The Aztec Mummy (1957)

- La momia azteca
Hopelessly Dull, 14 January 2007

After watching the first movie in BCI's new Aztec Mummy Collection, it's difficult to believe how excited I was about the set and how upset I was when the release date was pushed back. I've watched a lot of Mexican horror in recent months. Some great – The Curse of the Crying Woman. Some entertaining despite obvious flaws – Night of the Bloody Apes. And some Cheesy – Pick any Santo movie. One thing that all these movies have in common is that none can be called "dull". Well, that's not the case with The Aztec Mummy. It's been awhile since I last watched something so sleep inducing. I wasn't hoping for or expecting a great movie, but at least entertain me! The Aztec Mummy takes every situation that could be interesting and sucks the life out of it through repeated scenes of people doing nothing and then extending those scenes for what fells like an eternity. I guess that's what happens when you make an 80 minute movie with only 30 minutes of material. Padding extraordinaire! For example, for anyone who has seen the movie, what purpose does The Bat have other than to bring a masked wrestler type to the screen and to extend the runtime by 15 or so pointless minutes?

I can only hope that the other two movies in The Collection are more entertaining than this one.

3/10

The Black Pit of Dr. M (1959)

- Misterios de ultratumba
Another Mexican horror winner!, 29 August 2006

Another Mexican horror winner! Until just recently, I doubt I could have named more than a half dozen Mexican horror films that didn't feature a masked wrestler. As I'm quickly discovering, Mexican horror has much more to offer – especially for fans of Gothic horror. Films like The Black Pit of Dr. M appear to be heavily influenced by the classic Gothic Universal films of the 1930s. They have the same thick atmosphere, similar looking sets, a familiar grand but foreboding score, and common plot themes. In fact, if the actors weren't speaking Spanish and you could replace the main actor with Boris Karloff, you would essentially have a 1930s American horror film.

The Black Pit of Dr. M is the story of a couple of doctors who have made what is in essence a death pact. The one who dies first will do whatever he can to comeback to let the another know what the afterlife is like. But Dr. Mazali isn't content with knowing what happens after death, he wants to experience it. His recently departed friend, Dr. Aldama, informs Dr. Mazali that it might be possible him to experience the afterlife, yet return to the living. But is Dr. Mazali willing to pay a heavy price to cheat death?

If I have one complaint with The Black Pit of Dr. M it would be with the predictable nature of some of the plot points toward the end of the movie. Maybe I've seen too many similar movies or maybe the movie really is predictable, but a few more plot twists in the films finale would have made this one even better. As it is, The Black Pit of Dr. M is a wonderfully entertaining movie even with this weakness. Fans of Gothic horror are sure to enjoy this one.

Casa Negra's new DVD is amazing given the obscure nature of the movie. I sincerely doubt that The Black Pit of Dr. M ever looked better. The DVD includes a warning about some brassy moments in the film's soundtrack, and while I noticed it, the audio weaknesses never distracted or took away from the film's enjoyment. The extras are nice and include a very informative commentary with IVTV founder Frank Coleman. Overall, it's another solid job by Casa Negra.

8/10

Muñecos infernales (1961)

- The Curse of the Doll People
The "dolls" certainly are creepy little buggers, 20 August 2006

I feel very fortunate to have seen the original Spanish version of Munecos infernales instead of the cut, poorly dubbed American film known as The Curse of the Doll People. If you go into Munecos infernales expecting great cinema, you'll probably come away disappointed. But, if you lower those expectations a bit and enjoy the film for what it is, you might just have fun with it.

The plot concerns a group of men who have returned from a trip to Haiti. While there, they witnessed a voodoo ritual and managed to steal a voodoo idol. Before they could get away, however, the voodoo priest put a curse on the men and their families. Now, one by one, the men are dying mysterious deaths.

The best part of Munecos infernales has to be the "dolls". In reality, they're nothing more than midgets with paper-mâché masks that resemble their last victim. It may sound silly, but these are some creepy little buggers that actually manage to create a little atmosphere and sense of dread. On the downside, the film fells terribly padded to extend the runtime. For example, there are a couple of scenes where we see people going through windows that seem to go on forever. I previewed The Curse of the Doll People and, unfortunately, the cuts made to it don't include scenes like this.

6/10

The Witch's Mirror (1962)

- El espejo de la bruja
Old-school, slow-burn, atmospheric horror, 25 July 2006

The Witch's Mirror is a veritable cornucopia of horror themes. Over the years, I've seen a number of very promising films ruined by an overly ambitious screenplay that tries to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the plot. Fortunately, The Witch's Mirror defies the odds and most of varied plot elements work. The movie is sort of a mixture of an Italian Gothic ghost story (like Riccardo Freda's The Ghost) and a brilliant surgeon turned mad scientist film (like Georges Franju's Eyes Without a Face) with a dash of grave robbing and devil worshipping. The fact that director Chano Urueta was able to combine all of these elements into an entertaining movie and effectively keep distractive plot holes to a minimum is amazing. As my examples would seem to indicate, while The Witch's Mirror is a Mexican made film, it has a definite European feel to it. And like its European counterparts, Urueta was able to effectively fill The Witch's Mirror with atmosphere to burn. If you're looking for that old-school, slow-burn, atmospheric type of horror, you can't go wrong with The Witch's Mirror.

