ERREMENTARI is a little gothic gem. It feels like what would happen if Guillermo del Toro remade one of James Whale’s darker Universal Horror films. “Errementari” is Basque for blacksmith, so appropriately this tells the tale of a village blacksmith (Kandido Uranga) trying to outwit Satan and his followers after committing an atrocity in his past. The film uses the classic rural paranoia as a catalyst for evil trope to great effect, and uses its modest budget well to create memorable imagery. The appearances of the demons are all achieved with prosthetics and the seriously dark themes and gloomy atmosphere gives way to slapstick and over-the-top bombast. The villains are a bit cartoony and the broad strokes of the plot can be seen a mile off but there’s a lot to like in this. Worth a watch alone for the sight of a little girl (Uma Bracaglia) torturing a caged demon with dried chickpeas. SSP