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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 2, 2011 10:34:49 GMT -5
So then, since I saw the opening of this had a "II" in it, I'm guessing this and El Maleficio 1 are the set-ups for the TV show about people with paranormal powers trying to stop those using them for evil purposes? Or is it the other way around, where these are spun off from the TV show?
And more importantly, is the plot even close? I think that's right.
Week-long marathon of Mexican horror continues with another entry, La Llorona (1958 version).
After betraying her people to become the mistress of a malevolent Spanish conquistador, a Mexican woman finds herself reincarnated centuries later as the nanny of her lover's descendent and tries to right the wrong of her past by killing the child in her care.
An utterly slow-moving and barely-there Horror film doesn't have a whole lot going for it as it's a drama for the majority of the time and never gives itself off as a horror film until the last act, where she tries to kill off the child. This, though, is done in some of the most seemingly innocuous and utterly ridiculous manners possible, never laying a hand on the child but persuading the child to put itself in danger only to be luckily saved each time. While it may work the first few times, after the fifth save from the harrowing death, it just grows tiresome and really works against itself, especially the ludicrous manners she tries to accomplish it under but also because each one doesn't work through her inactivity in killing the child, effectively killing most of it's suspense. That this is the only reason why it gives itself off as a horror film makes this one terribly boring and hardly worthwhile.
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. La Llorona (58)
34. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
35. Santa Sangre
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Post by Fenril on Nov 2, 2011 16:14:01 GMT -5
So then, since I saw the opening of this had a "II" in it, I'm guessing this and El Maleficio 1 are the set-ups for the TV show about people with paranormal powers trying to stop those using them for evil purposes? Or is it the other way around, where these are spun off from the TV show? And more importantly, is the plot even close? I think that's right. A little of both: the original tv series was simply called "El maleficio". The movie, "El maleificio II" (also called "Los enviados del infierno") is spun off from the tv show. I *think* it was supposed to launch a second tv series, but that never happened. You have the plot about right. The original tv series established how the good guys (it was originally a family, I think) got involved in the whole mess. Week-long marathon of Mexican horror continues with another entry, La Llorona (1958 version). After betraying her people to become the mistress of a malevolent Spanish conquistador, a Mexican woman finds herself reincarnated centuries later as the nanny of her lover's descendent and tries to right the wrong of her past by killing the child in her care. An utterly slow-moving and barely-there Horror film doesn't have a whole lot going for it as it's a drama for the majority of the time and never gives itself off as a horror film until the last act, where she tries to kill off the child. This, though, is done in some of the most seemingly innocuous and utterly ridiculous manners possible, never laying a hand on the child but persuading the child to put itself in danger only to be luckily saved each time. While it may work the first few times, after the fifth save from the harrowing death, it just grows tiresome and really works against itself, especially the ludicrous manners she tries to accomplish it under but also because each one doesn't work through her inactivity in killing the child, effectively killing most of it's suspense. That this is the only reason why it gives itself off as a horror film makes this one terribly boring and hardly worthwhile. Yeah, I didn't care much for this one. It starts as a romantic drama, with a woman who won't have sex with her husband for fear on an old family curse, that all firstborns are targeted by the spirit of la Llorona. Then we get a recreation of the Llorona's origin (this part I liked, and even that could have been better). Then, as you said, the third act should have been a full horror tale, maybe in the vein of The guardian. But stablishing that the spirit can't harm the child directly was a very bad idea. The way she's just consumed by her own incompetency was dissapointing, as well. I did like the opening crawl down a street that culminates in a cementery, through. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 3, 2011 10:32:01 GMT -5
So then, since I saw the opening of this had a "II" in it, I'm guessing this and El Maleficio 1 are the set-ups for the TV show about people with paranormal powers trying to stop those using them for evil purposes? Or is it the other way around, where these are spun off from the TV show? And more importantly, is the plot even close? I think that's right. A little of both: the original tv series was simply called "El maleficio". The movie, "El maleificio II" (also called "Los enviados del infierno") is spun off from the tv show. I *think* it was supposed to launch a second tv series, but that never happened. You have the plot about right. The original tv series established how the good guys (it was originally a family, I think) got involved in the whole mess. Okay, so Part 1 sets up the original show, then this one is spun off from that show as the set-up for the second show? It's fascinating to learn this but a little hard to understand it all since this was the introduction to it all. Week-long marathon of Mexican horror continues with another entry, La Llorona (1958 version). After betraying her people to become the mistress of a malevolent Spanish conquistador, a Mexican woman finds herself reincarnated centuries later as the nanny of her lover's descendent and tries to right the wrong of her past by killing the child in her care. An utterly slow-moving and barely-there Horror film doesn't have a whole lot going for it as it's a drama for the majority of the time and never gives itself off as a horror film until the last act, where she tries to kill off the child. This, though, is done in some of the most seemingly innocuous and utterly ridiculous manners possible, never laying a hand on the child but persuading the child to put itself in danger only to be luckily saved each time. While it may work the first few times, after the fifth save from the harrowing death, it just grows tiresome and really works against itself, especially the ludicrous manners she tries to accomplish it under but also because each one doesn't work through her inactivity in killing the child, effectively killing most of it's suspense. That this is the only reason why it gives itself off as a horror film makes this one terribly boring and hardly worthwhile. Yeah, I didn't care much for this one. It starts as a romantic drama, with a woman who won't have sex with her husband for fear on an old family curse, that all firstborns are targeted by the spirit of la Llorona. Then we get a recreation of the Llorona's origin (this part I liked, and even that could have been better). Then, as you said, the third act should have been a full horror tale, maybe in the vein of The guardian. But stablishing that the spirit can't harm the child directly was a very bad idea. The way she's just consumed by her own incompetency was dissapointing, as well. I did like the opening crawl down a street that culminates in a cementery, through. So that's what the two were arguing about? I just thought it was typical Victorian drama nonsense as I never heard the phrase La Llorona in the dialogue anywhere, but that's what they were going on about? So then were does the Spanish conquistador come in and the scenes of her walking through the mob who begin pelting her with fruit and verbal taunts? But totally agree on that bit about her incompetence. It never came across as the child being thankfully saved each and every time from certain death, it just played off as a supernatural being that was just utterly crappy at her job and never once made me think that the child was in danger due to the inability to actually do anything. Maybe it was scary back in the day due to the censorship issue, but nowadays it just comes off as lame. As did I, that opening was pretty cool especially with the narration. As if that wasn't enough fun, here comes the next addition of the weeklong Mexican horror, one that was incredibly high on my to-watch list, Vacations of Terror (Vacaciones de terror). Moving to a new house in the country, a family finds the site was used in a witch-burning ceremony hundreds of years earlier and must stop their possessed daughter from unleashing the witch back in their time. About the top of the heap in terms of just plain cheesy Mexican horror cinema, this one is just a blast it's hard to really hold any flaws against it. Sure, the film is so cliched it borders on a remake of numerous films, disregards plot for a never-ending series of special effect scenes and never really seems to be as exploitative as it really could've, that last one is really the only legitimate complaint that could be lobbied against this one. It's hard not to be entertained at what goes on here, from the opening witch-burning to the gradual realization of possession coupled all the way through to the film's last half hour, which just has so much fun it's almost criminal due to the fact that it comprises one sequence of the witch's powers being levied against her tormentors and seeing dishes thrown across the room, furniture toppled over, objects magically transform in front of their eyes and much more in one extended, dragged-out sequence is just wonderful cheesy good times, and the fact that the film copies a Gothic trademark with a stand-out burning-down-the-house finale leaves it in good taste afterward. About the only thing wrong with this is just how tame it was. The list now reads: 1. Grave Robbers 2. Cemetery of Terror 3. Fangs of the Werewolf 4. Don't Panic 5. Vacations of Terror 6. The Vampires of Coyoacan 7. The Phantom in the Red House 8. The Beast is Alive 9. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman 10. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women 11. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy 12. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato) 13. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter 14. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer 15. Night of the Bloody Apes 16. The Return of the Monster 17. Killer Bees 18. Helena's Cry 19. The Resuscitated Monster 20. Hell's Trap 21. Angel of Light 22. Night of a 1000 Cats 23. Tintorera! 24. Spritism 25. Marina: On the Other Side of Time 26. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy 27. A Woman Possessed 28. The Cursed II 29. The Raven's Mourn 30. Fangs of Fury 31. The Mansion of Madness 32. All of Them Witches 33. The Man and the Beast 34. La Llorona (58) 35. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27 36. Santa Sangre |
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Post by Fenril on Nov 3, 2011 23:32:49 GMT -5
Let's see: On El maleficio: Okay, so Part 1 sets up the original show, then this one is spun off from that show as the set-up for the second show? It's fascinating to learn this but a little hard to understand it all since this was the introduction to it all. The show IS El maleficio I, this movie with a II is the spin-off movie. I really wish they had released the show as well. Apparently there are some legal problems with the show's producers, so for now there's only the movie. On La llorona: [ Yeah, I didn't care much for this one. It starts as a romantic drama, with a woman who won't have sex with her husband for fear on an old family curse, that all firstborns are targeted by the spirit of la Llorona. Then we get a recreation of the Llorona's origin (this part I liked, and even that could have been better). Then, as you said, the third act should have been a full horror tale, maybe in the vein of The guardian. But stablishing that the spirit can't harm the child directly was a very bad idea. The way she's just consumed by her own incompetency was dissapointing, as well. I did like the opening crawl down a street that culminates in a cementery, through. So that's what the two were arguing about? I just thought it was typical Victorian drama nonsense as I never heard the phrase La Llorona in the dialogue anywhere, but that's what they were going on about? So then were does the Spanish conquistador come in and the scenes of her walking through the mob who begin pelting her with fruit and verbal taunts? But totally agree on that bit about her incompetence. It never came across as the child being thankfully saved each and every time from certain death, it just played off as a supernatural being that was just utterly crappy at her job and never once made me think that the child was in danger due to the inability to actually do anything. Maybe it was scary back in the day due to the censorship issue, but nowadays it just comes off as lame. As did I, that opening was pretty cool especially with the narration. If I remember correctly, the couple are, at first, arguing about the fact that she won't "get intimate" with him. Then her father explains the family curse to the husband, but in that roundabout way they did in 50's movies. From this he narrates the second section of the movie as a flashback (that's the sequence with the woman who muders her children and is executed). On the censorship issue... true, but I think the movie would have been better if instead of the couple's drama it had shown a bit of the previous firstborns, such that we could actually buy that the kid is in danger. And as for Vacaciones de terror: As if that wasn't enough fun, here comes the next addition of the weeklong Mexican horror, one that was incredibly high on my to-watch list, Vacations of Terror (Vacaciones de terror). Moving to a new house in the country, a family finds the site was used in a witch-burning ceremony hundreds of years earlier and must stop their possessed daughter from unleashing the witch back in their time. About the top of the heap in terms of just plain cheesy Mexican horror cinema, this one is just a blast it's hard to really hold any flaws against it. Sure, the film is so cliched it borders on a remake of numerous films, disregards plot for a never-ending series of special effect scenes and never really seems to be as exploitative as it really could've, that last one is really the only legitimate complaint that could be lobbied against this one. It's hard not to be entertained at what goes on here, from the opening witch-burning to the gradual realization of possession coupled all the way through to the film's last half hour, which just has so much fun it's almost criminal due to the fact that it comprises one sequence of the witch's powers being levied against her tormentors and seeing dishes thrown across the room, furniture toppled over, objects magically transform in front of their eyes and much more in one extended, dragged-out sequence is just wonderful cheesy good times, and the fact that the film copies a Gothic trademark with a stand-out burning-down-the-house finale leaves it in good taste afterward. About the only thing wrong with this is just how tame it was. Completelly agree on all accounts. This is another schlocky film that's too unfairly critized in my opinion; it's just a b-movie that knows what it is and is proud of it. A hoot to watch. Yes, it's thoroughly unoriginal, and yes, it's pretty tame as far as the violence is concerned. And yet, there's just so much fun here, I don't care. And if you liked this one you'll probably love that sequel (should be easy to find, and it's even crazier... trough only marginally related to this one). |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 4, 2011 10:27:33 GMT -5
On El Maleficio-
I see what you mean now, I get it. I think it would be nice as well, just so that those that have just seen the movie don't feel as though they're suddenly placed in the middle of something with no knowledge of how they got there.
