Carlos Casaravilla Movies

Director John Frankenheimer, extrapolating from his earlier films The Gypsy Moths and Grand Prix, examines machismo and how men test themselves to the limits of endurance in The Horsemen. The film takes place in modern day Afghanistan. Uraz (Omar Sharif), the son of Tursen (Jack Palance), the stable master for a feudal lord, is a master horseman who lives by a primitive code of honor. Uruz's family honor is damaged when he breaks his leg playing the game which is the Afghani equivalent of polo. His father, who lost a lot of money betting on his son, will barely speak to him. To regain the family honor (and wealth) he must somehow re-learn how to ride -- after his injuries cost him his leg below the knee. In the face of great obstacles, and despite the derision and treachery of others, he gains the chance to play in the games given by the king of Afghanistan. The footage of the horsemanship in these dangerous and anarchic games is one of the real highlights of this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Distraught werewolf Waldemar Daninski (played by Spain's most popular horror movie star Paul Naschy) becomes so desperate to find a cure for his lunar-influenced affliction that he visits occult shopkeepers to find a cure. Unfortunately, those who seem anxious to help him turn out to be ruthless bloodsuckers. Originally filmed in 3-D, this film was a major hit in Spain. Before getting US released it had 45 minutes hacked away and was transferred to regular two-dimensional films. Naschy, using his birth name Jacinto Molina, wrote the script. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The final three days of Christ, covering his arrest, his death, and resurrection, are chronicled in this saga. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A passionate affair sends a married engineer on a deadly roller coaster ride of death and vengeance in this grim horror outing. The trouble begins after he moves to Spain where he will oversee the construction of his invention: a generator shaped like a ferris wheel. He is busy looking for a place to house his wife and daughter when he sees a desperate young woman trying to burn down her home for the insurance money she so badly needs. He stops the woman and they become passionate lovers. The affair is so hot that the engineer fears it will consume him and so he hastily extinguishes it. The jilted mistress flares up into a jealous rage and gets revenge by immolating the engineer's wife and child. He himself is horribly scarred and swears he will have his revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Three high school teachers find themselves terrorized by a crazed young thug in this taut exploitation thriller. The trouble begins after the innocent trio embark upon a pleasant afternoon at Dodger Stadium. En route their car breaks down and they are stranded at an apparently abandoned gas station. Unfortunately, a psycho punk and his dim-witted partner appear and capture them. If there is one thing the punk hates it's teachers and when he finds out the occupation of his hostages, the blood begins to flow. The scenes of violence and torture are particularly well-done and realistic. The film is also titled Profile of Terror and The Sadist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Actor Lawrence Harvey made his debut as a writer and director with this downbeat drama. Sean McKenna (Harvey) is awaiting execution in a prison in Tangiers after being convicted of murder. McKenna was trying to prevent the crime in question but was instead made the scapegoat. With his life hanging in the balance, McKenna's girlfriend Catherine (Sarah Miles) and his brother Dominic (Robert Walker Jr.) engineer an escape plan, and McKenna is able to beat his date with the hangman. However, McKenna's reunion with Dominic and Catherine proves not to be as joyous as he had expected when he discovers that they have been having an affair. Harvey was to direct only two more films, the second of which, Welcome to Arrow Beach, would prove to be his final work. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This sequel to the classic adventure, stars Sean Flynn, the son of the swashbuckling actor who played Captain Blood in the original. In this version, the son of the notorious pirate is raised by his mother. She wants him to be a doctor, but unfortunately, the lad has salt-water in his veins and adventure in his heart; he longs to sail the high seas of his father. Eventually the mother gives in, and young Blood joins a crew. There he finds himself falling in love with a pretty passenger. Trouble ensues when a wicked pirate attempts to forcibly board the ship. He soon discovers that the old villain was one of his father's worst enemies. Adventurous mayhem ensues. After the ocean-going outlaws are defeated, the good sailors race homeward to warn the people of an impending tidal wave. They succeed and end up hailed as heroes. The young Blood then decides that he has had enough of the sea-faring life and decides to become a humble doctor after all. The lovely female passenger remains by his side. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a Spanish literary classic, this excellent costume drama follows the adventures of Lazarillo (Marco Paoletti), a young impoverished boy who has no one to financially or emotionally support and nurture him. So he becomes the cohort of a villainous, blind beggar as the only ready means of survival. Next, he hooks up with an impecunious cleric who in that regard, is not much different than the beggar. Lazarillo then continues on his way and finds a supposed nobleman who turns out to have about as much money as Lazarillo -- nada. Finally, the lad joins up with a troupe of actors, a family who wanders from town to town performing, and finally life begins to look more interesting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is a routine film, as much a religious treatise as a biographical drama, about Father Damian (Javier Escriva) a priest who devotes himself to the lepers on Molokai, the "island of the damned." An excruciatingly realistic portrayal of the physical depredations of leprosy and the plight of the lepers on the island stands in stark contrast to the divine aura that surrounds the saintly Father Damian (up for canonization when this film was released). As he and his followers work with the afflicted, they continue on their mission of mercy, and of conversion. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Peter Ustinov stars as a nasty, grasping Brooklyn slum lord who earns the hatred of everyone. An old lady, cast out on the street by Ustinov, places a curse on his head. The result: Ustinov turns into a dog! Forced to witness the world from a mutt's eye view, the surly landlord truly understands for the first time what it means to be on the outside looking in. He also experience two new sensations: Love and devotion. Ustinov is snapped out of his spell (standing naked in a garbage can!) and vows to change his ways. Despite its overall New York ambience, The Man Who Wagged His Tail is a European production, filmed for the most part in Spain. Its original title was Un angel paso por Brooklyn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An adulterous couple is forced to take responsibility for their actions in this tense drama from Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem. Maria Jose (Lucia Bose) is a beautiful woman whose husband Miguel (Otello Toso) is a wealthy and powerful businessman. Juan (Alberto Closas) is a mathematics instructor at a Spanish college who is distantly related to Miguel, and owes his position to Miguel's influence. Juan was also Maria Jose's boyfriend when they were younger, and now they're carrying on an affair behind Miguel's back. One night, while driving home from an assignation, Juan and Maria Jose accidentally run over a man on a bicycle; the stranger quickly dies, and the lovers speed away rather than deal with the consequences. But over the next few days, Juan's conscience begins to bother him, and finds it hard to bear the knowledge that he took another man's life. Maria Jose is also troubled, but for different reasons; Rafa (Carlos Casaravilla), a devious socialite, infers to Maria Jose that he knows about her secret life, but she's not certain he he's just speaking about her infidelity or her role in the cyclist's death. A major critical success in Spain, Muerte de un Ciclista (aka Death Of A Cyclist) was released in Europe in 1955, the same year director Bardem published a controversial essay on the decline in Spanish cinema under the rule of Franco. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide