1740. The Tower Of The Seven Hunchbacks (1944)

Starring: Antonio Casal, Isabel de Pomés, Félix de Pomés

Director: Edgar Neville

Running Time: 85 mins

The Tower Of The Seven Hunchbacks (La torre de los siete jorobados) is a Spanish film about a man who comes across a mysterious man, and discovers he is the only person able to see him, leaving him with responsibility of protecting the mysterious figure’s niece from dangerous forces.

This film was a lot of fun. With an impressive air of mystery throughout that mixes with an interesting and entertaining story, The Tower Of The Seven Hunchbacks is a very enjoyable watch. Its strong performances and impressive production design add to the adventure atmosphere of it all, making its fantasy story all the more believable and engaging.

One of the things that I was really surprised by in this film was just how funny it is. It’s a mild play on classic adventure serials, but I didn’t expect it to have such a great sense of humour, particularly when it comes to brilliant off-the-cuff gags throughout that both fit in well with the story and add an even more fun-loving vibe to the film as a whole.

Along with the excellent humour, the story here is also great fun throughout. Above all, the slightly ridiculous fantasy elements that mix well with the comedy are the story’s strongest suits, and make it an adventure that’s so much fun to watch from start to finish, but even beyond that, it manages to have some surprisingly engrossing and unpredictable elements of mystery.

Whilst this isn’t by any means an enthralling and high-stakes mystery, it’s not meant to be that way. However, thanks to some excellently atmospheric directing from Edgar Neville, who takes normal Madrid streets and turns them into the perfect setting for a ghost movie, all the while expertly crafting a subtle sense of tension and unease surrounding the main characters.

As a result, there was a part of this film that I was actually really interested in, rather than it just being a throwaway fantasy adventure. Its impressively atmospheric directing, coupled with some brilliant production design (particularly in the last act), makes it an engrossing watch from start to finish.

If I were to have a problem with this film, it’s that the air of mystery isn’t quite consistently strong enough. Early on, the film is perfectly balanced between drama, comedy and mystery, and it makes for a really entertaining watch. However, at times in the second and third acts, the film becomes a little too focused on comedy or action to keep its fantastic atmosphere going, and that was a disappointment for me as it really interrupted the excellent flow of the film up to that point.

Overall, however, I really enjoyed The Tower Of The Seven Hunchbacks. It’s a hugely entertaining fantasy adventure with great comedy throughout, all the while providing a genuinely interesting and even mysterious story that’ll keep you intrigued from start to finish, and that’s why I’m giving it a 7.6.