On La Llorona-
That's kinda what I was talking about with the generations of first-borns. You have proof that she's not crappy and incompetent, because she can and did have the ability to do something terrible to the children, whereas the censorship in the time prevented that from happening because you're killing kids essentially, and the way we're suddenly plucked into the story here without her ability to get this child makes her seem like she is really lousy because they don't come off like the child being narrowly saved, it's just a person who can't get the job done.
On Vacations of Terror-
Glad you agree on that one. Totally agree, who gives a damn if it's not original if you're having fun with what's going on. I place more importance on that anyway, so to me that was a great film, despite the fact that it's just a little too tame from what should be expected from a Cardona film, at least compared to the great ones I've seen from the family.
And I'm definitely looking into the second one as well. I've heard that one drops the witchcraft angle and turns it into a creature feature, is that accurate?
And now, onto new business with the conclusion of the Mexican horror marathon, Even the Wind is Afraid (Hasta el viento tiene miedo).
When the students at an-all female boarding house are forced to stay on campus during a holiday break, they find themselves in the middle of a suspected haunting that has ties to those in charge and try to stop it before it gets deadly.
Utterly enjoyable and engrossing Mexican horror effort, with one of the better and more entertaining ghost stories around that make for some incredibly enjoyable times around. Filled with lots of atmosphere in the gigantic facility, a perfectly captivating mystery and the right amount of tension-release, from cheesy dance numbers and slight lesbian undertones to the gang's night-time investigations and the interactions with the headmistress make for some somewhat slow-going but still decent-enough interludes from the haunting action, and while it's not a real go-for-the-throat style of haunting where it constantly reinforces it's there but contains enough set-pieces to make it consciously part of the film. The last half is a little too cheesy to mesh with the classic first-half, but it's still a great old-school ghost story and a highly entertaining one at that.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. Vacations of Terror
6. The Vampires of Coyoacan
7. Even the Wind is Afraid
8. The Phantom in the Red House
9. The Beast is Alive
10. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
11. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
12. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
13. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
14. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
15. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
16. Night of the Bloody Apes
17. The Return of the Monster
18. Killer Bees
19. Helena's Cry
20. The Resuscitated Monster
21. Hell's Trap
22. Angel of Light
23. Night of a 1000 Cats
24. Tintorera!
25. Spritism
26. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
27. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
28. A Woman Possessed
29. The Cursed II
30. The Raven's Mourn
31. Fangs of Fury
32. The Mansion of Madness
33. All of Them Witches
34. The Man and the Beast
35. La Llorona (58)
36. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
37. Santa Sangre
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Post by Fenril on Nov 6, 2011 1:24:14 GMT -5
On Vacations of Terror- Glad you agree on that one. Totally agree, who gives a damn if it's not original if you're having fun with what's going on. I place more importance on that anyway, so to me that was a great film, despite the fact that it's just a little too tame from what should be expected from a Cardona film, at least compared to the great ones I've seen from the family. And I'm definitely looking into the second one as well. I've heard that one drops the witchcraft angle and turns it into a creature feature, is that accurate? It is, through not the way you might think. But giving more details would be a spoiler. I'm glad you enjoyed Hasta el viento tiene miedo; it's possibly my favorite Mexican horror movie (keep in mind I usually prefer atmospheric horror), and really one of the best ghost movies I've seen. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 7, 2011 11:14:36 GMT -5
Yeah, I really enjoyed it too, and have an appreciation for that kind though I generally prefer a much more pressing pace, as once it's known that something's going on, it should just be a continuous horror experience rather than stopping and chatting at every opportunity before it throws in another haunting. I like that style a lot more, so that one dragged in the middle a bit but overall, I really enjoyed it.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 21, 2011 11:26:50 GMT -5
Got another done over the weekend, The Mummies of Guanajuato (Las momias de Guanajuato).
