A Candle for the Devil (original title ~ 1973)

Spanish horror directed by Eugenio Martin (best known for the previous year's Horror Express, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing). Two spinster sisters in their 40s run Spain's answer to the Bates Motel (formerly a convent) in an unnamed mountain village. Although regarded locally as pillars of respectability, their rabid religious convictions see several young female guests 'checking out' early. Enjoy topless sunbathing? Mini-skirts? Or (God forbid!) 'hotpants'? Don't bother making long-term plans. English tourist Laura (Judy Geeson) arrives at the inn to meet her sister (an early victim) who was already staying there. When told that her sister settled her bill and left that morning, Laura decides to take a room for herself whilst she tries to trace her. Although Laura is what the sisters deem 'respectable', some other young women who also take rooms are not. After a third apparent disappearance Laura tries to persuade the authorities that something is very wrong at the inn. However, this puts her on a collision course with the sisters, and a real threat to her own safety.

Geeson - given star-billing - is okay (her role doesn't require much), but the honours go to Aurora Bautista and Esperanza Roy as batcrap crazy sisters Marta and Veronica. Bautista comes off as particularly unhinged. Her God is decidedly 'Old Testament', and she spends her free time gazing at paintings depicting His wrath and sinners burning in hell. There's some nice commentary on hypocrisy (Veronica's secret lover, Marta's enjoyment of watching young men 'skinny-dipping' (after which she deliberately walks though dense, thorny undergrowth in an act of self-flagellation)). The killings are quite good, and this uncut version features a fair bit of nudity. However, the body-count could be higher, the plot isn't exactly original, and none of the side-characters make much of an impression (although it is nice to see genre actress Lone Fleming as an ill-fated 'hussy'). 6/10.