Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Phantom of the Monastery Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 25, 2022

Fernando de Fuentes' "The Phantom of the Monastery" (1934) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include new program with critic Abraham Castillo Flores and new audio commentary recorded by Kim Newman and Stephen Jones. In Spanish, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It appears that in English-speaking markets The Phantom of the Monastery is an unknown film. It is probably quite easy to confirm its existence in different American and British archives and get a pretty accurate description of it, but I don’t think that even seasoned horror afficionados that track down hard to see genre films have had any experience with it. Now, there might have been bootleg copies of it on the gray market, but they almost certainly did not come with English subtitles. And if at least one such copy did come with English subtitles, the translation would have been horrendous. In other words, if an English-speaker somehow had managed to view The Phantom of the Monastery on a bootleg copy, it is fair to conclude that it was a very different film.

Last night, I sat down to view The Phantom of the Monastery knowing only that it was directed by Fernando de Fuentes, who made a couple of films with the great Mexican beauty Maria Felix, and that it was recently restored in 4K. Of course, I had seen the official press materials that were provided by Indicator/Powerhouse Films, but I could not quite tell what type of a genre film to expect. A conventional horror film? A Gothic horror film? A horror comedy? A copycat mimicking the visual style and atmosphere of the German expressionist films? Or perhaps a unique Mexican folk horror film? I honestly did not know what to expect. The other important factor that very much kept me in the dark was my extremely poor experience with any Mexican films from the 1930s.

It took me less than five minutes to figure out what The Phantom of the Monastery was trying to accomplish and how, which also meant that I knew what type of a genre film it was conceived to be. In fact, as soon as the nameless man emerged from the shadows and pointed the way to the monastery, I could name the classic films that had inspired Fuentes to shoot The Phantom of the Monastery. You will be able to name them, too. Fuentes borrows plenty from these classic films and builds a very familiar atmosphere but in a unique Mexican setting.

The Phantom of the Monastery begins so abruptly that it almost feels like the folks that restored it accidentally cut some pretty important footage from its opening but did not notice. In a pitch-black night, hitchhikers Alfonso (Enrique del Campo), Eduardo (Carlos Villatoro), and his wife Cristina (Marta Roel) realize that they are lost high up in the mountains. As they begin to panic, a stranger dressed in black emerges from the shadows and offers to lead them to a nearby monastery. Moments after they reach the monastery, however, the stranger disappears into thin air. Padre Prior (Paco Martinez) then welcomes the hitchhikers and informs them that they will be allowed to spend the night in the monastery. Soon after each of them is shown a cell with a bed and blanket, Padre Prior warns that they can’t wander around or speak to the dozen monks that live in the monastery because they have taken a vow of silence. But various strange noises, stranger behavior and some seriously spooky shadows make it impossible for the hitchhikers to relax and fall asleep. Then in the wee hours of the night, Cristina urges Alfonso to finally tell Eduardo that the two have fallen madly in love.

The spiritual parents of The Phantom of the Monastery are F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu and Faust. Fuentes was apparently a huge admirer of both, so it is not at all surprising to see that at the center of The Phantom of the Monastery is essentially a slightly different variation of the old tale about the notorious deal between Faust and the Devil. However, instead of channeling through it the exact same moral message, Fuentes introduces bits from a lesser-known Mexican tale about monks whose mummified bodies are apparently still displayed in a local museum.

In a new audio commentary that is included on this release, critic Kim Newman notes that The Phantom of the Monastery is easy to compare to the early British Gothic horror films and specifically the ones that were made with smaller budgets. (The so-called B films). I think that he is only partially correct. The fact that the overwhelming majority of The Phantom of the Monastery is set inside a secluded monastery that very much looks like a haunted castle from an early British horror film obviously legitimizes such a comparison. However, visual style and even soundtrack of The Phantom of the Monastery were very clearly crafted to provide the same stylistic identity the German expressionist films became famous for. (Fuentes even pays tribute to one very particular technique, the shadow play, which made many of these classic films seriously spooky. See the sequence with the bat on the wall).

Regrettably, Fuentes’ inexperience as a storyteller and director easily shows. Indeed, in addition to the strange opening, the middle part of The Phantom of the Monastery seems underdeveloped. perhaps slightly mismanaged as well. The jerky camera movement even leaves the impression that a few segments may not have been done right. The acting is pretty weak, too.

The Phantom of the Monastery Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Phantom of the Monastery arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

The release is sourced from a 4K master that was prepared after The Phantom of the Monastery was fully restored in 4K by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. I projected the film and thought that the makeover was so good that at the moment feel very comfortable speculating that folks who have a previous experience with it have not actually seen the film Fernando de Fuentes directed. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of the visuals are quite dark, often with plenty of very particular shadow nuances that are typical for expressionist/Gothic thrillers, so there is virtually zero chance that they were even partially accurately reproduced on a VHS or DVD sourced from a lousy master. Delineation, depth and clarity are pretty spectacular for a 1930s films as well. Additionally, even on a very large screen the visuals hold up really, really well and boast very good to excellent fluidity. Yes, there are some areas where grain can be under/overexposed, but these are fluctuations that are part of the original cinematography. There are no traces of problematic digital work. Some minor surface wear remains, but the film still looks very clean and healthy. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Phantom of the Monastery Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Spanish LPCM 1.0. Optional English and English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio sounds quite thin, often even notably compressed. However, even though it is pretty easy to tell that time has left its mark on it, you have to remember that The Phantom of the Monastery was completed in 1934. On top of this, it was obviously done with a pretty small budget. In other words, the recording equipment that was used at the time was almost certainly quite primitive, which means that the audio retains a wide range of native limitations. The dialog is still quite clear and easy to follow, but the overall dynamic range and depth of the audio are pretty basic.

The Phantom of the Monastery Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Devil in the Details - in this new program, critic Abraham Castillo Flores discusses the life and legacy of Fernando de Fuentes, the conception of The Phantom of the Monastery, and some particular trends in Mexican cinema before and after the war. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Kim Newman and Stephen Jones. The bulk of the comments address the visual style and identity of The Phantom of the Monastery, Fernando de Fuentes' legacy, and Mexican films and how European films might have influenced them over the years.

• Booklet - 36-page illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Maricruz Castro Ricalde, an archival piece by screenwriter Juan Bustillo Oro, archival articles on the film's production and promotion, an overview of the restoration process, and an overview of contemporary critical responses, and technical credits.

The Phantom of the Monastery Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Phantom of the Monastery was conceived with a great deal of enthusiasm and this is what makes it worth seeing. Indeed, it is a small and pretty uneven film with some obvious flaws, but the atmosphere it produces is rather special. What makes it special? The desire of Fernando de Fuentes to shoot a film that is every bit as magical as the great German expressionist horror thrillers he had seen in his local cinema and fallen in love with in the early 1930s. (Many decades later, the Italians did plenty of similar films with the exact same type of enthusiasm. Some were good and some were bad, but the genuine enthusiasm you could immediately detect in them made virtually all worth seeing). This recent release from Indicator/Powerhouse Films is sourced from a 4K master that was prepared after the film was fully restored. The makeover is so good that as far as I am concerned the release offers the first-ever opportunity to properly experience the film on both sides of the Atlantic. (A North American edition of the same release we have reviewed is available here). RECOMMENDED.