Inquisition (1977) User Reviews

A historic fiction crammed with fantastic touches and atmospheric setting

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 21 April 2010]

XVI Century, France, three members (Paul Naschy, Tony Isbert, Ricardo Merino) of the Inquisition travel throughout country judging, torturing and condemning suspicious of witchery. At a village stay in the house of the Mayor(Antonio Casas) and the inquisitor judge named Bernard De Fossey (Naschy) falls in love for his daughter Catherine(Daniela Giordano). She suspects that death her lover (Juan Luis Galiardo) has been planned by Bernard for the reason of jealousy and then Catherine deals with witchery arts by means of two sorceresses (Tota Alba, Monica Randall) because she seeks revenge.

This is a good first effort Jacinto Molina as director and is lavishly produced for Naschy standards. Although Molina initially thought in Torquemada , he met the prestigious writer Julio Caro Baroja who explained him the Spanish Inquisition is less interesting and did not pursue witches as happened in France or Germany. As Jacinto wrote the screenplay and subsequently directed this co-production Spanish-Italian set in France.

Naschy gives his knowledges about Inquistion and witchery as he explains about the ¨Fornicarius¨and the ¨Garden of flowers ¨ by Torquemada that the devil and Sabbath are the same. And accusing Inquisition publishes what may be the most blood-soaked book in human history: ¨The Malleus Malleficarum¨, the witches' hammer,it is instructed the clergy on how to locate,torture and kill all freethinking women,during witch-hunt , history tells, fifty thousand are captured ,burned alive at the stake. Also Paul Naschy/Bernard De Fossey tells : 72 infernal princes command over 7.000 demons as ¨Satanas¨ the Grand General and Emperor, ¨Belcebu¨, prince of demons , ¨Asmodeo¨, superintendent of inferno, ¨Astaroth¨ Grand duke of occident, infernal treasurer, and ¨Beltegor¨ who rules over 70 legions of devils.

It's a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a Naif style.The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore and is an engaging horror story full of witchery, tortures, burning poles and several other things. This time Paul Nashy/Jacinto Molina exhibits little breast but he was European weightlifting champion .Pretty slow going, but hang in there for the Inquisitors versus witches , colorful Aquelarres and astonishing devils. Good cinematography by Miguel Mila and Julio Burgos is accompanied by a correct remastering. Eerie and atmospheric musical score by Barratas .The motion picture is professionally directed and played by Jacinto Molina , a slick craftsman though regular actor.The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and terror genre enthusiasts. Rating : 6, Acceptable and entertaining.

Another fine outing for Paul Naschy.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 25 July 2017]

Euro-horror star Paul Naschy (a.k.a. Jacinto Molina) made a creditable directing debut with this gruesome and exploitative tale, packed with gorgeous women and pervasive Old World atmosphere. He also stars as Bernard de Fossey, magistrate and witch hunter in the 16th century. He and his cohorts arrive in the Peyriac region of France, determined to seek out sinners and transgressors. He meets a stunning young woman, Catherine (Daniela Giordano), who bewitches him. She loves another man, but when that man dies under suspicious circumstances, she's willing to align herself with Satan to see justice done.

"Inquisition" is not for the squeamish, what with its unflinching shots of torture. It doesn't dwell on these scenes any longer than unnecessary to make its point, though. Still, many viewers will wince at the sight of a girls' nipple getting twisted right off her breast. And there are some very fine looking young women here, showing off their birthday suits to great effect. Naschy did know how to please the exploitation loving crowd.

Of course, he also delivers what is considered to be one of his best films (if not THE best). He cannily captures a historical period of great ignorance, superstition, and fear, when innocent people could be persecuted, and confess to acts of witchcraft just to get the torture to stop. At the same time, there is at least one dissenting voice: the local surgeon, who dares to venture the opinion that people like De Fossey may be acting hastily.

Naschy gives one of his finest performances as the tormented De Fossey, and also gets to strut his stuff by playing The Devil and The Grim Reaper as well. Giordano is a stunner, and does a convincing job of portraying righteous indignation. A standout supporting performance comes from Antonio Iranzo as the resentful, one eyed manservant Renover, who gets back at those women who spurn his advances by accusing them of being witches.

Overall, this is a solid film notable for some ambiguity and a lingering, grim nature.

Seven out of 10.

