THE LORELEY’S GRASP (1973, LAS GARRAS DE LORELEI) – Episode 235 – Decades of Horror 1970s

“According to the legend of the seven full moons, Loreley will turn into a hideous animal. She must eat human hearts in order to return to her eternal sleep.” Is eternal sleep a good thing? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Jerry Chandler – as they journey to Spain The Loreley’s Grasp (1973), another Amando de Ossorio non-Blind Dead film.

Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 235 – The Loreley’s Grasp (1973)

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Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of the podcast and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Synopsis: The legendary Lorelei has been living in a grotto beneath the Rhine River in Germany for centuries. Every night, when the moon is full, she turns into a reptile-like creature craving human blood. When she kills one girl after another from a nearby boarding school, a hunter named Sigurd is engaged to kill the monster.

• Written & Directed by: Amando de Ossorio
• Special Effects by: Alfredo Segoviano
• Selected Cast:
  • Tony Kendall as Sigurd
  • Helga Liné as Lorelei (as Helga Line)
  • Silvia Tortosa as Elke Ackerman
  • Josefina Jartin as Boarding School Principal
  • Loreta Tovar as Martha (as Lolita Tovar)
  • José Thelman as Carlo Donati (as Joseph Thelman)
  • Luis Induni as Mayor
  • Francisco Nieto as Blind Violinist
  • Betsabé Ruiz as Bride-to-Be (as Betsabe Ruiz)
  • Luis Barboo as Alberic
  • Ángel Menéndez as Professor (as Angel Menendez)
  • Sergio Mendizábal as Doctor (as Sergio Mendizabal)
  • Marisol Delgado as Brigitte (as Mary Sol Delgado)
  • Victoria Hernández as Teresa (as Vicky Hernandez)
  • María Vidal as Maid (as Mary Vidal)
  • Javier de Rivera as Preacher
  • Antonio Orengo as Old Man
  • Cristino Almodóvar as Boat Man (as Cristino Almodovar)
  • Iris André as Blonde Victim (uncredited)
  • Bárbara Rey as Lorelei’s Assistant (uncredited)
  • María Luisa Tovar as Cavewoman #1 (uncredited)

The 70s Grue Crew discusses another Spanish horror flick from Amando de Ossorio, director of The Blind Dead Quartet. This time, joined by Jerry Chandler, their subject is The Loreley’s Grasp (1973, Las garras de Lorelei), aka When the Screaming Stops. The lovely and talented Helga Liné’s character becomes a reptilic creature during the full moon and feasts on human hearts, ripping them straight from her victim’s bodies while they still breathe. Her source for hearts? A girl’s boarding school, of course. Gory and brutal, the film’s effects are lacking but fun. De Ossorio delivers another imaginative tale on a shoestring budget… and lots of giggling girls in somewhat reserved bikinis, a handsome hunter, a beautiful school marm, a pseudo Van Helsing who is very careless with a flask of acid, a trio of cave-dwelling, female wrestlers with skull clasps on their swimsuits, and a radioactive dagger. What else could there possibly be?

At the time of this writing, The Loreley’s Grasp (1973) is available to stream from Tubi and PPV from Amazon. It is available on physical media as The Night of the Sorcerers / The Loreley’s Grasp Scream Factory Double Feature Blue-ray.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Chad, will be The Antichrist (1974). On the plus side, it’s an Italian film directed by Alberto De Martino and starring Carla Gravina, Alida Valli, Mel Ferrer, and Arthur Kennedy with music by Ennio Morricone. On the minus side, we’re all going to hell.

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