Miguel de Grandy Movies
- 1991
- R
This sex-horror film from producer Roger Corman was filmed in Spain with a mostly American cast. Cliff De Young (Shock Treatment) is Michael, the heir to a cursed castle, who marries pretty Susan (Maryam d'Abo) and moves her in. Unfortunately for the newlyweds, an oversexed succubus named Diana (Shari Shattuck) is out to break up the couple. Director Herve Hachuel's film is mostly an excuse for Shattuck to be naked a lot, but undemanding genre devotees should find the film entertaining enough to watch on a rainy night. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Previously filmed in 1922 with Rudolph Valentino and in 1940 with Tyrone Power, Vicente Blasco Ibanez's mystical bullfight novel Blood & Sand was given a third big-screen treatment in 1989. Though filmed in Spain by a Spanish director, the 1989 Blood & Sand casts American actor Christopher Rydell as the bullfighter hero. Also hailing from the USA is a pre-Basic Instinct Sharon Stone, playing the vamp role previously essayed in 1922 by Nita Naldi and in 1940 by Rita Hayworth. The story remains the same: a dirt-poor youth rises to fame and fortune in the bull ring, forgets his roots, cheats on his wife, has a last-minute change of heart, and pays for his sins in grotesque fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Rydell, Sharon Stone, (more)
An absolutely grotesque horror film based on the book by Shaun Hutson, this bloody shocker from Juan Piquer Simon (Pieces) is set in a small town in upstate New York but has a mostly European cast. Hordes of mutant flesh-eating slugs are having the citizenry for lunch until a trio of public officials takes action, as is standard procedure in the post-Jaws ecokill film. The gore is excessive and quite well-handled, particularly a scene in which two nude lovers are literally ripped to bloody bits in a bedroom full of slimy horrors, but otherwise the film is surprisingly uninvolving. Fans of gross-out cinema will still want to catch it for a scene in which a restaurant patron's eye blows out, revealing swarming baby slugs. Needless to say, such doings will not appeal to everyone. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Garfield, Santiago Alvarez, (more)
- 1987
Pepe Soriano plays a Madrid shopkeeper who is kidnapped by henchmen of Franco in this political comedy. After his kidnapping, he is forced to become the dictator's double for many official ceremonies. Due to his long and unexplained absence, Pepe's wife believes her husband has been abducted and killed, so she tries to reach her husband through spiritualism. After Pepe surprises her with a nocturnal visit, he tells her he will touch his ear to signal it is he and not Franco in public appearances. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pepe Soriano, Jose Sazatornil, (more)
- 1985
This drama about dueling health clubs focuses on Roger (Daniel Greene), who runs a gym called (logically enough ) "Roger's Gym." But Roger is fast losing business to The Rejuvenarium, a health club owned by Marlene (Helga Liné). It seems Marlene is making off with Roger's best instructors and is keeping close watch on his business, possibly using illegal surveillance. The rivalry between the two gyms leads to a hotly contested battle at an aerobics competition, including a "race" on stationary bicycles. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Greene, Bob Small, (more)
