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| Science-Fiction |
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| Horror |
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| Fantasy |
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IMMORTAL SINS
Rating: 
Spain/USA. 1992.
Director – Herve Hachuel, Screenplay – Tom Cleaver & Beverly Gray, Producers – Alida Camp & Roger Corman, Photography – Alfredo Mayo, Music – Pedro Navarrete & Richard Spellman, Special Effects – Reyes Abades, Production Design – Rafael Palermo. Production Company – Tesaurio S.A./Concorde-New Horizon/ABC Distributing Co/Television Espanola.
Cast:
Maryam D’Abo (Susan De Alvarez), Cliff De Young (Mike De Alvarez), Shari Shattuck (Diana Pecheko), Tony Isbert (Gustavo), Miguel De Grandy (Padre Luis), Paloma Lorena (Manexa), Manuel Pereiro (Dr De Soto)
Plot: American Mike De Alvarez travels to Spain with his wife Susan to take inheritance of an ancestral castle. But there he is haunted by dreams in which he is making love to a beautiful local interior decorator in the dungeon. When Susan finds scratches on his back in the morning, she begins to investigate, realizing that Mike’s nocturnal visitor is really the witch Diana Pecheko who was burnt at the stake by the De Alvarez family in the 11th Century and has claimed the life of every male of the line since.
Immortal Sins is really a throwback to the sort of the Italian horror films of the 1960s made by the likes of Mario Bava and Riccardo Freda – films like Black Sunday (1960), Castle of Blood (1963), Castle of Terror (1963) and The Long Hair of Death (1964). The plots of these usually involved a modern couple in a castle being haunted by a vengeful ghost from the past or the reincarnation of a mad aristocrat. The plot of Immortal Sins is a strictly formulaic run through the elements of the classic Italian horror cycle. Its main addition to the mix is a liberal
injection of 1990s erotica.
It is rather slow moving although is played with a fair degree of conviction by all involved, even if in the end result it does not remain in the memory. Its two best qualities are its two leading ladies – Shari Shattuck and the always lovely Maryam D’Abo. Shattuck may not have much talent in films beyond the ability to frequently disrobe her spectacularly good body (a talent which is naturally liberally employed here) but is at least rather well suited to the part here, playing up the deadly allure for all it is worth and radiating a dangerous coldness from her striking blue eyes.
Copyright Richard Scheib 1999-2011
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