Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Derrick Gibbons
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Zlatica
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
lastliberal
Hasn't Naschy already done the ancestor/descendant thing? No matter, for watching Naschy direct and write and act (he does it all here) is always a pleasure - a guilty one, of course, as his films will win no awards.The film opens with a man on horseback in full armor swinging a mace as a naked girl runs for her life. Let's see Scorsese do a better job of directing that scene! Initially, the film does not appear to be more than lots of screaming at ghosts and gore, semi-transparent nightgowns, and a man determined to rid himself of a sick wife. But, hey, that's enough for an enjoyable film. However, more murders occur, the gore gets ratcheted up, and there are some interesting twists.Besides Naschy, Paquita Ondiviela by herself makes the film worth watching. Too bad it is the only film available in which to see her. Silvia Miró is no slouch either. Both provide considerable full frontal.
Michael_Elliott
Panic Beats (1982) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Paul Naschy plays a man trying to care for his ill wife while carrying on affairs with two other women. All three women are causing him problems but thankfully there's a family curse that has a Knight return from the grave a kill anyone who dares harm him. Naschy also wrote and directed this film that has a very nice premise that goes back to his Horror Rises From the Tomb film. As usual, there are plenty of beautiful naked women but Naschy also adds some nice atmosphere, gory death scenes and some tense moments. However, like many other Naschy films, this one here eventually drags in a few spots but it's still well worth watching especially for a couple nice twists in the story.
ma-cortes
Jacinto Molina or Paul Naschy is actor, screenwriter and director of this film about his popular role ¨Alaric De Marnais¨ based on a real character , Gilles De Rais , a knight of the Dark age during XV century , under command of Charles VII of France in times of Joan of Arc and as well as a murderer of hundreds of children . The first film he appeared was ¨El Espanto Surge de la Tumba¨ (Horror rises from the tomb 1972) directed by Carlos Aured and where Alaric is beheaded in public execution , then he swears revenge facing the executioner and his descendants . Now is a ghostly presence that heckle his eternal rest for executing a merciless vengeance in a script plenty of gaslight , murders and adulteries at a countryside mansion .It's a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a ¨Naif¨ style . The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato . Revolting , horrible scenes and nasty images take place as slashing , decapitation , and bloody murders with axes and other tools . As usual , Paul Nashy exhibits breast , as he was a weightlifting champion . Julia Saly interprets as the suffered wife and Lola Gaos as the old servant . Abundant nudism in charge of gorgeous Pat Ondiviela . It's a sequel to ¨Devil's possessed¨ or ¨Mariscal del Infierno¨ based on the historic character Gilles De Rais . Gilles was a devoutly religious follower of Joan of Arc who fought valiantly on her side and was later trialed and executed by the Catholic Church for heresy and sexual crimes committed against children . As Rais served as a commander in the Royal Army , distinguishing himself by displaying reckless bravery on the battlefield during the renewal of the Hundred Years War . Rais's prosecution would be on charges which included murder , sodomy , and heresy. The precise number of Gilles' victims is not known, as most of the bodies were burned or buried. The number of murders is generally placed between 80 and 200 ; a few have conjectured numbers upwards of 600 . The victims ranged in age from six to eighteen and included both sexes.The motion picture was regularly directed by Jacinto Molina , being produced , wrote and shot in his peculiar style . The late Naschy was a good professional , writing, filmmaking and acting about hundred titles , mainly in terror genre . ¨Marshall of Hell¨ is written by Molina along with 21 screenplays as ¨Mark of Wolfman¨, ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Vengeance of the mummy¨, ¨Licantropo¨, among them . The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and horror genre enthusiasts . Rating : mediocre but entertaining .
bensonmum2
From the moment I saw this listed as on the Mondo Macabro website, I was intrigued. It looked good and the reviews I read were mostly positive. So when it was finally released, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. After watching it, I wish I would have waited.What a major disappointment. Right from the start, I knew that Panic Beats couldn't meet my expectations. The whole look and feel of the film is terrible. It has that straight-to-video look that usually destroys atmosphere. The sets are nothing special at all. Most of the film looks like it could have been shot in my house. The story is incredibly predictable. There are a lot of twists and turns in the plot, but most are telegraphed from a mile away. The gore scenes are horribly done. And the whole concept of a knight that comes back from the dead is straight out of Scooby Doo. It's not a very frightening image.Paul Naschy does his best to provide some chills. With raised eyebrows and a menacing stare, he does his best to look frightening. But for the most part, it doesn't work. The most frightening scenes are of Naschy naked in the bathtub. Now that had me screaming.As for Mondo Macabro's disc, it's very well done. I have no complaints with the image, sound, or subtitles. The extras are quite nice, including a brief history of Spanish horror.
