Editor’s Note: This review includes references to some pretty heavy demonic and sexual items. Sensitive readers read with caution.
Artsploitation Films will be releasing Gonzalo Cazalda’s 2018 film Luciferina in the United States on DVD November 20th with a digital HD debut on December 4th. The film is written and directed by Calzada and stars Sofia Del Tuffo, Pedro Merlo and Marta Lubos.
The Argentinian Lucerfina follows Natalia, (Sofia Del Tuffo,) a novice who is called home when her mother is found dead, her father horribly injured from trying to stop her. She is met by her disillusioned sister, Angela (Malena Sanchez,) and her abusive boyfriend, Mauro (Francisco Donovan.) After seeing her father in a vegetative state and her mother’s unsettling artwork -all featuring gnarled women tied in a uterine-shaped crucifixions- she discovers that Angela is planning on going on a trip to collect a plant for a strange, transformative ritual.
I have never had the pleasure of watching one of Cazalda’s previous films, Luciferina being found simply because I was assigned it. What I have gathered, though, is that he enjoys religious, scripture-based horror. The award-winning filmmaker hit it big in Argentina with 2015’s Resurrection, which broke box office records. If Luciferina is any gauge of his overall quality then I am definitely looking forward to seeing what else he has to offer. This film also is considered the first in a saga Gonzalo has entitled La Trinidad De Las Virgenes, featuring two more films: Inmaculada, and Gotica. Translated, that is The Trinity of Virgins, with Immaculate and Gothic being the planned sequels.
With a name like Luciferina I wasn’t sure what to expect. The title to my frumpy, uncultured American ears sounds like something child-like, or a quickly pasted on Redbox exclusive. I never expected something so involved and inventive as what I received. Possession stories can go a ton of ways – suffocatingly religious, absurd with the gore, or the same old Exorcist setup we’ve all seen before. But I wasn’t even sure this was a possession flick for the better part of this film. I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen, and I truly loved that. It has just enough mystery to keep you interested without frustrated, and the story has an enchanted quality that you are in no hurry. You can just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Action definitely comes out of a sharp left turn, kicking the show into overdrive in a fashion that was unexpected. The blend of traditional medicine as compared to ancient medicine, and Catholic belief compared to traditional beliefs leaves you dizzy, making you question every move, every action of the characters both physical and ethereal. It’s not often that you see a nun take Ayahuasca, you know? Once the deed is done you are met with mind-altering images as all the travelers fall to their hallucinations, each image worse than the last, driving some to madness, some to the darkest recesses of their mind, and some to the other side of existence. The last half-hour is both startling and beautiful. I don’t want to give anything away, but I found myself pretty affected by the final two scenes. The ending could easily have slipped into an eye-rolling mistake, but it is both performed and shot with such angelic excellence that it makes a beautiful statement about the power of the human body when you are finally one with your own mind.
Luciferina will be released by Artsploitation Films on DVD November 20th and will available on digital HD starting December 4th.