INQUISITION (Jacinto Molina, 1976) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 1 February 2011]

Paul Naschy's directorial debut amazingly emerged to be superior to most of his work for other film-makers. Thematically, it amalgamates WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968) with THE DEVILS (1971): Naschy is the appointed Inquisitor who falls under the spell of a local girl (Italian starlet Daniela Giordano from Mario Bava's atypical FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT [1969] and who, in a recent interview for the "Stracult" TV program, singled out the Naschy film as her personal favorite!). He has her lover killed (intermittently depicted as in a Sergio Leone picture, with harmonica accompaniment intact!) – though, in an online review, it is stated that he was not responsible after all?! – but is eventually brought before the court himself for associating with a sorceress. In fact, Giordano has sold her soul to the Devil (seen in effectively grotesque make-up not unlike that of a villain from some contemporaneous anime[!] and, reportedly, played by the star himself) and deliberately given in to her leading man's advances in order to bring him down!! At one point, he is haunted by the vision of a scythe-wielding Death but, since she ends up sharing his fate, one supposes the girl is ultimately disillusioned by her twisted beliefs – while, ironically enough, Naschy acquires grace through martyrdom!

The period ambiance is splendidly evoked, there is discreet use of gore (notably a nipple torn off by a huge pair of pliers!) and a surprising amount of nudity (gratuitous perhaps but not really exploitative). Of course, the "Malleus Maleficarum" tome and the plague (which, again, it is stated elsewhere to be the handiwork of the Devil himself!) never seem to be too far away in this type of film. Still, Naschy's script offers reasonable subtext: his character's position is coveted by the second-in-command (who proceeds to gleefully supervise the Inquisitor's own subsequent trial), a local blind-man is constantly snitching on the usually-innocent townsfolk (though he takes inordinately long to report the real witch who schools the heroine in the Black Arts!) to the relevant authorities until he predictably gets his just desserts, while Giordano – for whom, with her true love gone, life has lost its meaning – gradually comes to realize the power of Darkness and willingly becomes its servant and vessel. Incidentally, I was under the impression that INQUISITION was one of two efforts about which the writer/director/star felt the proudest (the other being THE TRAVELER [1979], which followed this viewing in quick succession) as per "The Mark Of Naschy" website – but, having double-checked, it transpired that that film was the serial-killer thriller THE FRENCHMAN'S GARDEN (1978) which, however, seems to be rather hard to come by...

Good movie, check it out

[lazarillo · 16 June 2006]

I believe this is available in English now, but the version I saw was a Spanish language one off a full-screen PAL tape I bought in Buenos Aires. Judging from the rampant nudity, graphic violence, and general depravity it wasn't cut at least. This is Spanish actor Paul Naschy's strangely belated directorial debut. It is another entry into the 1970's "witch-hunter" genre inspired by such films as Michael Reeve's "The Conqueror Worm", Ken Russell's "The Devils", and the godawful but very seminal German film "Mark of Devil". This was a rather extreme genre which allowed for a lot of exploitative scenes of beautiful naked women being tortured, but also permitted filmmakers to at least pretend to criticize the real historical abuses of the Catholic Church. The latter would be especially resonant in Spain where in very recent times the Church had been a big supporter of the repressive Franco regime.

This movie is every bit as depraved and exploitative as any of its British, Italian, or German models, but it was interesting in that its victim (played by Italian actress Daniela Giordano)actually DOES sell her soul to the Devil, but only in order to take a supernatural (and, of course decidedly sexual) revenge on the corrupt witchfinder/inquisitioner played by Paul Naschy. The injection of actual supernatural elements (which was a peculiar characteristic of both the Spanish and Mexican versions of these films)kind of muddies the moral waters (not to mention the perceived historical accuracy) quite a bit.

As always, Naschy makes an interesting protagonist. He has always been one of the few actors brave enough to play characters that are not only despicable but also often pretty pathetic (and he's never been afraid to kill his character off early if it serves the plot), but he always somehow gets the audience on his side, and this movie is no exception--you end feeling sorry for his corrupt and wrongheaded inquisitioner by the end.

One weakness of Naschy movies though has been his leading actresses. He always casts pretty women who are willing to do rampant nude scenes, but they are usually pretty obscure actresses and not always very talented (with the exception of Erica Blanc, Patty Shepherd, and maybe Helga Line). It's good to see that he has a strong co-lead here in Daniela Giordana, a gorgeous former Miss Italy who showed a lot of promise in the Mario Bava sex comedy "Four Times that Night" but was pretty much wasted after that in throwaway parts in second-rate Italian gialli. Good movie. Check it out

Paul Naschy - Finder of (Hot) Witches

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 7/10 · 12 September 2011]

The great late Paul Naschy (aka. Jacinto Molina) was doubtlessly one of the most influential figures in European Horror/Exploitation and Cult Cinema, and while the majority of his movies may not be brilliant masterpieces, they all have a very specific charm to them that (for me) is impossible not to love. Naschy is probably best known for playing the Werewolf Waldemar Daninsky in 14 HOMBRE LOBO movies, but his filmography includes many other demented, macabre, often sleazy and sometimes (wonderfully) trashy gems, for which he often also served as writer and director.

