Christina (Ana Belén) has it all, she lives a comfortable life with her husband Marcos (Juan Diego), the host of a truly ridiculous variety show, and she is expecting the couples first child, but…
A brief “attack” from a black German Shepard causes Christina to miscarry, so Marcos whisks Christina off for a romp on the beach where they spent their honeymoon, but in a shocking twist of fate (though definitely nothing compared to what’s to come), Christina befriends a stray dog of the same breed as the one who hassled her earlier.
Now there’s no way to say this gently… Christina has an affair with the dog (sex implied, so there’s that), and soon a choice has to be made between Marcos or the dog.
It isn’t much of a Sophie’s Choice level decision, as Marcos is a pretty terrible human being… I can’t believe I’m typing this… wait, yes I can…
Anyway, what could have been a mega-sleazy exploitation flick becomes something else in the hands of director
Eloy de la Iglesia (working from a screenplay courtesy of Enrique Barreiro).
For starters, the more lascivious acts are kept off-screen, and presented rather artfully considering the unsavoriness of the main crux of the story… but the interactions of the human characters present plenty of skin crawling crappiness… I’m looking at you Marco.
Ahh, Marco… politically dubious, keeper of a mistress (Claudia Gravi), and totally down for rape when his wife says “No”, Marcos makes that dog seem like the better choice, that’s for sure…
And therein lies the most interesting component of The Creature, it’s psychological underpinnings. The contrast of beast and man is filtered not only through the relationships of our main characters, but there is a pointed commentary made about how politics can make men worse than beasts as filtered through the lens of post-Franco Spain.
Heady stuff for sure, but exploitation and grindhouse cinema has forever been the mouthpiece for the marginal in our society…
It must be said that all of the above looks gorgeous thanks to the new 2K scan straight from the original negative… sumptuous colors, plenty of detail, and rich blacks class up the joint considerably… oh, and not for nothing; there are some beautiful locales featured here from time to time…
As for special features present on this Severin Blu-ray, we get an interview with filmmaker Gaspar Noé commenting on the work of Eloy de la Iglesia (and an introduction to the film by the same from a showing at the Cinémathèque Française), as well as a chat with Assistant Director Alejo Loren.
Shocking, intelligent, and beautifully visually presented; The Creature is definitely not for everyone, but it’s a valid statement all the same.
