In
the American slasher movies of the 1980s, virginity was considered a key to
survival. Unfortunately for Nico, this is a Spanish film. He is totally screwed
and not in the way he had in mind throughout Roberto San Sebastián’s Night of the Virgin (trailer here), which releases
today on VOD.
It
is New Year’s Eve, but Nico can’t get the time of day from any of the women in
the bar where his friends are partying. Suddenly, he locks eyes with a cougar
and they are off like a prom dress. When he gets to her apartment, he realizes
Medea isn’t exactly what he thought, but desperate times, etc., etc. However,
her apartment is just kind of gross. There are cockroaches scurrying everywhere
and for some reason she keeps a jar of her menstrual blood in the bathroom. She
also has a thing for Nepalese artifacts. That might sound classy, but we immediately
suspect they are part of something more nefarious.
There
is probably something off about Medea, but there is no question her ex-boyfriend
violently pounding on the front door is a jealous nutcase. Nico would prefer to
slip out quietly, but neither will let him get away so easily. Then things get bloody.
Even
though there are only three noteworthy characters, Virgin is spectacularly
gory, with all kinds of bodily fluids getting splattered about. They haven’t
invented enough trigger warnings for this film, so hyper-sensitive viewers
should just stay the Hell away. Even experienced cult movie fans should gird
themselves before walking into this lunacy. Yet, you have to respect San Sebastián
for having the guts and mischievous defiance to let loose this much chaos. To quote
Cannonball Adderley: “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.”
Javier
Bódalo also deserves credit for being rubber-faced, rubber-boned, and having a
superhuman tolerance for humiliation as poor Nico. Likewise, Miriam Martín
chews all kinds of scenery as the increasingly deranged Medea. Just like Bódalo,
she does all of her work in the third act buried under layers of gunky makeup
and practical effects.
Damn
dudes, for real. If Night of the Virgin is
not a notorious cult movie by tomorrow than we just don’t know what else San Sebastián
and his crack makeup and effects team could have done. There is no holding back
here, so when its over, you know you saw something. If this sounds like
something you’re still interested in than you’d better watch Night of the Virgin when it releases
today (6/12) on VOD platforms, including iTunes.