INQUISICION (aka. INQUISITION) of 1976 was the first movie for which Naschy is credited as director (he wrote the scripts to some of his earlier films). A typical example for the Hexploitation sub-genre, INQUISICION follows the tradition of films like Michael Reeves's 1968 masterpiece WITCHFINDER GENERAL (starring Horror-deity Vincent Price in his most diabolical role) or the notorious 1970 Exploitation Classic HEXEN BIS AUFS BLUT GEQUÄLT (aka. MARK OF THE DEVIL). While INQUISICION is not nearly as disturbing, impressive, serious or notorious as the aforementioned movies, it once again has the specific charm to it that can only be found in Spanish Horror productions from the time, and in Naschy-flicks in particular. The main difference hereby lies in the fact that INQUISICION focuses on sleaze and female nudity rather than the more serious WITCHFINDER GENERAL and the ultra-brutal MARK OF THE DEVIL which is known for its grisly torture scenes.

Naschy plays Witchfinder Bernard de Fossey who comes to a French village inhabited by somewhat exhibitionist beauties, whom the religious fanatic proceeds to interrogate, torture and burn at the stake... until he falls in love with one particular beauty...

The story is somewhat similar to that in MARK OF THE DEVIL, only cheesier. Still, this is one of the more serious Naschy flicks, and while sometimes cheesy, it is uncompromising as a film about the topic should be. There are some rather grisly torture scenes, the victims being beautiful young women. The burnings mostly happen off-screen, which is probably due to the budget which must have been spent for gory torture effects and actresses willing to engage in the sleaze taking place on camera. Naschy is awesome as always, and the female cast consists of stunning beauties all of which seem to be very keen on taking their clothes off. Overall, INQUISICION is a sleazy yet rather serious period piece, which is brutal and quite suspenseful at times. Recommended to all Eurocult lovers, and not to be missed by my fellow Naschy-fans.

Naschy hunts down witches in a lacking Spanish horror movie

[The_Void · 6/10 · 30 August 2008]

Inquisición was written by, directed and stars Paul Naschy. I would imagine that he was starting to get tired of starring in the often less than brilliant Spanish horror films that he made a lot of prior to 1976 and decided to make something a bit more serious; probably taking influence from Vincent Price in the excellent Witchfinder General, and this film is the result. While the film is of a higher quality in terms of acting and content than most of Naschy's filmography; it's also rather dull and unfortunately has nothing on the earlier Vincent Price film. The film takes on a period setting and, as the title suggests, focuses on the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisition is out hunting witches; and Bernard de Fossey is leading the hunt. However, a local girl takes offence at him and his compatriots hunting down the local townsfolk and decides to take action by hooking up with Satan himself to make the leader of the Inquisition fall in love with her, and thus leaving the leader with a personal crisis to negotiate.

As mentioned, Paul Naschy takes the lead role; and as usual, he is one of the best things about the film. Naschy obviously enjoys playing the lead role in his own film (actually this is the first one he wrote and directed) and the role is somewhat different and more involving than his previous ones. One of my main problems with the film is that the style of it is very bland; Spanish horror is more famous for its stunning Gothic locales and this film is severely lacking in this area. The plot moves very slowly and there is little in the way of distractions from the lead character's plight; which in truth is not all that interesting. To the film's credit, it does feature some very good torture scenes, some of which are quite nasty; a nipple removal scene is a highlight in that respect. Naschy does take tentative steps to lift the film by showing us pictures of some of Satan's minions (apparently the Dark Lord has quite a hierarchy set up!) but not enough is made of it. Overall, this film might be of interest to Spanish horror or Naschy completists; but I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to track it down.

Paul Naschy on the lookout for sexy witches to torture and burn.

[Coventry · 6/10 · 2 August 2009]

Jacinto Molina, more commonly known under his English a.k.a. Paul Naschy, was – and actually still is – one of the most active writers, directors and actors in the area of European horror/cult cinema and, even though I can't claim he has ever made a movie that was truly brilliant, every fan of the genre simply must cherish at least some sort of admiration for him. Naschy is responsible for an incredibly large variety of horror movies, including dozens of werewolf flicks ("Werewolf Shadow", "Curse of the Devil"), Gialli ("A Dragonfly for each Corpse", "Blue Eyes of the Broken Dolls"), vampire stories ("Count Dracula's Great Love"), gangster flicks ("Crimson") and imaginative variations on popular themes ("The Hunchback of the Rue Morgue", "Dr. Jekyll and the Wolfman"). This particular movie – the first one Naschy actually directed himself – might very well be his most ambitious accomplishment! "Inquisition" is, as the title clearly summarizes already, Naschy's attempt to cash in on the contemporary popular trend of 'witch-finder' period pieces. There were three major films before this one that already covered the topic: the British "Witchfinder General" (starring the almighty Vincent Price), Ken Russell's "The Devils" (starring Oliver Reed) and "Mark of the Devil (starring Herbert Lom and Udo Kier). "Inquisition" unfortunately isn't as good as any of these three, but nevertheless remains worthy viewing material for fans of typical 70's horror with plenty of gratuitous sleaze and unsettling torturing methods.

