Below average juvenile horror that claims to be based on H. P. Lovecrft stories. La mansión de los Cthulhu (1992) deals with group of drug dealing petty criminals (Luis Fernando Alvés , Brad Fisher , Melanie Shatner , Kaethe Cherney) fleeing from the cops and along the way they kidnap an aging magician (Frank Finlay) harboring an amazing occult secret and his daughter (Marcia Layton) . As they are taken as hostages in their isolated mansion by some villain scumbags . The oldest-looking juvenile delinquents you've ever seen release evil spirits when they take over the magician's state . When the captors refuse to listen to the magician's horrible warning to release him unharmed , the mansion slowly releases its nightmare of horrors on the unsuspecting invaders. Beyond evil . Beyond Terror. Beyond the gates of Hell. The final resting place. The evil is free.

This is a humdrum adaptation with abominable dialogue , being inspired by H. P. Lovecraft stories from a screenplay and lousy filmmaking by the Spanish craftsman Juan Piquer Simón . As the plot lifts some scenes from other films , concerning a gang who abducts a magician and his daughter , taking as hostages at their home ; but once the delinquents reach the mansion , all hell breaks loose , being shown with no very special effects and that's a load of dung . The script by Juán Piquer himself contains restless terror and great loads of gore , blood and usual poltergeists phenomenon caused by the usual ghastly shenanigans that result to be weird creature appearances , cracking objects throwing fire , furniture flying , a number of knifes slashing a person , wall ooze , plants manifest as attackers , doors suddenly slamming and anything else . It is produced in medium/short budget by José Gutiérrez Maesso who long time ago wrote and produced a number of Spaghetti Westerns . The FX and make-up experts : Basilio Cortijo , Emilio Ruiz del Rio and Colin Arthur recreated the eerie story with low-grade and traditional special effects that are frightening and horrifying to spectator . It's actually halfway-low terror movie that achieved little success at the box office , though it will appeal to hardcore horror aficionados , that's why it packs absurd situations and cheesy but amusing frames . Although critics do not appreciate much this picture ; however has a kind of loopy , Ed Wood quality that must be endured to be totally considered . The fable is sometimes silly and laughable , though a few naif effects and action are professionally made . Some illogical parts in plot are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the horrifing scenes .

The motion picture was middlingly directed by Juan Piquer Simón . Juan , who goes by "J. P. Simon" on foreign releases , began in films as a writer and assistant director and continued his career by making short films and documentaries . Juan produced and directed "exploitation" pictures for two decades running . He often used numerous "older technique" FX such as transparency , matte paintings , rubber-suited enemies , reverse-footage to create certain images ; all of them were made by Emilio Ruiz Del Rio , Francisco Prosper , Colin Arthur and Juan Piquer himself . He was one of the main directors of the Spanish horror boom in the 70s and 80s specially for his quartet of horror films as ¨Escalofrio¨, ¨Slugs¨ , ¨Supersonic Man¨. ¨Cthulhu Mansion¨ and his greatest success and immensely popular ¨Pieces¨ , all of them being recreated by means of traditional effects . Juan owned his own studio and created and/or designed many of the simple and primitive special effects sequences you see in any of his many imaginative undertakings . Piquer , who passed away at 2011 , was a good artisan who realized a lot of fun as well as entertaining films . Juan Piquer who was director of the Mostra of Valencia (Spain) , displayed along professional career and specialized on all kind of genres as Terror , Sci-fi (The rift , The new Extraterrestres, Supersonic man) and made some adaptations about Jules Verne novels ("Fabulous Journey to the Center of the Earth" , "Mystery on Monster Island") . While his films have been universally panned by the prestigious reviewer s, they have a kind of quality that must be endured to be utterly appreciated . Rating : 4.5/10.

After a drug deal gone wrong, the criminals take a magician named Chandu and his daughter hostage and take them back to his mansion, a place where his obsession with the gods of the ancient times has gone a bit out of his control and now, well, everyone is going to pay.

Sure, its a good set up, but it's also directed by the man who brought us Pieces and Slugs, Juan Piquer Simón.

So anyways, Chandu lost his wife - his first assistant - due to an accident, which is when we're to assume he got into the black magic that has left him with a pulsating left hand. Now his daughter (wife and daughter are both played by Marcie Layton) is his assistant and just in time for all hell to break loose.

There isn't the budget to make this the movie it wants to be, but when has that ever stopped us from enjoying something?

H.P. Lovecraft's good name is shamelessly being violated in this ultra-embarrassing excuse for a horror movie. Supposedly based on the legendary novelist's writings, this movie handles about a group of retarded crooks home-jacking an elderly magician and his daughter. Too bad for the coke-addicted bunch the old man has severe issues himself, as he once sacrificed his own wife to the forces of witchcraft. For some reason (whether unexplained or I missed it) all evil suddenly is unleashed upon the mansion and everybody dies in cheesy ways! Believe the bad rating of this film because this really is the kind of garbage that gives the horror genre a bad name. We're talking atrocious acting, one-dimensional characters and abysmal dialogue. Although I'm sure the makers like to believe so, there's absolutely no suspense throughout the entire film and the forced implementation of occult elements (like the black cat, the altar and the Cthulhu-handbook) only makes it more ridiculous. The gore is a lot less outrageous as you would expect (seeing absolutely nothing happens the first 40 minutes) but, as soon as "evil" is unleashed, the whole thing turns into a textbook 80's cheeseball! The make-up effects are hilarious and feature for example a giant claw that pulls a heroine into a refrigerator! In all fairness I must admit that I've always been a fan of director Juan Píquer Simon… His "Supersonic Man" was the film that made me start loving bad cinema and even I still regard it as one of the greatest suckfests I ever saw. His more popular achievements, such as "Pieces" and "Slugs", are very cool films since they absolutely shine in the gore department. Cthulu Mansion, however, belongs in the avoidable trash department.