When a strange curse brings the mummified remains of a group of warriors back to life in a small Mexican town, a group of masked wrestlers are called upon to save them from the ever-growing menace.
Immensely enjoyable and entertaining Mexican luchador film, this time graced by a triplicate of popular heroes as the three biggest stars in the genre band together to save the town, and that in turn leads to a lot of greatness in the film. From the opening scenes in the museum where the mummies are on display to their eerie rampages through town and a series of rather fun and impressive stalking scenes with their victims, this one manages to compile a nice atmosphere at times from the situation, since the central storyline and what goes on are a lot of fun from time to time. There's also a never-ending series of action in here, with the wrestlers called upon to brawl and fight with the creatures pretty constantly, and by utilizing their wrestling moves against the lumbering creatures, there's a lot of good cheesy fun to be had from the situation and that is well-served in the finale, where it's highly enjoyable and packed with action as the three unite together to fight off the invading horde with more than just fists, which is cheesy-heaven. The look of the mummies might be the only flaw here, since they obviously look pretty bad and easily-discernible as fakes, but the designs are cool enough to be overlooked. All in all, this turned out to be a fairly enjoyable entry.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. Vacations of Terror
6. The Vampires of Coyoacan
7. Even the Wind is Afraid
8. The Phantom in the Red House
9. The Mummies of Guanajuato
10. The Beast is Alive
11. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
12. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
13. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
14. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
15. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
16. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
17. Night of the Bloody Apes
18. The Return of the Monster
19. Killer Bees
20. Helena's Cry
21. The Resuscitated Monster
22. Hell's Trap
23. Angel of Light
24. Night of a 1000 Cats
25. Tintorera!
26. Spritism
27. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
28. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
29. A Woman Possessed
30. The Cursed II
31. The Raven's Mourn
32. Fangs of Fury
33. The Mansion of Madness
34. All of Them Witches
35. The Man and the Beast
36. La Llorona (58)
37. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
38. Santa Sangre
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Post by slayrrr666 on Mar 12, 2012 13:19:52 GMT -5
Finally had a chance to watch some more over the weekend, this time got two more done: Capulina vs. The Monsters (Capulina contra los monstruous).
When a juvenile newspaper-salesmen is captured and has his brain switched into monsters by a psychotic mad doctor, he races to stop their shenanigans from wrecking the town.
A family style horror film light on horror, heavy on slapstick comedy and full of fun, campy-throwbacks to the classic Universal horror when it gets around to it. As the majority of the film is spent with the title character's interaction with the neighborhood children, it gets agonizingly slow at the beginning filled with all sorts of inane acts like trick-or-treating with them or running from the numerous customers who get infuriated with his juvenile antics, but when it comes to the monsters on the loose, it's actually a lot of fun and manages to get in some insanely funny sequences amongst it all. As the monsters are played for laughs, they look silly and therefore the scenes requiring them to scare away the locals make no sense, but this is a light-weight, enjoyable romp if that's what you're expecting.
The second effort was Santo vs. The Zombies (Santo contra los zombies).
After a series of robberies and kidnappings are found to have been committed by thought-deceased criminals, the masked wrestler is brought in and finds they are zombies created by a criminal mastermind for his own evil-doing.