The biggest default in this film is the lack of a coherent and properly elaborated screenplay. Naschy tries to include so many potentially ingenious ideas and compelling characters that he too often loses control over the central themes. He stars as Bernard de Fossey, an infamous magistrate/witch-hunter who arrives in a small town along with two of his colleagues. After torturing a couple of innocent women left and right and burning their bodies at the stake, Bernard falls in love with the beautiful daughter of the town's patriarch. She, Catherine, actually sold her soul to Satan voluntarily, but only to find out the identity of the man who ordered to murder her French lover. When Satan reveals to her that the culprit is Bernard de Fossey, she seduces him in order to openly confront him with the fact the great witch-hunter himself is in love with a devil-worshiper. Theoretically speaking, this basic premise is downright terrific and original (none of the three other films featured victims that actually DID perform witchcraft), but it's too often pushed to the background in favor of showing shocking footage where Naschy forces girls to confess their business with Satan. One scene is particularly unpleasant, as it bluntly illustrates how a poor girl has her nipple torn off by an eerie clipping device. Naschy seemingly also has severe difficulties with keeping the pace and suspense level. Certain sequences tend to lean towards boredom whilst other ones are never properly worked out (like the apprehension of an entire family). "Inquisition" clearly didn't have a massive budget to work with, but the set pieces and costumes are generally convincing. Naschy's own performance is unquestionably the best one, whereas the female cast members are more likely be selected on their measurements and pretty faces. Recommended viewing, but in case you haven't yet, you ought to check out the three other witch-hunt movies first.

Dull

[jfgibson73 · 2/10 · 6 June 2009]

I watched this movie hoping that it would give me some feeling of being transported to it's Medievel setting, possibly showing something about what life was like for people in this time and place. Turns out, it was just a lame soap opera.

Some witch hunters are torturing women, accusing them of having done evil, although you get the feeling they are mostly just taking out their frustrations on these girls who wouldn't give them the time of day. Meanwhile, our lead female is having visions of her lover's death, but does not yet see the face of his killer. She makes a deal with the devil to find out who it is, but it is left open-ended if she truly was given a vision, or was just imagining it.

In the end, I didn't care because her choice of revenge turns out to be lame and ineffective. She basically sleeps with the "killer," so that he'll feel morally conflicted. Then they both end up getting burned at the stake. Oh, and while they are burning, a call comes in that something else is going on, so everyone rushes off to handle some other situation. If you're asking yourself, "WTF, this review makes no sense," well, then you you know how I felt watching it. I won't give it a rating of "1" because there wasn't anything in it that really bothered me, but there was absolutely NO moments that I enjoyed or was entertained by either. Some of the other people who left comments on this movie claim that the torture scenes were a highlight, but I thought even those parts were dull.

Very good Paul Naschy's film.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 19 February 2006]

A trio of witch hunters arrive in town to ply their trade.While this is happening,the daughter of the magistrate agrees to sell her soul to the devil for the ability to take vengeance on the man who killed her lover."Inquisition" is a fine directing debut of Paul Naschy.There is plenty of gratuitous nudity and the torture scenes are fairly nasty and shocking.Scenes such as a rotating,spiked gyre approaching the bared breast of a female victim and the obscene pulling of another unfortunate victim's nipple are as unsettling and savage as any scene from competing films such as Adrian Hoven's classic 1969 witchcraft flick "Mark of the Devil".Naschy's portrayal of the devil is fantastic as is his performance as a witch hunter Bernard.Give this one a look,if you are a fan of Jacinto Molina or Spanish horror in general.8 out of 10.

