Review by Ren Zelen
Directed by: Gonzalo Calzada
Starring: Sofía Del Tuffo, Malena Sánchez, Pedro Merlo, Victoria Carreras
It seems that horror movies about the demonic possession of sexy young novice nuns are always popular. At least Gonzalo Calzada’s Luciferina has the added exoticism of being a product of Argentina and can throw that South American concoction of Catholicism, superstition, Shamanism and hallucinogenic-plant-potions into the mix.
Apparently, Luciferina may be one of Argentina’s first cinematic forays into demonic possession and satanic rites. If that is the case, it’s not a bad initial attempt, but at a running time of nearly two hours, it takes some time to unfold.
We are introduced to Natalia (Sofia Del Tuffo), a 19-year-old novice in a convent, who is instructed by the Mother Superior (Victoria Carreras) to return home to her estranged but seriously injured father (Vando Villamil), as her mother has died. Natalia submits unenthusiastically and turning to leave, she sees some young nuns in the act of tiding the altar in the church. As she watches them, she reveals what appears to be a rather random ability to see people’s auras.
Natalia reluctantly returns home to find her father bandaged up and confined to his bed in a kind of catatonic shock. She is reunited with Angela (Malena Sánchez), her vaguely goth sister, an unlikely student of psychology. Angela informs her that she personally wants nothing to do with the situation at home, as their mother had apparently violently attacked her father before committing suicide.
That evening, a group of Angela’s university friends turn up, and the virginal Natalia is taunted and insulted by her sister’s abusive boyfriend, a boorish thug who is heartily disliked by the rest of the group.
Despite declaring themselves Atheists, they are all keen to set off into the wilds of the island of Tigre where they will experiment with the ancient rite originating from Ayahuasca. This is presided over by a Shaman (Tomás Lipán), who will require them to drink a dodgy hallucinogenic potion, which will apparently reveal their inner secrets and so cure their various psychological (and even physical) ills.
Angela is convinced that the Shaman and the potion will unlock some dark aspect of their own past, and persuades Natalia to accompany her and the group into the forest to try and find out what she suspects is a family secret that has been hidden from them both.
Young people delving into the occult rarely come out well in horror films, and sure enough, instead of revelations, this particular bunch are destined to stumble across something far more violent, vicious and deadly.
Luciferina turns out to be a lengthy movie which can be divided into two parts. During its first half the movie can’t quite make up its mind as to what kind of story it is. It keeps teasing scares that are reminiscent of several horror genres - a haunted house movie, a Rosemary’s Baby shocker, a druggy Altered States tribute. It doesn’t quite know what to do with its main character - Natalia has unexplained issues with her convent and her family, a love-hate relationship with her sister, an arbitrary aura-spotting superpower, and an unclear connection to Abel (Pedro Merlo), a young man who is another ‘outsider’ in the group.
It’s not until the second half of the film, when the Ayahuasca drug-trip reveals secrets from Natalia and Angela’s past, that the plot starts in earnest. Then, we discover a whole range of nefarious goings on - Black Masses, bloody deaths and deeply distressing births. Ultimately it all results in Natalia herself clashing with the Devil, which oddly enough, involves an extended period of nudity and a variety of sex positions - a racy and unusual version of an exorcism - a ‘Sexorcism’ one might say.
Luciferina offers a rather convoluted and disjointed plotline where several aspects are messily conveyed, and some issues remain unresolved. We never entirely gather what the point of it all might be.
Nevertheless, director Calzada does create a visually arresting film with atmospheric locations and many memorably disturbing moments (as well as some inevitable jump scares). The film exploits religion, superstition, evil and sexuality - always a heady combination in horrors about devilish deeds.
Luciferina is on DVD/blu-ray November 20th and VOD December 4th from Artsploitation Films.