A fairly enjoyable effort (and perhaps the best of the solo Santo efforts I've seen so far) that manages to contain some nice ideas into it before it gets really overdone by the cheesy level. Since this is obviously influenced by the earlier end of the zombie spectrum, they behave nothing like normal zombies and more in the 'White Zombie'/'Revolt of the Zombies' style form of the zombies used as slaves so it tends to make them sense like big lumbering giants with no sense of pain, quite a difference indeed from the more traditional zombies. That said, this here is still a lot of fun, with a host of extended wrestling scenes, a fantastic fight with zombies amid a burning orphanage, lots of spy gadgets and a sense of campy fun that runs through it all, despite a significantly diminished last-half which knocks it down a little more still.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. Vacations of Terror
6. The Vampires of Coyoacan
7. Even the Wind is Afraid
8. Santo vs. The Zombies
9. The Phantom in the Red House
10. The Mummies of Guanajuato
11. The Beast is Alive
12. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
13. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
14. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
15. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
16. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
17. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
18. Capulina vs. The Monsters
19. Night of the Bloody Apes
20. The Return of the Monster
21. Killer Bees
22. Helena's Cry
23. The Resuscitated Monster
24. Hell's Trap
25. Angel of Light
26. Night of a 1000 Cats
27. Tintorera!
28. Spritism
29. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
30. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
31. A Woman Possessed
32. The Cursed II
33. The Raven's Mourn
34. Fangs of Fury
35. The Mansion of Madness
36. All of Them Witches
37. The Man and the Beast
38. La Llorona (58)
39. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
40. Santa Sangre
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Post by slayrrr666 on Apr 3, 2012 11:01:34 GMT -5
Had a chance to watch some more over the weekend, as again got two more done: Santo vs. The She-Wolves (Santo vs. Las Lobas).
After receiving help from a colleague about a series of strange disappearances, the masked wrestler races to protect a woman from a band of werewolves targeting her small hometown.
Probably my favorite solo Santo effort I've viewed thus far, this one here turned out to be quite an enjoyable effort with a lot going for it. Due to its more serious tone (though that's more in storyline terms than in any actual on-screen content) this one manages to actually get in some rather cool moments from time-to-time, including a rousing opening where an abducted woman is terrorized inside a lavish Gothic Castle's foreground, a rather fun sequence of Santo being attacked at an abandoned wrestling ring by werewolves-as-dogs, and many numerous amounts of flashing/teleporting away after a seconds' notice. There's also a ton of great action scenes here, from a fiery ambush in a remote desert valley to a grand confrontation at the house which contains a lot more violence and gore than expected, making for some positives to overwhelm the cheesy look of the creatures who resemble cavemen more than werewolves. Still, this one is enormously satisfying.
The second one was El Fantastico vs. The Nahual (El fantastico vs. el nahual).
After returning to his hometown, a former wrestler finds the residents tormented by a vicious creature and must return to his former ways to stop the deadly creature.
Not even remotely in the same league as the other masked wrestler film watched, this one here turned out to be an extreme disappointment. While in most cases a low-budget isn’t that big of a deal, here it worked against the film by giving it an unmistakable sheen that is hard-pressed to ignore and didn’t allow for a lot to overcome this designated weakness. Also of note is the fact that this one doesn’t have much in the way of action until the end, as it focuses more on the relationship between the townsmembers rather than the creature’s attacks, leaving for a large portion of time with nothing remotely happening to generate excitement, leaving to a lot of rather banal and incredibly boring scenes of them being harassed or confronting locals before the creature gets involved. When it does decide to show up, the creature’s not bad, generating a spooky presence with its’ glowing eyes and eerie howls in the night so there’s some fun to be had there, as well as some cheesy moments where we witness the wrestler’s past accomplishments as a movie viewed by classroom children, but otherwise not a lot stood out.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. Vacations of Terror