History Where There's No Good Guys

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 23 July 2013]

Oh dear the Spanish inquisition where the Catholic church hunted out heretics , devil worshippers and the cult who were responsible for killing Jesus . Not much different from Franco's regime and since this is was made just after the death of the military dictator one might have hoped for a political subtext to this but there really isn't any that I can see . Setting the story in 16th Century doesn't help and it seems that if the Jews aren't getting the blame for something then the French will suffice but one would have hoped for a latent meaning to this film

As it stands INQUISICION is the debut of Paul Nsschy as director and the first Naschy film I've seen that has subtitles with the cast speaking in their native Spanish which makes a very nice change watching something that isn't like an episode of EUROTHRASH with gore . That's another striking thing about the film - there's a lack of it and is much a cheap period horror film with some violent bits but lacking in torture porn which isn't necessarily a bad thing though there is one scene featuring the interrogation of a witch that caused me to wince

Getting to make a historical drama is what probably attracted Naschy to direct this film but he does have a bit of a problem developing the characters in that none of them are likable and there's no one to root for . There is a man of medicine who is rather scathing on the methods of the church and he's probably the closest the film has to a goodie but he's more than happy to follow unscientific mores like using leeches to treat the sick that one wonders if Naschy is being ironic on purpose . Of course that's how the medical profession did treat the sick but one had hoped for some dramatic anachronistic licence . The director also uses some ineffective camera shots where you get the feeling there's medium shots when there should have been close ups and vice versa . I also got the impression there might have been bits missing during the editing but that might be down to the copy I saw

For what it is , a period horror it's an okay film . Some people might complain about the lack of blood and guts but as someone who has seen enough Naschy gorefests the director concentrates on he storyline and emulates and probably exceeds the emulation of those latter horror films by the Hammer Studio that are historical dramas rather than out and out horror movies

Newly digitized version on DVD

[bmvetc · 10/10 · 26 March 2010]

This film has been passed around on poorly dubbed tapes and DVD-Rs for a long time. But recently it was released in newly digitized DVD format. It must have been transfered directly from the original 16mm film. The picture quality is almost perfect. It is now available on Amazon.com. I personally bought one and the images look really sharp even on a 52" LCD TV. I hope other cult films such as "Poor Cecily" and "Inquisitor" also will be digitized from the original films.

I think this film is most well-known for some outrageous torture scenes and also witch-burning scenes. In one torture scene, a fully naked blonde girl was stretched on the rack. In another scene, a young woman, also fully naked, was subjected to charcoal burning on her chest and then had her nipple cut off. The witch burning scene was very dramatic as well with three cute young women each being tied to a tall stake screaming while the fire was burning from below...

Under the auspices of Torquemada!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 30 January 2019]

A far portrait of the real inquisition that took place in Europe, Paul Naschy also directed under the psedonym of Jacinto Molina, the picture is an inconceivable under many aspects, during Spanish Inquisition Torquemada and their mad followers pursuit heretics people mainly women called witches and under the worst atrocious tortures they get a confessions, this picture there's a single woman who fit in this early descriptions, a nudity exploitation is quite easily extensive, in the scenes where they burning at stake are totally inaccurate, as fictional movie is plenty acceptable, the old village seems alike France during 15th century, also about the black plague that devasteted such places, even so many empty spaces a interesting picture!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

Typical witch hunter action, but takes a more political stance.(*Spoilers)

[Judexdot1 · 15 November 2004]

Following the success of "The Conqueror Worm", and the "Mark Of The Devil" films, Naschy steps up, and adds another "monster" to his resume, with "Inquisition".

'Tis a bad time in this part of the world. The tyrannical rulers, are draining the public, there is little sustenance for the poor, and witchcraft is blamed for many troubles. Naschy enters as the resident witch hunter, and is soon torturing confessions out of many locals. In the dubbed, American version, there is a surprising amount of nudity, and many of the local women cluster together, as the girl who Naschy fancies, sells her soul, to catch a glimpse of the face of the man who killed her lover. There is reasonable 70's gore, and nudity, but this is no "Mark Of The Devil", though it ends much the same. When they shave Naschy's head, and burn him at the stake, he looks uncannily like the final immolation of "the mole", in Jodorowsky's "El Topo", yet seems prescient of Brando, in "Apocalypse Now".

Daniela Giordano

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 10 October 2022]

A fine well made film with Paul Naschy's first work as director. There is money spent on it and splendid costumes, although what we are really there for is the Inquisition and of course there are some nasty torture scenes but not too many. There are also shots of naked women dying of the plague, also great shots of witchery and fantastic scenes of the Sabbat. Naschy has to be in all the scenes but he is fine and he gets in some lovely girls. The best of them all was Daniela Giordano an Italian who made some 35 films. Some sexy in the 60s and a couple of gialli, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) and The Girl in Room 2A (1974) and a poliziotteschi in Violent Rome (1975).

