(1983)
Directed by Jacinto Molina
Starring Paul Naschy, Julia Saly, Lola Gaos, Manuel Zarzo, Jose Vivo.

My first experience with Latidos de pánico, aka Panic Beats, was a terribly looking bootleg VHS, which at the time, was the only way to be able to see this title. It was said to be a sequel to Horror Rises from the Tomb (1972), a personal favorite of mine, so I knew I had to see it, no matter what the quality of the print was. Through the grainy print, with the blacks being so black you couldn’t see anything, to just the almost blurry quality, it was difficult to watch. But because this was a Naschy film, and this was the only way to see it, it didn’t matter. Now, decades later, thanks to Mondo Macabro, we have a nice, beautiful looking Blu-ray to enjoy!

While not technically a sequel to Horror, it does have its connections. Naschy plays a character named . . . well, Paul, who brings his wife Geneviève to his ancestral home for some rest and relaxation. She has a bad ticker and can’t take any 3cff00excitement. Shortly after they arrive, the housekeeper tells the fragile woman stories of Paul’s ancestor, the evil Alaric de Marnac. It doesn’t take long before Geneviève starts to see Marnac roaming the house. It is really this evil beast of a human coming back from the grave, or it is something else.

Written, directed, and starring in, this is probably one of the gorier films that Naschy made, and the effects are handled quite well. Fernando Florido handled the effects and knocks it out of the park. Florido had worked with Naschy several times before, starting back a decade earlier with Curse of the Devil (1973), before working on Inquisition (1976), The Beast and the Magic Sword (1983), The Last Kamikaze (1984), Operación Mantis (1985), and Howl of the Devil (1988). He also worked on films such as Horror Express (1972) and Who Can Kill a Child? (1976).

Another name in the credits that worked with Naschy quite a bit was the lovely Julia Saly, who plays his wife Geneviève. She first appeared alongside Naschy in The People Who Owned the Dark (1976) but had just appeared in the last Blind Dead film from director Amando de Ossorio, Night of the Seagulls (1975). She would work with Naschy on a total of eleven films, working as a producer on six of them, as well as acting in them. One of my favorites of those films is Night of the Werewolf (1981), where she plays the vampire Countess Elisabeth Bathory. Saly shows that she is much more than a pretty face, and can’t play a very evil character, such as the countess, but also draw in the empathy of audience in a role like the one here in Panic Beats.

Lola Gaos plays the housekeeper, who gives such a fine performance, one of the only good characters in the film, even though she’s probably one of the creepiest! Gaos also appeared in Jorge Grau’s 1973 horror film, Ceremonia Sangrienta (aka Legend of Blood Castle, or Blood Ceremony).

But it is Naschy that really shines on screen, just seemingly relishing the type of character that he is playing. It doesn’t take long for the audience to know the kind of person this character is, and it makes it even more enjoyable to see the depths of depravity he will sink to.

For those of us that still remember working hard to find copies, in any quality, of Naschy titles that we were hoping to see, we know how much of a struggle that was. Paying $20 or more for a copy in hope that it was at least watchable. Sometimes that we had read about we figured we’d never get a chance to see since they seemed lost in the oblivion. But now, thanks to companies like Mondo Macabro, these films have been given a new life, and us older fans, as well as younger ones, can have the opportunity to experience them like they should be.

If you’re a fan of Naschy then you know you have to have this in your collection. If you’re not, this could be one to get you started down that path.