lair.

3) I really liked the performance of Veronica (actress Esperanza Roy), who professionally played the role of a naive, caring, uninhibited, and at the same time unpredictable assistant to her sister Martha(actress Aurora Bautista) in her wicked deeds. Her character is striking in her indifference and cruelty—she plays a confident girl devoted to her principles, who lacks intimate attention and suffers from past failures. At the same time, she fully “satisfies” herself by taking revenge on the enemies of norms and order, whom she sees in the young girls, the guests of their so-called home!

4) Literally all the scenes in the film are set in the sinister hotel, and as you watch, you don't even pay much attention to the so-called ‘outings’ beyond its walls. I don't even know who deserves the credit for this, but in any case, the film crew did a great job!

I can't even remember anything significant to attribute to the cons, rather it's the little things that fade into the background of the overall excitement:

1) The fake blood doesn't shine with realism, it looks too much like gouache/watercolor paint :)

2) The scene with the mother and baby is really brutal, but again, there are pros and cons to the genre...

Personally, I didn't notice any other cons.

So, if you decide to watch this film, you can expect a tense plot in the style of Hitchcock's Psycho, which keeps the viewer in a state of suspense and a creepy atmosphere!

I recommend this film to all lovers of classics, as well as new viewers, because it really has something exciting to offer, unlike modern “trash”!

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (88.0 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Info Audio

#Spanish: FLAC 2.0
#English: FLAC 2.0

Info Subtitles