7/10

The Curse of the Crying Woman (1963)

- La maldición de la Llorona
An effective, creepy tale, 19 July 2006

Just when you get all smug and begin thinking there are no really good Gothic horrors left to be seen, someone comes along and releases a film on DVD that challenges your mistaken notions of having seen it all. That's the case with Casa Negra's recent release of The Curse of the Crying Woman. It's got everything a fan of Gothic horror could ask for – a slow-burn story that allows for atmosphere, women in black flowing dresses, a crazed madman caged in the attic, a dead witch in the cellar, a deformed and brutish henchman, a creepy old castle, and wonderfully beautiful black & white photography. As a fan of films like Mario Bava's Black Sunday, I'm overjoyed to have discovered The Curse of the Crying Woman. The films share more than their central plot points of bringing a long dead witch back to life, director Rafael Baledon seems to have used parts of The Curse of the Crying Woman to pay homage to Bava. The similarities between the first image of the black-haired Selma standing with her Great Danes is so similar to Barbara Steele's introduction in Black Sunday that it cannot be mere coincidence. Although obviously hampered by budget constraints (again, similar to Bava), Baledon nevertheless was able to craft an effective, creepy tale. It's not the jump scare kind of horror – it's much more subtle than that. It's the kind of movie that, if you allow it to, will get under your skin. It's very well done and new favorite of mine.

And I thought all Mexican horror movies featured masked wrestlers battling werewolves and vampires. I can't wait to see what Casa Negra comes out with next.

9/10

Night of the Bloody Apes (1969)

- La horripilante bestia humana
"I acted against the dictates of God", 12 May 2006

Night of the Bloody Apes is a bizarre little film. It features: bad acting, a ridiculous storyline, terrible special effects, inane dialogue, Grand Canyon size plot holes, a complete lack of logic, enough padding for two movies, an insane amount of blood and gore, a generous helping of nudity, some truly "unique" camera-work, and female luchadors. I generally hate this term, but it should be easy to see why I consider Night of the Bloody Apes "so bad its good". The movie is so full of excesses and poor taste that it's an absolute blast to watch. Night of the Bloody Apes may be a train wreck of a film, but I can't think of many movies that are this bad yet so fun to watch.

I could go on and on describing moments for Night of the Bloody Apes like the utterly boring masked female wrestling matches or the eye gouging scene that looked like someone was squeezing cottage cheese, but I don't want to "ruin" it for anyone. You need to see this one for yourself.

5/10

Guyana: Crime of the Century (1979)

Cardona Does Jonestown, 1 March 2006

If you take a look at Rene Cardona Jr.'s credits, you'll quickly discover that he jumped on every bandwagon that passed by. Tintoera is his Jaws "inspired" film. Cyclone is his cash-in on the disaster movie boom. The Bermuda Triangle is his link to the unexplained mysteries craze of the 70s. And I'm sure you can find similarities between Cardona's The Treasure of the Amazon and either a Hollywood movie like Romancing the Stone or a watered-down Italian cannibal film. With Guyana: Crime of the Century, Cardona wasn't trying to rip a movie, but instead choice to latch onto the coattails of one of the biggest news stories of the 70s – Jim Jones and the People's Temple.

Compared with Cardona's other films I've seen, Guyana: Crime of the Century comes off as a much more serious work. Cardona appears to be going for fewer of the exploitation elements he loaded his other films with and, instead, is going for something more true to life and realistic. Don't misunderstand, there are scenes of exploitation in Guyana: Crime of the Century, they are just not played to the max the way they are in something like Tintoera. Being based at least somewhat on an actual event, Cardona was handcuffed by the reality of what actually took place in the jungles of Guyana. As a result, this movie is not as "fun" as Cardona's other films. Much of the first 2/3 of the film is very slow with little more to enjoy than the wild, crazed dialogues of the good reverend. The last 1/3 does pick up the pace, culminating with a satisfactory finale that is very well done by Cardona's standards. It's a moving and fitting end to the film.

In addition to comparing Guyana: Crime of the Century with his other works, I can't help but compare Cardona's movie with the 1980 TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones. I haven't seen the TV movie in a decade or more, but I remember it being a better made film that probably sticks to the truth of what happened at Jonestown better than Cardona's movie. Also, the 1980 film stars Powers Boothe as Jim Jones. His portrayal of the crazed leader of the doomed cult is light-years ahead of Stuart Whitman's turn in the role. Boothe delivers an incredibly powerful (pun not intended) and believable performance.

Speaking of Stuart Whitman, Guyana: Crime of the Century is filled with over-the-hill, past-their-prime actors in most of the major roles. Whitman was the youngest at 53. Yvonne De Carlo was 57. Gene Barry was 60. John Ireland was 65. And Joseph Cotton was the oldest at 74. For Cotton, Guyana: Crime of the Century is about as far away from Citizen Kane as you can get.

