Francisca de la Cruz, a wealthy orphan, and Mariana de Castro, her widowed Protestant friend, live in a town where they are the center of hostile gossip. Father Francisco Verdugo, the Inquisitor, has his own ambitions. He has his greedy eyes on the orphan heiress’ properties, but he needs a pretext to steal them.
A confrontation in the street between a group of girls gives him the perfect excuse to arrest Mariana and Francisca and enchain them in the horror chambers of the Inquisition, leading them to a frightful end as they are convicted of witchcraft.
From an important director to watch, unforgettable horror with a point, because it’s real…real history.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2131579/re ... f_=tturv_2
MALEFICARUM was more than I had expected. Jac Avila, the director, has made an unforgettable and important film. The actors, especially Amy Hesketh and Mila Joya, totally sold it. Avila’s direction and the women’s performances made their plight horribly believable, completely real, and yet heroic. Several scenes are going to keep replaying in my mind.
Having the Inquisition torture scenes interrupted by the “reality show” testimonies (based on real witness documents from the historic case upon which the film is based), kept me from becoming numb to the brutality of what was happening. If the director feels as I do about the insanity of the Inquisition, he drove that message straight to the heart.
But incredibly, this is also a love story, defiant love facing hopeless horror. And because this is real life historical horror, you can’t squirm out of it with that “it’s only a movie” schtick. It’s even made to feel like a documentary of sorts, and in my opinion, this is as real as a film about this subject can get. All praise to everyone involved for their determination to make it that way. This film does not pull its punches or make excuses. Avila is an important director, folks. Believe it.
