THE CREATURE (1977)
aka LA CRIATURA
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 101 Minutes 6 Seconds
Audio: Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.O Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Eloy de la Iglesia
Cast: Ana Belén, Juan Diego, Claudia Gravi, Ramón Repáraz, Manuel Pereiro
The Creature comes to us from Spanish transgressive filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia (Cannibal Man), an unsettling film that's a melodrama with some heavily implied bestiality, wrapped up in de la Iglesia's patented liberal social commentary. In it Cristina (Ana Belén, Tormento) and Marcos (Juan Diego, Erotic Stories) are a married couple, she's a singer-entertainer and he is a presenter on a variety TV show with conservative political ambitions. They're relationship seems to be strained, a lot of it stemming from the fact that they have been unable to have a child. She's cold and disinterested in her husband, and at work he's just barely fending off the strong come-ons of his sexy co-worker Vicky (Claudia Gravy, Matalo!), and at home he's no picnic either. That marriage dynamic seems to change for the better when the couple find out that she is with child though, with her doctor telling he she'll have to cut down to 10 cigarettes a day - oh, the '70s, but that abruptly unravels when she is attacked by a black German Shepherd at gas station, and she loses the unborn child.
After the miscarriage the couple go on a beach vacation, where befriends and adopts a stray male dog, also a black German Shepherd, which she names Bruno after her unborn child, much to the shock of her husband. She lavishes her new pet with all the affection a mother would give a child, and her new companion improves her disposition, but much to the surprise of her husband not necessarily towards him. She develops an unseemly and obsessive bond with her new canine companion, triggering jealousies and rivalries between man and beast, and on the advice of his co-worker Vicky Marcos attempts to sway the dog's attentions with a new female canine companion. The dogs hit it off quickly, and when Cristina catches them doing it doggy-style she appears both turned on and repulsed by their copulation, and wouldn't you know it, literally the next day the female dog is found dead.
While de la Iglesia is careful to skirt the line, never depicting the human-canine copulation it is heavily implied that bestiality is taking place. At night Marcos returns home, after having slept with his co-worker Vicky, and Bruno guards the bed his wife is sleeping on, forcing him to spend the night on the couch. Later, while listening to records Cristina puts on her wedding dress and dances around the room with him, it's an insane wedding scene, and what it's suggesting with dog tracks all over the dress as it lays on the side of the bed, is not hard to figure out.
It's shocking stuff, even when only implied, the whole film is steeped in social commentary, some of it obvious some of it more nuanced, but you need not even understand it to enjoy the film, which is something I think you can say about all of de la Iglesia's films, they are rich with allegory and commentary, but they can also just be enjoyed as sly slices of seedy exploitation. That said, I love the ending, it's a bizarre sort of happy ending, but not at all how one might imagine. The Creature (1977) is a delightfully perverse and complex film with excellent turns from both Ana Belén and Juan Diego is truly challenging roles, especially from Belén - you won't soon forget this one!
Audio/Video: The Creature (1977) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Severin Films, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1), sourced from a 2K scan of the negative. It looks solid in HD, colors are vibrant, depth and clarity are modest but appreciable, and while it does look like it's been lightly filtered in spots the filmic grain is intact. Audio comes by way of Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced, age related hiss and distortion are not an issues. Dialogue ins always intelligible, and the score by Victor Manuel (Al diablo, con amor) comes through string in the mix.
Extras include a 23-min A Strange Movie – Interview With Assistant Director Alejo Loren; the 14-min Gaspar / Eloy – Interview With Filmmaker Gaspar Noé; and a 4-min Introduction By Gaspar Noé At Cinémathèque Française (July 20, 2023). The single-disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided wrap featuring the original illustrated movie poster artwork.
Special Features:
- A Strange Movie: Interview With Assistant Director Alejo Loren (22:41)
- Gaspar/Eloy: Interview With Filmmaker Gaspar Noé (14:04)
Introduction By Gaspar Noé At Cinémathèque Française (7/20/2023) (4:29)
- Gaspar/Eloy: Interview With Filmmaker Gaspar Noé (14:04)
Introduction By Gaspar Noé At Cinémathèque Française (7/20/2023) (4:29)
Screenshots from the Severin Films:
Extras:
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