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Post by slayrrr666 on Jul 14, 2011 10:27:40 GMT -5
Managed to catch up with two more again last night, continuing the week's viewing of Mexican horror efforts: Helena's Cry and Spritism.
Helena's Cry (El llanto de Helena), was a pretty serviceable effort, when it made the attempt to go into the horror territory. From the energetic and highly enjoyable last half, where the ghost is on full-display and engages in a series of chases including an attack on the couple while driving down the road in a pick-up truck and a scene where she appears at a farmhouse to stalk a survivor of an earlier crash, all of which is nicely added by the fact that it's built up the ghost as something to be feared, which makes her into a pretty worthwhile foe in this, at least what can be judged from the few bits of dialog I did understand as it was pretty clear that there was something going on, but not speaking it I didn't quite follow it all the way and missed a lot of why the ghost's around and what's going on. I suspect that it's based on the same legend as the Mexican film "KM 31" but I can't say for sure since I haven't seen that one but I do know of it from my studies on IMDb looking up these films.
Spritism (Espritismo) was a radical disappointment, since I had heard a lot of good stuff about it but it really just seemed to be a total drama for me. The endless scenes of the family gathering around at the house talking to each other just seemed to go on forever and just seemed to be repeating itself over and over again without exception, giving this one just such a languid pace in the first half that it really didn't do anything to really stand-out or even feel like a horror film. Once it gets to the seances in the middle portion, it picks up somewhat and becomes a bit more lively and creepy, especially with the appearances of the ghosts and the setting in the darkened room with all of them gathered together. It makes up for some real lousiness with these scenes, but then it just goes right back into the group sitting around talking with each other and tends to just peter out until the end.
Now, I do have to make a concession in that, because of the lack of closed-captioning during the dialog, the lack of understanding what went on was hampered the most by this one. I'd feel that a repeat viewing with a total understanding of the dialog (a subtitled or a dubbed version even) would make a re-scoring on this one rise up significantly because it does look like a quality film from what went on, I just wouldn't have known about it.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. The Vampires of Coyoacan
6. The Beast is Alive
7. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
8. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
9. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
10. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
11. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
12. Night of the Bloody Apes
13. The Return of the Monster
14. Killer Bees
15. Helena's Cry
16. The Resuscitated Monster
17. Hell's Trap
18. Angel of Light
19. Night of a 1000 Cats
20. Tintorera!
21. Spritism
22. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
23. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
24. A Woman Possessed
25. Fangs of Fury
26. The Mansion of Madness
27. The Man and the Beast
28. Santa Sangre
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Post by Fenril on Jul 14, 2011 11:55:24 GMT -5
Helena's Cry (El llanto de Helena), was a pretty serviceable effort, when it made the attempt to go into the horror territory. From the energetic and highly enjoyable last half, where the ghost is on full-display and engages in a series of chases including an attack on the couple while driving down the road in a pick-up truck and a scene where she appears at a farmhouse to stalk a survivor of an earlier crash, all of which is nicely added by the fact that it's built up the ghost as something to be feared, which makes her into a pretty worthwhile foe in this, at least what can be judged from the few bits of dialog I did understand as it was pretty clear that there was something going on, but not speaking it I didn't quite follow it all the way and missed a lot of why the ghost's around and what's going on. I suspect that it's based on the same legend as the Mexican film "KM 31" but I can't say for sure since I haven't seen that one but I do know of it from my studies on IMDb looking up these films. Short of. "La llorona" or the crying woman is a figure of local folklore that appears in several stories, through there are variations on her (in most versions, it's the ghost of a woman who killed her own children and then herself; other versions are quite different: water demon, ancient snake goddes, avenging Aztec spririt, etc.). There are local versions in several Latino countries. Movies with her include: La llorona (a 1933 version and a 1958 one); Curse of the crying woman; Revenge of the crying woman (with Santo); The screaming coffin; Las lloronas; the aforementioned Km. 31 (with an upcoming sequel) and the American productions: Haunted from within; The wailer; and the first episode of the TV series Supernatural. Spritism (Espritismo) was a radical disappointment, since I had heard a lot of good stuff about it but it really just seemed to be a total drama for me. The endless scenes of the family gathering around at the house talking to each other just seemed to go on forever and just seemed to be repeating itself over and over again without exception, giving this one just such a languid pace in the first half that it really didn't do anything to really stand-out or even feel like a horror film. Once it gets to the seances in the middle portion, it picks up somewhat and becomes a bit more lively and creepy, especially with the appearances of the ghosts and the setting in the darkened room with all of them gathered together. It makes up for some real lousiness with these scenes, but then it just goes right back into the group sitting around talking with each other and tends to just peter out until the end. Now, I do have to make a concession in that, because of the lack of closed-captioning during the dialog, the lack of understanding what went on was hampered the most by this one. I'd feel that a repeat viewing with a total understanding of the dialog (a subtitled or a dubbed version even) would make a re-scoring on this one rise up significantly because it does look like a quality film from what went on, I just wouldn't have known about it. Basically it's "The monkey's paw" (the famous story about a cursed object that grants three wishes), with the paw substituted for spirits (the spiritism sessions were about people asking ghosts for assorted favors) and a sort of moral message. Basically, the movie tells us the woman deserved to be punished for daring to conjure ghosts, which is a fairly odd moral. I found this movie a bit lacking, as well. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jul 15, 2011 10:17:16 GMT -5
