A Candle for the Devil

4K UHD w/SLIP

Beneath the relentless sun of a picturesque Spanish village, two sisters preside over a boarding house where religious and sexual repression, masked by fanatical morality, hide a chilling secret. Young, uninhibited foreign tourists arrive—displaying a nakedness and freedom at odds with the village’s rigid rules—and their presence ignites a slow-burning tension. When Laura Barkley (Judy Geeson) comes to the village searching for her missing sister, she is drawn into a web of suspicion and mounting dread. As guests begin to disappear, the sisters’ twisted sense of virtue unravels, exposing the darkness festering behind the village’s tranquil facade.

From horror-maestro Eugenio Martín (Horror Express), A Candle for the Devil (aka It Happened at Nightmare Inn, 1973) is a fascinating, feverish blend of Giallo-esque suspense and razor-sharp social critique, targeting the suffocating moral codes and authoritarian shadows cast by Franco’s Spain. Acclaimed by genre devotees as “an underseen gem” and “a must for any Euro-horror collection,” this cult favorite finally blazes onto 4K UHD—uncut and more stunning than ever, restored from the original camera negative for the very first time, and packed with a wealth of brand new and archival extras.

directed by: Eugenio Martin
starring: Judy Geeson, Aurora Bautista, Esperanza Roy, Víctor Barrera, Lone Fleming
1973 / 89 min / 1.85:1 / Spanish, English DTS-HD MA 1.0

Additional info:

• 2-disc Set: 4K Ultra HD / Region A Blu-ray
• Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
• Presented in both its original Spanish language soundtrack with newly translated subtitles and the English dub track
• The Spain That Wouldn’t Die: A new appreciation by Sitges Film Festival director Ángel Sala
• Courage Under Censorship: A new interview with actress and Eugenio Martín’s partner, Lone Fleming
• The Rider of Fantaterror: A retrospective interview with actor Vic Winner
• A Devil in Spain: An interview with actress Judy Geeson
• Alternate English-language titles
• Original Spanish and International trailers
• English subtitles