Color, 1973, 88 mins. 46 secs. / 87 mins. 12 secs. / 86 mins. 46 secs. / 68 mins. 4 secs.
Directed by Eugenio Martín
Starring Judy Geeson, Aurora Bautista, Esperanza Roy, Víc Winner, Lone Fleming
Bizarro (UHD & Blu-ray) (US R0/RA 4K/HD), 88 Films (Blu-ray) (UK RB HD), Scorpion Releasing (Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 HD/NTSC), Odeon (Blu-ray & DVD) (UK R0 HD/PAL) / WS (1.85:1) (16:9)
After scoring a 
worldwide horror success with the classic Horror Express, Spanish director Eugenio Martín struck again one year later with a 
considerably more modern and sordid tale, A Candle for the Devil, which made it out t most drive-ins in heavily edited form as It Happened at Nightmare Inn. Unfortunately the film was presumed to be in the public domain and suffered for decades from substandard transfers and butchered TV prints dumped onto multi-disc DVD sets, usually running just over an hour (and some with absurd fake 5.1 audio) with all of its mood and shock value completely sapped away along with the entire first murder. Fortunately that oversight is corrected with more recent Blu-ray releases which present the film in its much longer, unclothed export version, at last rehabilitating the reputation of one of the essential Spanish horror titles of the '70s.
In a quaint Spanish village, religious sisters Marta (Bautista) and Veronica (Roy) run a small hostel where they rent out rooms to tourists. Their newest lodger, May (Tovar), has no problems flaunting her sexuality and sunbathing topless, which eventually sends the aggressive and unhinged Marta into a murderous rage. The more submissive Veronica is actually carrying on a fling under her sister's nose with one of the local town studs, but she still goes along with her sister's murderous plot including an unorthodox and gruesome disposal of the body. Soon the pattern starts repeating itself, but they hit 
a speed bump when May's 
sister, Laura (Geeson), shows up asking a lot of questions...
Like many Spanish horror films of the Franco era, this was shot in both a clothed version for the local market and a spicier international cut with two fairly substantial topless scenes. However, much of that material was scissored out of American prints along with some gore, with multiple versions eventually floating around on home video from TV prints to muddy the waters even further. Seen in its full-strength form, it's a riveting little psycho shocker that rarely slows down with Bautista in particular delivering an unhinged, feverish performance. It also bears an interesting resemblance to the American softcore horror staple Evil Come, Evil Go, which was made the previous year by Walt Davis and focuses on two women driven by religion and sexuality to kill those who cross their path. This variant is definitely Spanish all the way though with its intense, guilt-ridden sense of Catholic torment and earthy local color.
Scorpion Releasing's DVD and Blu-ray releases from 2015 contained identical extras and came from the same HD master, though the Blu-ray notches up a bit in the detail department a few degrees. It's a very "vintage" looking presentation similar to a very nice 35mm 
print, so you can weigh whether it's better to go 
for the SD offering or the pricier but likely to be rarer limited edition Blu-ray, sold exclusively through Screen Archives at the time. The sole audio option is the English track, which is just as well since that features Geeson's original voice and line readings (while the principal Spanish actors spoke in English and were looped in later by other voice actors).
The film can be played as is or with wraparound "Katarina's Nightmare Theater" segments with hostess Katarina Leigh Waters (and her scheming French sister, briefly seen in a devil outfit) offering tidbits about the cast and crew. Geeson also appears in an 18m45s video interview about her excursion to Spain, the language barrier with her fellow stars, recent convention appearances, her other signature roles including To Sir, with Love, and the fact that she hadn't seen the movie until the present day. The international English trailer is also included. In England the film was released earlier on DVD in a ragged but complete flat letterboxed transfer, which was followed soon after the Scorpion release by Odeon's Blu-ray which is about the same content-wise and features a slightly different, longer music intro at the beginning. In 2022, 88 Films reissued the film on U.K. Blu-ray featuring the same slightly longer scan of the English version (just over 87 minutes versus the Scorpion's 86), with some color timing variations throughout. Extras on that one include two audio commentaries (the first with Kim Newman and Sean Hogan, the second with Troy Howarth and yours truly) plus "The Devil Makes Two" (24m47s) interview with Martín.
In 2025, Vinegar Syndrome partner label Bizarro made this film its inaugural release as a 4K UHD and Blu-ray combo featuring a new restoration from the original camera negative, and it easily blows all of its predecessors away in terms of color fidelity, detail, and anything else you could name. Some minor damage can be spotted but it's in 
great shape and now runs completely uncut with the longest version to date, reinstating a minute and a half of footage mainly comprising some dialogue leading up to the first murder. The film can be played in Spanish or English (the 
latter switching to subtitled Spanish for the added footage), both sounding great in DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono mixes with optional, newly translated English subtitles. "The Spain That Wouldn’t Die" (15m20s) is a new video with Sitges Film Festival director Ángel Sala chatting about Martín's start in westerns, the international climate with so many international co-productions setting up shop in Spain, the importance of Martín's two big horror classics compared to other filmmakers like Jess Franco, the religious monstrosity aspect of this film, and a few other notable films that fell between the cracks. In "Courage Under Censorship" (18m55s), actress Lone Fleming (the director's partner) converses about her lifelong passion for acting that took over when she dropped out of school, the speed bumps along the way, the challenges of making films under Franco's dictatorship, her work in fotonovelas in Madrid, her admiration for the two Spanish leading ladies in this film, her sympathy for Gesson's weak role, and Martín's directorial approach. In "The Rider of Fantaterror" (28m7s), actor Vic Winner (aka Victor Barrera / Alcazar) recalls his start in acting, the reason he took on multiple names, memories of his major films and directors, his admiration for Paul Naschy, and the state of "spaghetti horror" at home. Finally "A Devil in Spain" (18m45s) is the Geeson interview from the Scorpion disc, followed by the alternate English-language titles and the subtitled Spanish and English-language theatrical trailers.
Bizarro (UHD)
88 Films (Blu-ray)
Scorpion Films (Blu-ray)
Brentwood (DVD)
Updated review on December 22, 2025
