With the title, Madrid, fantastic film scene, comes the exhibition of the Itiner Network of the Ministry of Culture of the Community of Madrid.
The new exhibition of the Itiner Network of the Ministry of Culture of the Community of Madrid, with the support of Film Madrid, curated by the filmmaker Víctor Matellano, gathers the phenomenon of fantastic cinema shot in the region.
The exhibition, which is traveling, began its journey on February 11. It will tour different halls of municipalities in the region until the end of this year 2022.
Starting tomorrow Friday 8th until April 18th, the winery of The Charterhouse of Talamanca de Jarama hosts this exhibition, precisely in the place where many of the fantastic and horror films shot in Spain were filmed.
titles like The devil’s backbone, The return of the werewolf, Terror rises from the grave, The devil’s sexual rites or vampires, They have been shot in that mythical place, where great names such as Milos Forman, Viggo Mortensen or Marlon Brando have passed.
Precisely, one of the films that have been shot in La Cartuja is Conan the barbarian by John Milius, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, a film that this coming April 15 will be forty years since its premiere. And from the Milius film you can see original pieces designed by Ron Cobb, such as the Thulsa Doom dagger, Valeria’s dagger, or the script written by Milius.
Some of the pieces that can be seen
Among the exhibition pieces, the original costumes by Christopher Lee stand out in count draculaand Javier Botet in my beloved monster; original drawings and sketches by Paul Naschy, José Ramón Larraz, Ramiro Gómez and José Luis Galicia, for films such as Panic on the Trans-Siberian or The crimes of morgue Street. Models and original props from Supersonic Man, Attack of the Eyeless Dead, The Rift or Wax, works by Emilio Ruiz del Río, Colin Arthur or Amando de Ossorio; and the shooting script of The Mark of the Werewolf or the publicity material for movie premieres such as The residence by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, or by Conan, the Barbarian, a film that celebrates its fortieth anniversary this 2022.
The exhibition reviews national productions and co-productions, shot in the Community of Madrid, either Invasion of the Atomic Zombies or The Cursed Ship. Also foreign films, and the presence of international stars such as Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee. Not forgetting special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen and his Sinbad trilogy.
The explosion of the fantastic in Spain
With the western genre that was filmed in Spain, already in a situation of certain saturation, the need arises to offer new exportable genres with the formula of co-production between countries, to obtain cheap and highly profitable products, opting for fantasy and horror. And a shooting fever breaks out, unusual for a cinema dedicated to comedy. Filmings that take place in their vast majority in the current Community of Madrid such as Walpurgis Night by León Klimovsky or Do not profane the sleep of the dead by Jordi Grau.
A genre in need of unique locations and buildings, whether dark forests or dark castles, which were located throughout the current Community of Madrid, and especially in Talamanca de Jarama, San Martín de Valdeiglesias, Pelayos de la Presa, Navacerrada, Lozoya, Torrelodones, or the capital itself.
Thus, until reaching the present, with a live genre, with recent titles such as Voices of Ángel Gómez, shot in Torrelodones, or the feature-anthology film, Vampus Horror Tales by Manuel M. Velasco, Isaac Berrocal, Piter Moreira, Erika Elizalde and Víctor Matellano, shot in Leganés, Navacerrada, Colmenar Viejo and Madrid. Or Paco Plaza’s grandmother, shot in the capital.
The pieces in the exhibition belong to the collections of Óscar Romero, Domingo Lizcano and Antonio Garcinuño, the Molina-Primavera family, Colmenar Viejo, Tierra de Cine, and Víctor Matellano himself.
The exhibition with free admission can be visited on Friday 8: from 5 to 7 p.m. Other days: 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday 11 and Tuesday 12, closed.