PREVIEW AND Q&A: MI ADORADO MONSTER DIRECTOR VÍCTOR MATELLANO

By Elena Romea(*)

MI ADORADO MONSTER is a new doc directed by Víctor Matellano (VAMPYRES, WAX) and co-written by Manuel Tallafé —actor in The Day of the Beast, Witching and Bitching, and many others.

This is a flick about the making of Los Resucitados, a said-to-be curse cult movie in Spanish Horror. This was directed by Arturo de Bobadilla in 1994, a fantaterror die-hard fan who overcame lots of challenges before his movie could be released in 2017. The doc is made of different stories on its making told by Santiago Segura, Manuel Tallafé, Antonio Mayans —who actually were actors there, together with some information on the times given by experts or Spanish celebrities such as Alaska, Diego Arjona, Macarena Gómez, and many more.

Los Resucitados was made at the same time Alex de la Iglesia was shooting his blockbuster The Day of the Beast and both movies share most of the cast. How did this happen? Because Bobadilla visited him in the making and tried to enroll people working there. We will travel through the history of our fav Spanish horror movies and Bobadilla’s life and legends as we hear anecdotes from those times.

Now the movie is being shown in cinema theaters in Spain and the director Víctor Matellano has answered some questions about it:

Q: Where does the idea of making this doc come from?

V.M: I have been familiar with “Los Resucitados” since it was filmed in 1995. I was very young then, but I frequently visited Paul Naschy and he told me about the filming. Later, over the last two decades, Arturo told me several times that he really wanted to finish the movie. Already in 2017, I was a witness to the completion of the film and that was when the actor Manuel Tallafé told me how crazy the shooting had been. That´s when I thought “Here’s a movie.”

Q: How did you meet Arturo de Bobadilla?

V.M: I met him through Paul Naschy. He was a well-known person in the fandom world.

Q: Some believed  Los Resucitados to be a fake and thought it would be never released. Was it the movie people had in mind?

V.M: During these years, both Santiago Segura and Manuel Tallafé were asked if it was true that the film existed… And yes, it had been shot, but it was neither edited nor the soundtrack added. It became a kind of Holy Grail of Spanish fantastic cinema. And it was a highly anticipated movie. When it was finished and premiered, it went on to the mundane field, with all that it means…

Q: Do you think Los Resucitados will become a cult for the Spanish Horror fandom?

V.M: Los Resucitados became a cult movie from the moment of filming, due to the aura of mystery. It is a cult movie before it existed.

Q: How did you feel the first time you watched Bovadilla’s feature?

V.M: Well, I thought it was important that he finished the movie. But, obviously, a film that is shot without a script ends up having its problems.

Q: What was the biggest problem while making this flick?

V.M: It has not been particularly complicated to shoot “Mi adorado Monster”, except for coordinating the shooting plan. It has been an exciting shoot. Perhaps the most complicated thing has been the editing, shaping the whole.

Q: Is there any chance to have Los Resucitados 2 made?

V.M:I think so. Arturo has an immense passion.

Q: Will there be any chance of watching the doc abroad?

V.M: Of course, it will. The production company El Estudio is going to promote its international distribution.

Thanks so much to Víctor for taking the time to answer our questions. We really encourage curious aficionados in love with Spanish Horror and cult movies not to miss this!

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Elena Romea is the woman in charge of SPANISHFEAR.COM, and  Horror Rises from Spain. A literature and cinema researcher, finishing her postgraduate studies with a thesis about the mystic filmmaker José Val del Omar. She has published in different media and books such as Fangoria or Hidden Horror. She has also been in charge of several translations including Javier Trujillo’s complete works, La Mano Film Fest, The Man who Saw Frankenstein Cry, and many more.