Short of. "La llorona" or the crying woman is a figure of local folklore that appears in several stories, through there are variations on her (in most versions, it's the ghost of a woman who killed her own children and then herself; other versions are quite different: water demon, ancient snake goddes, avenging Aztec spririt, etc.). There are local versions in several Latino countries. Movies with her include: La llorona (a 1933 version and a 1958 one); Curse of the crying woman; Revenge of the crying woman (with Santo); The screaming coffin; Las lloronas; the aforementioned Km. 31 (with an upcoming sequel) and the American productions: Haunted from within; The wailer; and the first episode of the TV series Supernatural. Ah, that explains the scene at the old woman's house where I assumed she's retelling the story, she opens the window and gets startled by a gust of wind. It's the "Weeping Woman" there to threaten her. And thanks for the listing of her movies. A couple don't look familiar so I might have found some new movies for my listings, and I actually know of a couple more US ones you missed, though I have not seen any of them. I just know of them: The River: Legend of La Llorona, Llorona Gone Wild, Curse of La Llorona, Spirit Hunter: La Llorona and The Cry. Plus, The Wailer has a sequel as well. Basically it's "The monkey's paw" (the famous story about a cursed object that grants three wishes), with the paw substituted for spirits (the spiritism sessions were about people asking ghosts for assorted favors) and a sort of moral message. Basically, the movie tells us the woman deserved to be punished for daring to conjure ghosts, which is a fairly odd moral. I found this movie a bit lacking, as well. So I take it then that the hand replaces the paw and hence coming up with an 'original' film. And if that's really the case with the moral (which I have no doubt you are), that's pretty stupid and just doesn't seem right. And I end my week of Mexican horror with a real dub, unfortunately, Zone of Silence: Parallel 27 (La zona del silencio: paralelo 27) about a group of friends investigating an alien crash landing and being chased by a group of aliens throughout the area. This one was just not all that great, since it never really did anything. All it consisted of was shots of the group sitting around base-camp arguing with each other or driving around in the blistering desert not accomplishing anything or being in any way interesting in what it's doing. The few moments of interest come from the black-hooded aliens hunting them through the desert, and while it's got some nice action (or even just some to begin with) that this is done in the final third of the film makes it incredibly hard to stay interested in what's going on. Not much to say, it's a total disappointment all around. The list now reads: 1. Grave Robbers 2. Cemetery of Terror 3. Fangs of the Werewolf 4. Don't Panic 5. The Vampires of Coyoacan 6. The Beast is Alive 7. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman 8. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women 9. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato) 10. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter 11. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer 12. Night of the Bloody Apes 13. The Return of the Monster 14. Killer Bees 15. Helena's Cry 16. The Resuscitated Monster 17. Hell's Trap 18. Angel of Light 19. Night of a 1000 Cats 20. Tintorera! 21. Spritism 22. Marina: On the Other Side of Time 23. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy 24. A Woman Possessed 25. Fangs of Fury 26. The Mansion of Madness 27. The Man and the Beast 28. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27 29. Santa Sangre |
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Post by Fenril on Jul 15, 2011 21:27:16 GMT -5
And thanks for the listing of her movies. A couple don't look familiar so I might have found some new movies for my listings, and I actually know of a couple more US ones you missed, though I have not seen any of them. I just know of them: The River: Legend of La Llorona, Llorona Gone Wild, Curse of La Llorona, Spirit Hunter: La Llorona and The Cry. Plus, The Wailer has a sequel as well. Heh, I remember Llorona gone wild. Actually, there were a couple mx productions I left out as well: La herencia de la llorona, J-ok'el (I HATED this one) and Leyendas macabras de la colonia. I don't think they ever received a proper english title. I know you don't read books, but for anyone else reading this, there are a few books and short stories with this character as well. "La llorona", by Juan Trigos is especially recommended... I *think* it's been translated to english and available on Amazon. com or some other bookstore. I have heard of the Wailer sequel. Zona del silencio, if I remember correctly is, like El llanto de Helena a Videohome production, hence the lack of... everything, really. There are even worse videhome titles, but a couple interesting ones here and there. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jul 18, 2011 10:26:23 GMT -5
I'm not much for going on company's work, I'd rather go on the fact that it's included in the genre. That's a far more worthwhile way of instituting what gets watched, since like you said, some are worthwhile and some aren't. I'd rather see for myself if it's an entertaining movie and then go around to see what others thought of it or see if I missed something. I've found that far more rewarding.