Exploitation in the Dark Ages

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 24 September 2023]

In the end of the Sixteenth Century, in France, the cruel witchfinders Bernard de Fossey (Paul Naschy), Nicolas Rodier (Ricardo Merino) and Pierre Burgot (Tony Isbert) arrive at the house of a wealthy man that has two daughters and one stepdaughter. His older daughter, Catherine (Daniela Giordano), is in love with Jean Duprat (Juan Luis Galiardo), who travels to Marseille to ask for permission to his uncle to marry Catherine. However, in the return, he is murdered by thieves on the road and Catherine fall in depression. Bernard, who has put his eyes on Catherine since he met her, hits on her. Meanwhile, the one-eye servant Rénover (Antonio Iranzo) denounces young women that has reject him as if they were witches, and they are tortured and killed. When Catherine has a dream with Jean, she believes that her beloved lover was murdered by men hired to kill him and she becomes obsessed to lean by whom.

"Inquisition" is a good exploitation movie based on the inquisition in the Dark Ages. Paul Naschy is perfect in the role of a cruel and sadistic magistrate that sentences women to be tortured and murdered in the name of the church. The romance is good and the unnecessary torture scenes and naked women was common in Euro movies in the 70's. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Iinquisição" ("Inquisition")

Subtly Profound Spanish Remake Of Witchfinder General

[meddlecore · 9/10 · 12 October 2015]

Inquisicion is a revenge tale set in Inquisition Era Spain loaded with shocking sexually exploitative imagery (despite the b-rate special effects)- and obviously a remake of Witchfinder General.

There is something subtly profound about this film. It sure made a lot of concepts click for me personally. Particularly regarding misogyny and "deviant" forms of sexuality (like S&M)- of which are running themes in the film.

We begin by following a Catholic judge named Bernard, as he makes his way across the Spanish countryside, cleansing all forms of witchcraft and paganry, which the devil might exploit to seduce the local populace.

In a more realistic sense, though, he and his crew are engaging in institutionalized torture and state sponsored murder- brought to you by your (not-so) friendly neighbourhood religious zealots.

Essentially, they go into a town and look for snitches with the wildest claims and loosest tongues- kidnapping, imprisoning, torturing and murdering the accused (usually women) in most extreme fashion- without any due process whatsoever. Justifying it all in the name of their perceived God, of course.

It must be noted that all of these atrocities are being carried out by men, who are exploiting their institutionalized power to target liberated women who dare speak their mind or fall in love whom they so choose.

The local (rapist and) snitch, Renover, falsely accuses a number of young women of being involved in witchcraft. An action arising from his hardline misogyny. He loathes the young women in town, because he lusts after them and they refuse to sleep with him. He'd rather see them burn, than enjoy life and love with anyone else.

The Judge becomes reliant upon the claims made by Renover- to make it seem like he is doing an effective job in the area. And as such, he ironically becomes devil manifest, himself.

Clearly indoctrinated by anti-sex rhetoric, the Judge's repression of his own sexual urges begin to expose themselves in deviant sexual forms: mainly flogging.

He attempts to subdue his "unwanted" sexual urges (brought on by the succubuses of the world, in his opinion) with pain. But this has forced his unconscious to combine the two concepts into what Freud would certainly classify as a grade A perversion. His attempt to quell his own perceived perversion has actually morphed it into a sexual perversion in it's own sense. Hence his misogyny (being consequential of his cognitive dissonance).

The plot thickens when a couple of sisters- whose father is on their deathbed- witness the atrocious acts carried out by the Judge and his men. To protect themselves, one of the sisters joins a coven and adopts a life of witchcraft (which the film subtly implies is both a form of women's healing and liberation).

Not only does she seek to protect herself from what may come, but she also seeks answers pertaining to the murder of her beloved.

To achieve this, she imbibes a witch's brew meant to make her dream vividly. Through her dreams, she is to take part in the Sabbat and find the answers she has been looking for.

It turns out, the Judge is responsible for the murder of her lover- and she wants vengeance.

An earlier spell gone awry has made the Judge fall deeply in love with the young witch...and she plans to exploit this for her own ends...even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice.

Intriguing content matter aside, what makes this film so great is all the philosophic concepts that are dealt with subtly in the film: from the nature of misogyny; to women's liberation; the hierarchy of demons; political exploitation under the ruse of legitimacy; healing philosophies (ie psychological (main witch) vs scientific (surgeon)); challenging authority; and, of course, the nature of evil.

The acting is solid. The scenery is incredible. The special effects are basic but effective. While the story and plot have a mythological quality that keeps you intrigued. What's most important, however, is how it engages you as a viewer; along with the message it leaves you with: Don't be afraid of liberated women. If you are, and this tends you toward misogyny. You are on a fast track to become the devil manifest.

An underrated and all-around profound film. Highly recommended.

9 out of 10.

