The Quinta's Ghost brings Goya's demons from canvas to screen

Emmy-winning James A. Castillo shares the inspiration behind his film

Produced by Illusorium and Martirio Films, THE QUINTA'S GHOST is a classic gothic ghost story about the life of iconic Spanish painter Francisco Goya, looking specifically at the end of his career, when he was working on his infamous Black Paintings.

The film, directed by James A. Castillo (Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; The Mitchells vs. The Machines) had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival (New York) and recently scooped two Méliès d’Argent awards, meaning it will compete for the 2026 Méliès d’Or.

In a special interview with BANGLE, Castillo shares his insight on Goya and on the horror genre.

Q) Why did you feel that Francisco Goya was the perfect subject for a horror short?

Well, first and foremost, because his work is dark. There is no hiding, or covering it, he is directly addressing subjects and themes that led themselves perfectly into the horror genre. His representation of pain and fear of Spaniards during the Napoleonic invasion, or the nightmarish etchings of his series Caprichos, define an artist willing to show it like it is, that did not beautify or edited the world he saw to match social expectations or norms. His body of work has created images and symbols so powerful that are ingrained in the social consciousness of Spaniards, making it a perfect vehicle to trigger an emotional response from the audience. Francisco de Goya was also a pretty contradictory character, someone that both enjoyed the benefits of his high social status and, at the same time, criticized its hypocrisy. A public figure that lived a pretty private life. Also, nobody knows what happened in La Quinta during the four years he spent there, but we do know what he left; 14 grotesque murals that show a man dealing with his own mortality. He is the perfect subject not because he is an incredible painter, but because he was a vulnerable man.

Q) Was the project based on a long-standing personal fascination with the artist or did the story present itself to you in a different way?

It is hard to find an Spanish artist that has not gone through a "Goya phase". He is such a magnetic artist that its hard to look the other way and, like most, I have had a long lasting relationship with his work. But it was during the pandemic that that fascination started taking a more tangible nature; I started reading a lot of about his life, his work, career and , particularly, the house. But, despite what a lot of people think, the original spark for this film was not Goya, but grief. I had been looking for a way to talk about grief through my art for a long time, but had found it hard in the current animation landscape. It has also been a long mission of mine to bring animation into genre through my work; Madrid Noir, my first film, was very much a nod to noir films and I had been thinking about doing something within the horror genre next.Eventually, these three things came together to form a pretty clear idea, "A gothic horror short film about a man's tragic descend into madness who tries to confront his demons the only way he can; painting" It had it all, it was genre, it allowed me to talk about grief and our relationship with art and mortality and I could use all of Goya's incredible symbols and images. 

Q) How is the city of Madrid important to you and your work?

That's an interesting question. I love Madrid. I was born there, grew up there and I am know living there again after 13 years abroad. I find that Madrid is the kind of city that can pass unnoticed at first glance, but that will hook anyone that is willing to spend some time in it. Like all old cities, it is filled of corners, narrow streets, apartments and plazas that hold incredible stories. It is also a city that I know by heart, I know how it feels, how it looks, I know how sunsets are in the winter and how it smells in the summer so, when it comes to creating a believable place, I feel very confident that I can create a convincing and specific place that people can get lost in, while maybe if I had to create a story in a place like Prague or Chicago for example, I might feel inadequate to recreate that place and inject it with verisimilitude and life. I am also aware that Madrid does not feature a lot in popular culture, so I feel like I have an opportunity to show a city to a lot of people that, otherwise, would not get to experience it. Madrid is important to my work because it is where I am from, and it allows me to show people who I am.

Q) Frankenstein is having a big moment right now and there is an echo of the Frankenstein story in the tagline for The Quinta’s Ghost: “Every act of creation has a price.” Can you share your thoughts on the legacy of Mary Shelley’s novel within the horror genre?

Wow, I mean absolutely. I am a massive fan of Frankenstein (I even played around the idea of adapting it into animation at some point) and it is a story that has always resonated with me. In terms of Mary Shelley's legacy in the genre, it is immeasurable. Her work is still relevant today, not because she created a monster, but because she understood human nature better than a lot of her contemporaries. The scariest thing in the book is not the eight feet tall walking corpse, but the realization that we could all become Victor Von Frankenstein, we could all fall victim of our dreams of grandeur, of our ego and hubris and be forced to pay the prize. She understood that, in order to create a story that truly scares us, we need to be reminded of the fragility of our own mortality. No monster in the woods is going to scares us more than our deepest, darkest impulses being manifested.

To bring it back to our short film, we were very aware of all of this. Regardless of how big and spooky we made the ghosts and monsters, the truly terrifying thing is seeing a man loosing his sanity. Because we could all be him if we are not careful in dealing with our traumas. We could all get lost in our own mind.  

Q) Do you have plans for a feature film of your own and if so, can you give us any clues as to its theme?

I am working on some ideas that take everything I have learned with The Quinta's Ghost and expands it into something a bit more ambitious. In researching this short film, I have had the luck of discovering some very interesting folk tales that I am finding very inspiring. In this goal of pushing animation towards more niche genres, I am developing a story that leans further into folk horror and the relationships modern people have with abandoned towns and ancient customs.

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