I think I've seen that Layendas Macabras de la Colonia advertised on my TV stations around here but never thought to look in on it since it never told me anything about what it was about. That's one about this ghost/figure?
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Post by Fenril on Jul 19, 2011 17:14:32 GMT -5
I think I've seen that Layendas Macabras de la Colonia advertised on my TV stations around here but never thought to look in on it since it never told me anything about what it was about. That's one about this ghost/figure? It's another Luchador / Horror (well, Monster) hybrid; in it, Mil Máscarás and Tinieblas team up to fight an alliance of monsters, including the Llorona. "Videohome" is a format, not a company; what I meant is that it's a Straight to video movie. But I definitely agree about judging each movie on its own merits . |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jul 20, 2011 10:25:38 GMT -5
Sounds pretty interesting to me (I've only caught one Mil Mascaras film, the awesome Vampires of Coyoacan) so I'll definitely see if I can give it a look when/if it comes on again.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Aug 23, 2011 10:11:30 GMT -5
Killed two birds with one stone last night, added another Mexican horror film to my list as well as a Santo solo effort, Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy (or Santo en la venganza de la momia), where he joins an expedition by a friend of his to locate a fabled tomb of an Aztec prince and awakens his mummy which stalks the crew.
This one falls just short of the best of the bunch but still has a lot of enjoyment on hand. There's some minor problems in the party taking way too long to get to the tomb, as the Adventure film surroundings seem like time-padding and really only there to feature the titular hero wrestling with animals, but beyond that there's a lot to like here. The camp where all the stalking goes down is pretty decently used for setting up some suspenseful stalking, the grand burial tomb is Gothic splendor and the frequent battling between the two are highly enjoyable and entertaining. The twist ending is a little hard-to-follow in terms of adhering to storyline continuity but makes for a nice touch in the genre overall and it moves along at a nice enough pace to not really be boring. Overall, it's pretty solid.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. The Vampires of Coyoacan
6. The Beast is Alive
7. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
8. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
9. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
10. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
11. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
12. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
13. Night of the Bloody Apes
14. The Return of the Monster
15. Killer Bees
16. Helena's Cry
17. The Resuscitated Monster
18. Hell's Trap
19. Angel of Light
20. Night of a 1000 Cats
21. Tintorera!
22. Spritism
23. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
24. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
25. A Woman Possessed
26. Fangs of Fury
27. The Mansion of Madness
28. The Man and the Beast
29. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
30. Santa Sangre
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Post by slayrrr666 on Aug 25, 2011 10:16:25 GMT -5
Got another one last night, The Raven's Mourn (Los cuervos están de luto), where a group of friends gathered together for a friend's funeral find themselves haunted by her ghost who tries to alert everyone that she's not deceased yet.