In the name of God

[liodavix · 9/10 · 17 February 2019]

Excellent film by Paul Naschy, who in turn debuted as director.

Set in the sixteenth century, in full reign of terror of the Inquisition, Naschy tells the story of a brutal French Inquisitor who arrives in a modest town plagued by the plague and superstitions that witches are to blame for all the evils that whip

As such, beautiful young women are accused by an evil and perfidious one-eyed servant who buries a deep hatred towards women who according to him they despise him.

These girls are brutally tortured until, of course, they confess, because with such inhuman pain, anyone confesses anything. The girls are savagely burned by the inquisitor who will nevertheless begin to build his own fall from grace by laying eyes on a beautiful young woman who is in turn very much in love with her partner, but this dies at the hands of some bandits without it being clear if the inquisitor had a hand in this event. The inquisitor will get away with having managed to possess the young woman but this secretly will initiate a pact with the devil to destroy the inquisitor causing his pain and unhappiness

Certainly the film is not as strong as it might seem at first, but it has some harsh scenes that can damage the sensibility of more than one, although the tortures pass to the background in the middle of the film.

The film has a very good script and history, with good dialogues and more than correct performances. Correctly shows the fear of that time raise your voice before the implacable fist of the church, the terrible and unjust methods used by the Inquisition to remove their tortures and the trickery, often meaningless that occurred in those times, but obviously we can not judge that time, or any, with our current mentality.

All this also supported by a good work in the sets, locations and a superb photography and soundtrack.

Everything looks really good in this film in which Naschy showed I believe, a great will and effort to show a product of quality and faith that got it, without doubt achieving one of his best films and performances.

Highly recommended

A true exploitation-horror classic

[Groverdox · 9/10 · 31 January 2016]

In this non-Daninsky Naschy horror treat, an ugly, one-eyed servant takes revenge on the women who despise him for his looks by denouncing them as witches to the local judge, played by Naschy himself (who also directed) as a man who uses the rampant, murderous superstition of the day to also serve his own petty ends.

Naschy's witchfinder is in love with a local girl, the daughter of a ranking politician, who is having a fling with a guy who bears a stunning resemblance to a more rugged John Stamos. The witchfinder's religious mania proves a self-fulfilling prophecy as his lust and jealousy threaten to drive the girl not into his own arms... but into the arms of Satan!

There were a spate of Spanish Inquisition themed horror movies made in the late '60s and early '70s, and this is among the very best. All the trademarks are here, from cringe-worthy scenes of torture including a nipple-ripping, wonderfully creative scenes of Satan worshiping heathens, and, of course, as with most/all Naschy movies, naked ladies. I always remember the scene where the one-eyed servant steals the bathing women's clothes.

If you liked this, don't miss Witchfinder General, the one that started the craze for this type of movie.

Naschy's Direction Makes This Something Good

[Michael_Elliott · 31 October 2013]

Inquisition (1976)

*** (out of 4)

Paul Naschy made his directorial debut with this WITCHFINDER GENERAL type film that adds in a ton a nudity, gore and all out sleaze. In the film Naschy plays a man who puts many to death as he finds them to be witches but things take a turn when he falls in love with a young woman (Daniela Giordano) without realizing she has a pact with Satan (also played by Naschy). After watching this film you'll be wishing that Mr. Naschy had directed some of his earlier horror pictures and especially those that didn't quite reach the high entertainment level. I was really shocked to see how wonderful his direction was here because he really nailed the atmosphere and setting and in the end he delivered a sleazy but oh so entertaining picture. By 1976 there had already been several films dealing with this subject. Some were classics (WITCHFINDER GENERAL) and others were just trash (MARK OF THE DEVIL). This film here takes the serious elements of that first film and mixes in the sleaze of the second one but it's really Naschy's direction that makes it work so well. You really do believe the period setting and this here helps you buy into the story even more. Even better is that the "love story" isn't just there to pad out the running time and instead the director makes you get involved with both characters. It helps that Naschy and Giordano work so well together as they two of them can bounce the flirtatious moments off one another as well as the more dramatic ones. Even the supporting players are quite good, although there's no question that the main focus are the two leads. Another major plus the film has working for it are the Satanic cult scenes. These are shot incredibly well and the visual look of them are excellent. The thick fog adds to their quality but the sets are all rather amazing and again, there's Naschy bringing it all together. The gore and violence level isn't stomach-turning but it is pretty thick including one scene where a chained up woman gets her ripped torn off! The nudity level is incredibly high as all the torture victims are always naked plus there are other scenes that appeared to have just been thrown in for the chance of more naked bodies. This includes one scene where four beauties are splashing around naked in a lake for no other reason than they're extremely hot. INQUISITION is certainly one of the better films of its type and deserves to be better known.

