Maya is a 1989 Italian horror film co-written and directed by Marcello Avallone and starring Peter Phelps and Mariella Valentini.
Plot
Cast
Peter Phelps as Peter Mariella Valentini as Lisa Slivak William Berger as Salomon Slivak Cyrus Elias as Dr. Santos Mariangélica Ayala as Jahaira Mirella D'Angelo as Laura Erich Wildpret as Larry Antonello Fassari as Sid Antonella Antinori as Maria Gustavo Camacho
Production The film was produced by Reteitalia. It was shot between Yucatán, Venezuela and Elios Studios in Rome. It had a budget of about two and a half billion lire. The director cited Carlos Castaneda's books as a major source of inspiration for the script.
Reception The film was a box office disappointment. In his book Spinegrinder, Clive Davies panned the film, referring to it as "useless, boring crap" in which "the best part is a bloody finger wrestling match near the beginning. After that, tune out". La Stampa described it as "100 minutes of cheap thrills", noting that "the best thing about the film will be the finale shot in the right atmosphere of suspense, which does not justify certain earlier bloody narrative excesses." In his book Italian Horror Film Directors, Robert Paul praised it, referring to it as "an obscure gem" and "an overlooked film". Film historian Roberto Curti described it as very ambitious, but with a "confused" script and "unlikely", "bland" characters.
References
External links