This was probably one of the most disappointing Mexican horror efforts I've seen yet, since this one could've been one of the better ones but instead is pretty flawed. Most of this comes from the fact that there's hardly anything at all going on, from the fact that everyone seems to just stand around talking to everyone about what's going on, and not understanding the language at all, makes for endless scenes of people in a large Gothic mansion yakking away indescribably, which isn't a fun experience. Still, it could've been great from the fact that the ghost materializes into the scenes rather nicely and the opening sequence is a Gothic masterpiece that starts it up wonderfully, but it just doesn't do anything else with it.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. The Vampires of Coyoacan
6. The Beast is Alive
7. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
8. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
9. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
10. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
11. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
12. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
13. Night of the Bloody Apes
14. The Return of the Monster
15. Killer Bees
16. Helena's Cry
17. The Resuscitated Monster
18. Hell's Trap
19. Angel of Light
20. Night of a 1000 Cats
21. Tintorera!
22. Spritism
23. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
24. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
25. A Woman Possessed
26. The Raven's Mourn
27. Fangs of Fury
28. The Mansion of Madness
29. The Man and the Beast
30. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
31. Santa Sangre
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Post by slayrrr666 on Aug 26, 2011 10:45:10 GMT -5
Yet one more Mexican horror effort, All of Them Witches (Sobrenatural).
A woman begins receiving strange visions after opening a letter containing a mystical powder, and soon thereafter finds it's connected to a voodoo curse and must be stopped before it harms her and her friends.
Not really all that spectacular, mostly because it really doesn't do anything at all. While the concept of having bizarre visions may be horrific to those experiencing them, on film they play out so ordinarily and boring that the film appears to be so slow as to be utterly lifeless and uninteresting. Eventually it does get better towards the end when the zombified owner does get around to making an appearance and that leads to some fun in the apartment showdown, and the atmosphere does give off a nice suspenseful vibe, yet the fact remains that this one is just so dull and lifeless.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. The Vampires of Coyoacan
6. The Beast is Alive
7. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
8. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
9. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
10. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
11. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
12. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
13. Night of the Bloody Apes
14. The Return of the Monster
15. Killer Bees
16. Helena's Cry
17. The Resuscitated Monster
18. Hell's Trap
19. Angel of Light
20. Night of a 1000 Cats
21. Tintorera!
22. Spritism
23. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
24. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
25. A Woman Possessed
26. The Raven's Mourn
27. Fangs of Fury
28. The Mansion of Madness
29. All of Them Witches
30. The Man and the Beast
31. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
32. Santa Sangre
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Post by Fenril on Aug 28, 2011 16:50:38 GMT -5
Got another one last night, The Raven's Mourn (Los cuervos están de luto), where a group of friends gathered together for a friend's funeral find themselves haunted by her ghost who tries to alert everyone that she's not deceased yet. This was probably one of the most disappointing Mexican horror efforts I've seen yet, since this one could've been one of the better ones but instead is pretty flawed. Most of this comes from the fact that there's hardly anything at all going on, from the fact that everyone seems to just stand around talking to everyone about what's going on (...) That's because this one was originally a stage-play, hence the long dialogues (and ocassional monologues). On Sobrenatural... either you watched this one without subtitles as well or I'm thinking of a different movie. The one I remember with that title is a 90's movie starring Susana Zabaleta, but it was about a housewife discovering that her neighbors are part of a coven and that her husband might want to join in. It did have a zombie at the end. I also remember it being smarmy about the movies it rips off (at one point the heroine watches Rosemary's baby to figure out her next move) and an admittedly tense scene at the ending with her hiding in a bathtub with only a kitchen knife for a weapon while a (voodoo) zombie roams her apartment just out of frame. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Aug 29, 2011 10:05:10 GMT -5
That's the one I saw all right, and while it did have close-captioned during the film, it never did a good job. It was at least three sentences late, and often-times it auto-corrected itself after a line, or in other words, gave a line about what it thought was being said, then went ahead and re-did the same line with a correction or two to a word or phrase, then kept on going. It was a little distracting at times, especially when I was trying to get into the film early on when she was having those visions. That's when I want to pay attention, not having to read corrected subtitles on the screen itself.
And I've never really been a big fan of punishing a film for copying from others. I'm far more about being entertained, not in seeing something new and original being presented. So long as I like what I see, I don't really care if it comes from other films or rips something off (usually I haven't seen what they're ripping off so I'll see the imitation first before the original. That's what happened to me with The Exorcist, as I saw imitations and spoofs of it before I ever saw the original and is why I don't think highly of that one at all) and what with the issues on the closed-captioned, it made them even less obvious.
I did love that scene at the apartment, though. Good stuff there.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 31, 2011 11:16:15 GMT -5
Got another Mexican horror effort for Halloween, the start of another week of all-Mexican horror, The Phantom in the Red House (El Fantasma del la casa rojo).
