Midnight movie horror often strikes a similar chord to the sex comedy genre – bawdy humour and titillation, deliberate distastefulness – and yet, I struggle to think of any movies which have combined the two formats in quite the same way as Night of the Virgin (AKA La Noche Del Virgen). The first feature from director Roberto San Sebastián, screenwriter Guillermo Guerrero and producer Kevin I. Rodríguez, the film could almost be a full-length play on how the dalliance between Finch and Stifler’s Mom in American Pie could have played out, had it transpired that the fabled MILF was in fact a worshipper of an obscure eastern deity seeking a male virgin for use in a black magic sex rite. As might be expected, this set-up leads to an abundance of gross-out gags and humiliation-based humour with all manner of bodily fluids involved; yet it also gets a lot darker and, at points, more genuinely disturbing than you might initially expect.
The virgin of the title is a young man named Nico (Javier Bódalo, who – bonus cool points – appeared as a child actor in Del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone). We meet him in a nightclub on New Year’s Eve, where he’s horrendously overdressed in an ugly tuxedo, completely failing to get anything going with any of the many women around. However, just as midnight strikes, he finds himself approached by a glamorous-looking older woman named Medea (Miriam Martin). He promptly accepts an invitation to go home with her, and though the squalor of her run-down apartment – most notably its infestation of cockroaches – doesn’t necessarily inspire much confidence, he doesn’t want to let this opportunity pass him by. However, as time moves on things get ever weirder, and Nico soon finds himself anxious to leave – but this is something that fate, circumstance, or possibly an obscure Nepalese goddess will not allow.
Given how frequently young men in film are presented as irrepressible horn dogs whose brains are in their bell-ends, Night of the Virgin makes for a refreshing change, as it addresses the very real anxiety that many (dare I say most?) male adolescents face about losing their virginity. The sexual urge is of course very real and impossible to ignore, yet the act itself remains daunting, in part as it’s still shrouded in mystery, but also because – let’s face it – it’s all a bit gross when you really think about it. Bodily fluids; organs and orifices not generally known for their cleanliness; not to mention the risk of unwanted pregnancy or, possibly even worse, sexually transmitted diseases. Night of the Virgin explores these fears in a really interesting manner, Medea’s alluring ways and physical attractiveness presented in stark contrast with the repulsiveness of her surroundings. As events progress, we go more into areas of body horror with at least a dash of Cronenberg and Henenlotter about them, although in many respects – not least because the action is, for the most part, restricted to a single location and centred on two characters – the later scenes wind up being most reminiscent of Maury and Bustillo’s Inside. (Hell, it’s even set in the holiday season.)
It might be just a little overlong, but as boundary-pushing genre fare goes, Night of the Virgin is one of the most entertaining films of its kind that I’ve seen in some time. I’m happy to report that it’s a proper horror comedy, too; both elements treated equally seriously, without things ever lapsing into outright spoof territory (though they skirt that line pretty close at points). It’s handsomely shot and edited, with great make-up FX, and most crucially excellent central performances from Bódalo and Martin. Given its commentary on the sexual behaviour and mentality of today’s young straight males, and its clear addition to the Monstrous Feminine school of horror, it’s not hard to see the film attracting a lot of academic interest. Ultimately though, anyone who loves gore and bad taste humour should find plenty to enjoy, although – in case this wasn’t already obvious – those with a more delicate sensibility and/or weak stomach might want to steer clear.
Night of the Virgin is available now on DVD in the UK. In North America, it will be available on VOD from June 12th followed by DVD on July 10th, from Cleopatra Entertainment.