6. The Vampires of Coyoacan
7. Even the Wind is Afraid
8. Santo vs. The Zombies
9. The Phantom in the Red House
10. The Mummies of Guanajuato
11. Santo vs. The She-Wolves
12. The Beast is Alive
13. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
14. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
15. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
16. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
17. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
18. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
19. Capulina vs. The Monsters
20. Night of the Bloody Apes
21. The Return of the Monster
22. Killer Bees
23. Helena's Cry
24. The Resuscitated Monster
25. Hell's Trap
26. Angel of Light
27. El Fantastico vs. The Nahual
28. Night of a 1000 Cats
29. Tintorera!
30. Spritism
31. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
32. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
33. A Woman Possessed
34. The Cursed II
35. The Raven's Mourn
36. Fangs of Fury
37. The Mansion of Madness
38. All of Them Witches
39. The Man and the Beast
40. La Llorona (58)
41. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
42. Santa Sangre
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 6, 2012 11:02:17 GMT -5
Had a chance to watch a good one over the weekend, as I got another one done: Santo and Blue Demon vs. The Monsters (Santo y Blue Demon vs. los monstruos).
When the popular wrestler investigates the abduction of his girlfriend, he finds a mad scientist creating clones of his friends and using criminal's brains to revive a slew of monstrous corpses, forcing him to fight them off to save her. Unbelievably cheesy and thoroughly enjoyable Mexican monster mash-up, putting them all together in a single film that really lets them do what comes naturally to them, run amuck and cause devastation. That really allows for a frenetic pace here, since unlike a lot of these efforts it's got very little downtime, moving from one scene and confrontation to another rapidly and providing plenty to love about those fights, including several rousing and fun battles with the evil clone that's quite striking for the brutality inflicted upon each other, a pretty entertaining kidnapping venture that provides some fun and most of all, a high-energy finale in the mad scientist's lair that's got all sorts of action, plenty of fighting and uproarious amounts of cheese. Some of the monsters may look too much so, and it may not work for everyone, but this is still immensely entertaining.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. Vacations of Terror
6. The Vampires of Coyoacan
7. Even the Wind is Afraid
8. Santo vs. The Zombies
9. Santo and Blue Demon vs. The Monsters
10. The Phantom in the Red House
11. The Mummies of Guanajuato
12. Santo vs. The She-Wolves
13. The Beast is Alive
14. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
15. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
16. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
17. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
18. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
19. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
20. Capulina vs. The Monsters
21. Night of the Bloody Apes
22. The Return of the Monster
23. Killer Bees
24. Helena's Cry
25. The Resuscitated Monster
26. Hell's Trap
27. Angel of Light
28. El Fantastico vs. The Nahual
29. Night of a 1000 Cats
30. Tintorera!
31. Spritism
32. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
33. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
34. A Woman Possessed
35. The Cursed II
36. The Raven's Mourn
37. Fangs of Fury
38. The Mansion of Madness
39. All of Them Witches
40. The Man and the Beast
41. La Llorona (58)
42. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
43. Santa Sangre
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 12, 2012 11:03:47 GMT -5
Got another one done: Santo and Blue Demon in the Land of the Dead (Santo y Blue Demon en el mundo de los muertos).
When the realization that a witch's curse appears to be fulfilled, a masked wrestler must battle her demonic hordes and henchmen to save his beloved from her plans of revenge for the crimes committed against her.
My new favorite lucha movie, and which features a lot of great stuff about it. The cheese is on high-display here, with a silver-caped and masked wrestler engaging in a sword-fight with zombified servants, a sequence involving demonic possession by overlapping the two figures together, footage from other movies spliced into the film wholesale and much more, which makes this one so much fun. along with that, there's a ton of action here with numerous hard-fitting fistfights, a couple spectacular wrestling matches and a final confrontation in a sepia-tinted sequence in the titular location, which makes this one all the more enjoyable. There's enough horror as well with the opening Satanic rituals, possession and stake-burning to make this one still squarely such a film. It's a little hard to sort through the different time periods, but it's not that bad and is overall a rather enjoyable Mexican masked-wrestler horror film.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. Santo and Blue Demon in the Land of the Dead