5/10

The Fear Chamber (1968)

Poor Old Karloff, 22 February 2006

Poor, old Boris Karloff. Reduced to appearing in a string of wretched Mexican horror films just before his death. I'm not sure what made him decide to do it, but this is not the way for a horror legend to go out. Fear Chamber is plain old bad. The plot makes little or no sense at all. Scenes and character seem to exist in a vacuum in that things happen that have no relation to what came before or what comes after. The cinematography and editing are shoddy. The acting is abysmal. Suffice it to say that everything I could mention is horrible. The reason I haven't rated the film any lower and the only reason to watch Fear Chamber is the curiosity value.

2/10

The Bermuda Triangle (1978)

What's John Huston doing in this movie?, 25 November 2005

It's official - I can't seem to get enough of Rene Cardona, Jr.'s brand of movie-making. When I got my hands on The Bermuda Triangle, I was expecting the usual stuff – planes and ships disappearing at sea, unknown lights, and the ocean changing colors. While The Bermuda Triangle gives you all this, Cardona has stuffed the movie with so much more including: a possessed doll, a girl who talks to dead people, sharks, underwater earthquakes, parrot attacks, hurricanes, and more. None of it is fleshed-out very well, but boy is it fun.

Please don't misunderstand – The Bermuda Triangle isn't really a very good movie. The acting is bad, the dubbing is horrible (people in normal conversation often have the same tone in their voice usually reserved for a radio announcer), the special effects are weak, and the story is often predictable. To top it off, Cardona feels the need as he does in some of his other movies to show sharks being slaughtered. But none of this kept me from having a good time with The Bermuda Triangle.

5/10

Cyclone (1978)

Not as much fun as the other Cardona movies I've seen, 24 September 2005

Cyclone's plot features a group of people stranded at sea after a cyclone rolls through leaving them with little water or food. The movie examines the lengths these people will go through to survive. I have now seen three films directed by Rene Cardona, Jr. and Cyclone is easily my least favorite. While it has its moments of weirdness, overall it is neither as sleazy as Tintorera nor as bizarre as The Treasure of the Amazon. For the most part, it's just plain dull and nowhere near as fun as the other two Cardona movies I mentioned. Add to that some bad acting, bad special effects, bad gore, and a bad script and you've got the makings for a bad movie.

Animal lovers beware. Cyclone features one scene in particular that is as cruel a scene as I've ever seen. I realize that the animal probably wasn't hurt, but I found it repulsive nonetheless.

3/10

The Treasure of the Amazon (1985)

Good, but too many problems for me to call it great, 20 June 2005

Three different groups set out through the jungles of the Amazon with a singular goal - to find treasure. They must overcome wild animals, cannibals, headhunters, and, ultimately, themselves if they are to reach their goal and make it out alive.

Treasure of the Amazon has some really good things going for it. First, it features some of the most over-the-top moments I've seen recently. The headhunter attack scenes are a hoot. The low budget special effects add a nice touch. Second, almost every member of the cast delivers a solid performance. Stewart Whitman, Pedro Armendariz, Donald Pleasence, and Sonia Infante are all worth watching. Third, the jungle setting is fabulous. Nice touches with the scenes of animals intercut with the film. The lush jungle is beautiful and frightening at the same time. And fourth, the ending is perfect.

But there are things about the movie I didn't care for that keep me from rating it any higher. First, I said that almost every member of the cast was solid. The biggest and most glaring exception is former Miss World Ann Sidney. Her fake Southern accent got old very quickly. Second, John Ireland is so underused I forgot he was even in the movie. I've always enjoyed his work and would like to have seen more of him. Third, and most importantly, the movie gives off a vibe to me that's hard to explain, but kept me from fully enjoying the movie. Much of the film came across to me like an episode of the television show Fantasy Island. Take away the gory bits and I half expected to see Mr. Roarke walking out of the woods in his white suit. It doesn't help matters that I remember seeing half of the cast on the show at various times.

6/10

Alucarda (1978)

Disturbing, 17 April 2005

After the death of her parents, a girl, Justine (Susana Kamini), arrives at a convent hoping to find a new life. She immediately meets Alucarda (Tina Romero). Before long, Alucarda professes her love for Justine and wants to seal their friendship with a blood oath. But the spot the girls select to perform this ceremony is home to evil spirits that take over their bodies. Soon after, the girls express their allegiance to Satan and Alucarda attacks a priest. The girls eventually find themselves the subjects of an exorcism.

Alucarda certainly is a twisted story full of imaginative imagery. Between blood pacts, orgies with Satan, levitating nuns, exorcisms, reanimated dead bodies, and the fiery destruction of the convent, there are very few moments to catch a breath. I found everyone of these moments visually disturbing, yet somehow incredibly beautiful. It's a real contradiction to see a nun floating off the ground covered in blood and think to yourself that it's one of the most beautiful images you've seen in a film.

There are other contradictions within Alucarda that add to its effectiveness. Take Alucarda herself as played by Romero. She is evil and innocent at the same time. It's truly a remarkable performance.

9/10