Gathered at a remote mansion to hear a family member's will-reading, a masked murderer tries to keep the surviving members from getting their inheritance and forcing an amateur sleuth to put an end to the rampage.
A horror-comedy, focusing mainly on the comedy but still with enough horror to really count when it matters, that spoofs the classic-style haunted house films, with secret passages, peeping portraits, and such that it feels really funny and goofy without the benefit of understanding the wordplay jokes. With lots of great physical jokes, including the knife-wielding hand emerging from a picture frame to continually swipe and miss at a clueless and oblivious passerby to time-outs for liquid refreshment during a stalking scene and constant bonks on the head, there's lots of good slapstick here that provides plenty to laugh at. While that ends up diluting the horror somewhat, the fact that it's still a worthwhile enough film does have it's positive points.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. The Vampires of Coyoacan
6. The Phantom in the Red House
7. The Beast is Alive
8. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
9. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
10. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
11. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
12. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
13. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
14. Night of the Bloody Apes
15. The Return of the Monster
16. Killer Bees
17. Helena's Cry
18. The Resuscitated Monster
19. Hell's Trap
20. Angel of Light
21. Night of a 1000 Cats
22. Tintorera!
23. Spritism
24. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
25. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
26. A Woman Possessed
27. The Raven's Mourn
28. Fangs of Fury
29. The Mansion of Madness
30. All of Them Witches
31. The Man and the Beast
32. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
33. Santa Sangre
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 1, 2011 10:20:31 GMT -5
Week-long marathon of Mexican horror continues with another entry, The Cursed II (El Maleficio II).
A secret society races to find the lone human that fits an ancient prophecy to battle a murderous being on a rampage of death and destruction using his advanced mental powers to carry them out.
A not too terrible effort, though undoubted most of the plot mentioned above may not be accurate due to a lack of plot understanding as the plot wasn't the easiest to understand before the lack of closed-captioning made it even harder to grasp. That there makes for the film's biggest flaw, in understanding what's going on as most of it is dialogue-driven and doesn't really have a whole lot of action to figure out what's being said, and as a result it doesn't really have a whole lot of great points going for it. Those good parts, though, are actually a lot of fun due to the film's rather-ambitious idea of utilizing paranormal powers to account for the majority of the on-screen action that it has some pretty good sequences here and there, from a driverless car running after bullies to a chase through an apartment complex and several other pretty decent scenes to make it a little better, but overall the lack of plot understandment is the big downfall.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. The Vampires of Coyoacan
6. The Phantom in the Red House
7. The Beast is Alive
8. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
9. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
10. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
11. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
12. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
13. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
14. Night of the Bloody Apes
15. The Return of the Monster
16. Killer Bees
17. Helena's Cry
18. The Resuscitated Monster
19. Hell's Trap
20. Angel of Light
21. Night of a 1000 Cats
22. Tintorera!
23. Spritism
24. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
25. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
26. A Woman Possessed
27. The Cursed II
28. The Raven's Mourn
29. Fangs of Fury
30. The Mansion of Madness
31. All of Them Witches
32. The Man and the Beast
33. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
34. Santa Sangre
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Post by Fenril on Nov 1, 2011 21:48:05 GMT -5
Week-long marathon of Mexican horror continues with another entry, The Cursed II (El Maleficio II). A secret society races to find the lone human that fits an ancient prophecy to battle a murderous being on a rampage of death and destruction using his advanced mental powers to carry them out. A not too terrible effort, though undoubted most of the plot mentioned above may not be accurate due to a lack of plot understanding as the plot wasn't the easiest to understand before the lack of closed-captioning made it even harder to grasp. That there makes for the film's biggest flaw, in understanding what's going on as most of it is dialogue-driven and doesn't really have a whole lot of action to figure out what's being said, and as a result it doesn't really have a whole lot of great points going for it. Those good parts, though, are actually a lot of fun due to the film's rather-ambitious idea of utilizing paranormal powers to account for the majority of the on-screen action that it has some pretty good sequences here and there, from a driverless car running after bullies to a chase through an apartment complex and several other pretty decent scenes to make it a little better, but overall the lack of plot understandment is the big downfall. Love that one. The original El Maleficio was a TV series that unfortunately has never been released on DVD. As you can probably imagine, the movie is an epilogue to the TV series, so it would have been hard to follow even with subtitles. |
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