Paul naschy stars and directs

[joshjack-35680 · 10/10 · 23 August 2019]

I love this film..just like all of jacinto molina other films

My favourite Naschy film so far.

[BA_Harrison · 8/10 · 14 May 2020]

No doubt spurred on by the success of such films as Witchfinder General (1968), Mark of the Devil (1970), and The Devils (1971), Spain's premier horror star Paul Naschy directed Inquisición, a tale of witch-hunting and Satanism amidst the horrors of plague and pestilence. Like the films that inspired it, Inquisición is a lurid piece of Euro-horror, full. of depravity, and I loved it: of the 17 Naschy films I have seen so far, this is easily my favourite.

Naschy takes on two roles for this film, first and foremost that of zealous magistrate Bernard de Fossey, who visits a French village to cleanse it of witchery and devil worshippers, which means torturing innocent villagers (mostly beautiful women) until they confess, and then burning them. While staying at the home of a local dignitary, de Fossey falls for his host's gorgeous daughter Catherine (Daniela Giordano), who has already given her heart to local lad Jean Duprat (Juan Luis Galiardo). After Jean is murdered by robbers, a depressed Catherine dreams of a hooded man who rewards the thieves for killing her lover. In order to find out the identity of the villain and take revenge, Catherine makes a pact with the devil (Naschy's second role), aided by local crone Mabille (Tota Alba).

As much as I enjoyed this film's more exploitative elements (lots of nudity and torture, including one genuinely eye-watering moment involving a young woman and a pair of pliers), I think what I liked best about Inquisición is the way that the plot develops, raising several moral dilemmas along the way...

Is de Fossey little more than a sadist getting his kicks from burning young women? I don't think so - unlike Vincent Price's Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General, who was in it for the 'Lols', de Fossey seems convinced that he is genuinely doing the Lord's work.

Did de Fossey pay for Jean's murder? Possibly, although he appears adamant that he did not when confronted by Catherine.

Is Catherine really in league with the devil? She believes that she is, but she is most likely delusional, having suffered from an extreme shock, her condition exacerbated by Mabille's mind-altering potions.

Is Mabille really a witch? She thinks so, but she's clearly got more than a few bats in the belfry; either way, she is certainly heretical, making her an enemy of the church in De Fossey's eyes.

Do either de Fossey or Catherine deserve their fiery fate? That depends entirely on your standpoint regarding capital punishment. De Fossey is definitely guilty of many murders, albeit sanctioned by his superiors and carried out by his lackeys. As for Catherine, she's obviously as mad as a hatter by the end of the film; a spell in an asylum seems more befitting (did they have those back in the middle ages?).

'Inquisición' will strongly bewitch inquisitive Euro-cult fans with its own uniquely beguiling B-Movie Black magic!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 9/10 · 10 July 2021]

The remarkably prolific film-maker Paul Naschy once again returns to the macabre medieval milieu, in this specific instance the burly Iberian iconoclast mines one of the more despicable epochs of man's iniquitous history, the blackened days of The Inquisition, when a plague of uncommon cruelty and madness was evilly matched by the no less diabolical pestilence of the plague, and against this Dantean backdrop of Satanic hysteria and terminal disease, writer/director Jacinto Molina aka Paul Naschy constructs an especially lurid tale of uncontrollable lusts, moral duplicity, thwarted love, grisly torture, profane idolatry and theological insanity as the corrupted magistrate Bernard (Paul Naschy) and his two fellow inquisitors travel the plague ravaged land on their monstrous quest to purge the land of falsely accused witches, warlocks and wise-women, pitilessly dispensing god's wrath with impunity, and, perhaps, furtively harbouring entirely more wicked, fulminating passions of their very own!

Once the three unforgiving inquisitors begin their iniquitous witch-trials, the brooding, faintly demonic magistrate slowly becomes amorously enamoured of the beautiful Catherine (Daniela Giordano) a rather melancholy, dark-haired siren who uses her not inconsiderable allure to tempt the anything but god-fearing Bernard de Fossier, culminating in a splendidly melodramatic, gruellingly traumatic climax, while not quite up to Michael Armstrong's Sadistic 'Mark of the Devil' still packs an emotional punch! The zesty performances all across the board are excellent, with Paul Naschy's conflicted Witch-finder finally meeting his buxom match with sultry Daniela Giordano's Satanically scheming proving to be a delightfully voluptuous adversary, and the rousing score by Maximo Barrates is exemplary. 'Inquisición' will strongly bewitch inquisitive Euro-cult fans with its own uniquely beguiling B-Movie Black magic!