Errementari (4 Stars)

This is only the second Basque film I've ever watched. The film's title means "The Blacksmith".

In a Spanish civil war in 1835 a blacksmith called Francisco Patxi is captured as a deserter and sentenced to death by firing squad. He makes a deal with the Devil: he sells his soul in exchange for being allowed to go home and see his wife. This makes him temporarily bulletproof, and he slaughters the soldiers who want to execute him. But as is always the case when someone makes a deal with the Devil, he doesn't get what he wants. He returns home to his wife, but he's been reported dead, and his wife has already married another man. He murders the new husband, and his wife hangs herself out of grief. He wants to murder his wife's new-born baby girl, but he repents and gives her to the village priest as an orphan.

A demon called Sartael is sent to collect the blacksmith's soul, but Patxi overpowers him and keeps him locked in a cage. The blacksmith is feared as a Satan worshipper, so nobody in the village ever speaks to him. In 1843 a government official is sent to ask Patxi about the whereabouts of gold lost in the war. At the same time the orphaned girl Usue strays into Patxi's house, not knowing that he's her step-father. She unwittingly frees Sartael from the cage.

As a horror film "Errementari" isn't particularly terrifying, although it does have a few shock moments. The scene where Patxi enters Hell is the most chilling portrayal of Hell that I've ever seen. The film is difficult to pin down to a single genre. It's a fantasy story, and it also has elements of a fairy tale.

The film is distributed by Netflix, so it's easily accessible to my readers wherever they live. It's only been released on disc in Spain.