''Mansion of the Living Dead'' ( es, La mansión de los muertos vivientes) is a 1982 erotic horror film written and directed by

Jesús Franco Jesús Franco Manera (12 May 1930 – 2 April 2013) was a Spanish filmmaker, composer, and actor, known as a prolific director of low-budget exploitation film, exploitation and B-movies. In a career spanning from 1959 to 2013, he wrote, directe ...

, said to be based on his own novel (which never existed).Stephen Thrower, Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco (2015) It stars Franco's most often used actress,

Lina Romay Lina Romay (born Rosa María Almirall Martínez; 25 June 1954 – 15 February 2012), a.k.a. Candy Coster and Lulu Laverne, was a Spanish actress who often appeared in films directed by her long-time companion (and later husband) Jesús Franco. ...

, who is credited here as Candy Coster. Franco also edited the film, and dubbed the voice of actor Albino Graziani. The make-up on the zombie monks was extremely low budget, consisting mostly of dried shaving cream lather rubbed on the actor's faces.Stephen Thrower, Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco (2015)

Plot

Several waitresses visit an almost abandoned resort hotel out of season, only to find that the long-dead monks of the local former monastery have returned as zombies. One by one, a strange force lures the women out of the hotel down into the crypt beneath the monastery, where they are sexually molested and brutally murdered by the zombie monks, all choreographed to eerie music, a tolling bell and the melancholy sound of the wind blowing around the monastery.

Cast

* Candy Coster as Candy * Mabel Escano as Mabel * Antonio Mayans as Carlo Savonarola (as Robert Foster) * Eva León as Olivia * Albino Graziani as Marleno * Mari Carmen Nieto as Lea (as Mamie Kaplan) * Elisa Vela as Caty (as Jasmina Bell)

Release

Severin Films Severin Films is an American film production and distribution company known for restoring and releasing cult films on DVD and Blu-ray. History The label was created in 2006 in Los Angeles, and other offices were founded in New York City and Londo ...

released it on DVD on October 31, 2006.

Reception

Ian Jane of DVD Talk rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "More of an artsy softcore romp than a horror film, ''Mansion Of The Living Dead'' should still appeal to those who appreciate the low budget charm of Franco's erotic films and who dig the odd touches that can be found in so much of his work." Rob Lineberger of

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...

wrote that the film consists mostly of boring scenes where the actresses walk around the set. Writing in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia'', academic Peter Dendle said, "The film is marked throughout, however, by a disturbing hostility toward women: they are sexual objects from the start to the finish, and the voyeuristic impulse would seem less offensive if it weren't accompanied by unashamed misogynistic violence." Dendle called the zombies featured in the film "among the ideological and aesthetic low-points of the species".

References

External links

* {{Jesús Franco 1982 films 1982 horror films 1980s erotic films Spanish zombie films Spanish erotic films 1980s Spanish-language films Sexploitation films Pornographic zombie films Films directed by Jesús Franco 1980s exploitation films 1980s horror thriller films Erotic horror films Spanish-language horror films