Terror from Beyond the Daves welcomes our friend and Cinemaphile, Jason Schoolcraft…

The Night of the Virgin (La noche del virgen) is a 2016 Spanish film I’d read about but didn’t get to finally see until this past weekend’s Days of the Dead convention in Indianapolis. The movie was scheduled to screen on that opening Friday night and, after checking out some of their amazing vendor’s (see Dave’s last post), I eagerly made my way to their make-shift theater to see this. Although there was so much going on at Days of the Dead, I was happily surprised to see a small crowd would be joining me for this show. Originally the director was supposed to introduce the film but didn’t make it. I should also mention that shortly after it began we noticed there were no subtitles and, despite repeated attempts from the organizers, we’d all be seeing the film entirely in Spanish. It wasn’t their fault as the director had gotten stuck in transit and this was the only video file he’d sent them. Although a couple of people understandably walked out, most of us stayed and I was glad to be one of them.

The story takes place on New Year’s Eve and revolves around a young man named Nico (Javier Bodalo) who’s intent on losing his virginity before the night is over. This is easier said than done for the less attractive Nico who hilariously strikes out left and right during the course of the evening. He’s just about to concede defeat when the lights suddenly dim and he sees the attractive Meda across the room. Even better, she seems to have her eyes for his as well! The chemistry is such that the two seem to have an entire conversation without words (not that I’d have understood what they were saying anyway) before making their way back to her apartment. Actually, it was less an apartment and more like the worst dorm room ever!

The rest of the film is a journey of perseverance, fear, loathing and pain. It involves jilted lovers, the supernatural, and Nico’s tunnel vision to have sex with a woman, any woman! I thoroughly enjoyed it as it reminded me of two of my favorite movies, the first being a comedy, sex romp called Kika (1993) and the other Peter Jackson’s infamous Dead Alive (1992). The Night of the Virgin was loaded with laughs and plenty of gags…some which made the audience want to “gag,” themselves! The single-minded Nico will stop at nothing to pop his cherry to the point that he’s oblivious to Meda being much more than she appears. The humor and the gore factor appropriately build until everything (and everyone) gets to their climax!

Even without knowing anything anyone what was saying, I still give this film a solid 8 out of 10 “Buckets of Blood!” I’m sure that rating will climb even higher after I have   seen the subtitled version!

Coming up…TWO Godzillas stomp Days of the Dead!

~Jason Schoolcraft