6. Vacations of Terror
7. The Vampires of Coyoacan
8. Even the Wind is Afraid
9. Santo vs. The Zombies
10. Santo and Blue Demon vs. The Monsters
11. The Phantom in the Red House
12. The Mummies of Guanajuato
13. Santo vs. The She-Wolves
14. The Beast is Alive
15. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
16. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
17. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
18. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
19. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
20. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
21. Capulina vs. The Monsters
22. Night of the Bloody Apes
23. The Return of the Monster
24. Killer Bees
25. Helena's Cry
26. The Resuscitated Monster
27. Hell's Trap
28. Angel of Light
29. El Fantastico vs. The Nahual
30. Night of a 1000 Cats
31. Tintorera!
32. Spritism
33. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
34. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
35. A Woman Possessed
36. The Cursed II
37. The Raven's Mourn
38. Fangs of Fury
39. The Mansion of Madness
40. All of Them Witches
41. The Man and the Beast
42. La Llorona (58)
43. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
44. Santa Sangre
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Post by Fenril on Jun 12, 2012 19:25:11 GMT -5
Santo y Blue Demon en El mundo de los muertos is one of my favorite lucha libre / horror hybrids, partly because, as you point out, this one has enough doses of horror and action to qualify as an hybrid of the two genres (usually these movies are more comedy or action with some monster scenes in the mix). The plot is surprisingly good, as well.
My favorite scene: a man takes a woman he has just picked up to his house. When he kisses her, he recoils in surprise and quips "Your lips are so cold..." to which she replies "As if I were... dead?" On cue, a swarm of zombies appears and drags the man away while the woman smiles in satisfaction.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 13, 2012 10:31:20 GMT -5
Yeah, it's something I caught as well, from the numerous fights with the zombified henchmen to the brawls with Blue Demon and then the wrestling matches back-to-back are all pretty fun and enjoyable, but then to mix it together with the strong horror story and it became a strong favorite.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Sept 11, 2012 10:57:39 GMT -5
Got another one done yesterday: Here Espantan! (¡Aquí espaantan!)
Upon moving into a new house, a pair of newlyweds find the place haunted by a couple of ghosts utterly intent on keeping their familiar resting place out of the hands of the pair and try to force them to leave through whatever means possible.
While this Mexican affair is more comedy than straight-up horror, this is still a pretty funny affair and has enough to like about it. The fact that the ghosts tend to resort to means of extreme physical comedy to get the couple out of the house, from spying on them in various different states, altering the purpose of different items around the house to drive them crazy, appearing as ordinary people to disrupt the different activities performed around the house and all the confusion they cause by interacting with everyone else, which makes this one just insanely funny at times especially when they force the couple to keep the other from knowing what's going on, resulting in some great fun. While it does have some rather lame attempts at empathy late in the film, it's just enough to knock it slightly down from the top.
The list now reads:
1. Grave Robbers
2. Cemetery of Terror
3. Fangs of the Werewolf
4. Don't Panic
5. Santo and Blue Demon in the Land of the Dead
6. Vacations of Terror
7. The Vampires of Coyoacan
8. Even the Wind is Afraid
9. Santo vs. The Zombies
10. Santo and Blue Demon vs. The Monsters
11. The Phantom in the Red House
12. The Mummies of Guanajuato
13. Santo vs. The She-Wolves
14. Here Espantan!
15. The Beast is Alive
16. Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman
17. The Vengeance of the Vampire Women
18. Santo and The Vengeance of the Mummy
19. Capulina Against the Mummies (The Terror of Guanajuato)
20. Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter
21. Nostradamus and the Monster Destroyer
22. Capulina vs. The Monsters
23. Night of the Bloody Apes
24. The Return of the Monster
25. Killer Bees
26. Helena's Cry
27. The Resuscitated Monster
28. Hell's Trap
29. Angel of Light
30. El Fantastico vs. The Nahual
31. Night of a 1000 Cats
32. Tintorera!
33. Spritism
34. Marina: On the Other Side of Time
35. The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
36. A Woman Possessed
37. The Cursed II
38. The Raven's Mourn
39. Fangs of Fury
40. The Mansion of Madness
41. All of Them Witches
42. The Man and the Beast
43. La Llorona (58)
44. Zone of Silence: Parallel 27
45. Santa Sangre
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