REVIEW: CARLOS AURED’S EL ENIGMA DEL YATE
By Elena Romea(*)
EL ENIGMA DEL YATE is a film from 1983 directed by Carlos Aured (HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB). It was written by Luis Murillo, the man behind some destape tapes and Parchís (kids band) movies. Main actors are Silvia Tortosa — very popular actress and presenter in the top of her TV career— José Antonio Ceinos, José María Blanco and Montserrat Torras.
The movie tells the story of Natalia, a tormented woman who is prescribed by her psychiatrist to enjoy some holidays on a yacht to improve her mental health. She goes on boar with the doctor himself and his wife, who happens to be Natalia’s husband’s lover. Before going on the trip our protagonist is left alone in the hotel, while the rest go for dinner, and there she is attacked by a man who she killed, but when everybody I back to their room there is no trace of the crime. Everything appears to be on her head, nothing is real.
On the yacht, weird things start to happen. Nobody is as innocent as they pretend to be. Also, we are told the boat suffers from a curse in which any person sailing on it is killed.
In my opinion, this is one of Aured’s best. Even though the starting scenes are full of male chauvinism and nonsense sex, the story on the ship is full of tension and thrilling. All the turning points and the truth-revealing moments fit like in a jigsaw and keep you in suspense in the whole movie. Silvia Tortosa and Monserrat Torras are great in their roles.
As a weakness, I may highlight the poorness of the FXs. Not a lot of budget was invested in the movie, but the make-up at some point was really tacky. Also, the actor for Natalia’s husband was far from being the sex symbol they try to picture.
A funny movie for a funny afternoon. I think Spanish horror and thrillers aficionados may enjoy it a lot. Nevertheless, it is hard to find as it has never had a DVD release and it is only available on a Spanish VOD platform called FLixole. Let’s hope soon you will be able to watch it
Here you can watch our latest video club in Spanish about this film on Youtube
Or just listen to it in the podcast format:
__________________________________________________________
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.
