Classic Horrors Club

Although it’s a sequel to Horror Rises from the Tomb (1972), Paul Naschy moves the story into a new age of classic horror with Panic Beats (1983,) Nowhere is it more clear than during it’s opening scene when a pre-beheaded Alaric de Marnac (Naschy) pursues a naked women through the woods on horseback. The music is pure 80’s synthesizer that you might assume, if you didn’t know better, was composed and performed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth.

Contradictorily, as the 80’s brought the slashers with more gore, we see only the aftermath of the naked woman’s murder. There’s no contact between weapon and body, just a quick flash of the result. In many ways, that’s the difference between the two films, as well as Nachy’s career. As exciting and original as the producer/writer/director once was, Panic Beats seems all too familiar. I’m not sure it brings anything clever or original to its proceedings.

This doesn’t mean it’s not an entertaining film. I enjoyed it much more than its reputation led me to believe I would. Especially after watching The Frenchman’s Garden, a technically superior achievement at the height of Naschy’s career, along with The Traveller (aka El caminante), Panic Beats feels like Nachy-lite. (Some would say the level of quality continued with his next film, The Beast & the Magic Sword. I’m not one of those people, but it does have glorious style.)

In a way, Panic Beats relies more on its story than Horror Rises from the Tomb. Less a mishmash of horror tropes (which, don’t get me wrong, I love) it’s more focused. In fact, it’s more a psychological thriller than a supernatural tale, although it features elements of one as well. After the opening and time-jumping to modern day, Paul (Naschy) takes his wife, Genevieve (Julia Saly) to his family home in the country to rest from a life-threatening heart condition.

On the wall of this home hangs a portrait of Alaric de Marnac, which, of course, resembles his descendant. I thought Panic Beats was going to take the same route as Roger Corman’s The Haunted Palace (1963) with the spirit of Alaric gradually possessing Paul. It doesn’t, and although Alaric’s presence is felt in the house and poses an ultimate threat, the fact that Paul is related to him seems almost irrelevant. The more immediate threat takes a human form…

Paul has ulterior motives for bringing his wife to the country. Once a poor architect until he married Genevieve, a rich woman, he tells her doctor he can’t live without her. However, once removed from the city, he can’t wait to kill her. There are twists and turns along the way… crosses and double-crosses, but the most compelling part of the formula for me was that while spending quality time with her husband, she admits to having fallen in love with him all over again.

Naschy didn’t make Panic Beats in Japan like he did The Beast & the Magic Sword; however, it was a co-production between Spain and Japan. With the exception of a screening of both films at the Brussels International Film Festival in late 1983, Panic Beats was never shown theatrically outside of Spain, making its United States “premiere” via home video. Regardless of how good a film it is, its ultimate version, a 4K transfer on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro, is a revelation.