After his parents have died in a carcrash, 9-year-old Simon (Juan
Fernández) is sent to the country to be brought up by his aund Maria
Bayona (Mónica Randall) whom he has never even met before and who is very
strict and somewhat creepy. ... and her dog Zar positively scares the shit
out of little Simon.
Simon's only two friends in the village are the village priest and his
teacher Padre Genaro (Carlos Álvarez-Nóvoa) and the local bookseller Leo
(Jordi Collet), who soon realize there is something not quite right with
Maria Bayona, and with the boy she might have an agenda of her own,
something that involves black magic ... you see, years ago, Maria Bayona
has lost her only son to the sea, and the boy was only 9 years old.
However, Maria Bayona doesn't think the boy is dead beyond hope, she
thinks his soul is caught in the body of her dog, and with the help with
the infamous (and highly dangerous) Black Bible she can transfer
the soul from the dog into Simon's body.
Eventually, Padre Genaro and Leo break into Maria Bayona's house in
order to destroy the black bible, but their effort is cut short when Padre
Genaro, who has always had a weak heart, dies from a heartattack.
A few days later, Leo comes back to face Maria Bayona, face to face ...
which ends with him being walled up, but somehow the woman's black bibles
ahve caught fire as well. Fortunately for Leo, Simon has found the freshly
erected wall and tears it down, saving him just before the flames consume
Maria Bayona's house and everything (and everyone) inside ...
A horrorfilm as entertainment for the whole family ?
Now why do I think that wouldn't work ... and in case of La Biblia
Negra, it really doesn't. You see, the film has all the ingredients of
a proper horror tale - black magic, the walling up of people, a creepy
woman, her scary dog, ... - but somehow it is told in such a nice and
harmless way it never even gets remotely scary. And the finale is nothing
short of underwhelming.
At best, one could call this film a failed experiment.
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