Horror films of Mexico

=History=

The Mexican horror film proper came into its own with the release of "El Fantasma del convento" (1934), "Dos monjes" (1934), and "El Misterio del rostro pálido" (1935), three films from the writer-director Juan Bustillo Oro. Oro is considered by many to be the true Father of the Mexican Horror Film. He directed more than sixty films over five decades, including, "El Hombre sin rostro" (1950). A film of significant importance in Mexican Cinema of the 1950s. Still, as potent and popular as Oro's efforts were, Mexican movie houses were overwhelmingly dominated by melodramas and westerns up until the 1950s. On television, lucha libre--professional wrestling--captivated the country. The sport lent itself well to big-screen adaptations with its costumed heroes and villains, larger-than-life personalities, and impossible feats of strength played straight. Monsters and supernatural storylines complemented these mass-produced wrestling movies perfectly.

Numerous lucha libre films incorporated familiar spookery such as vampires, robots, werewolves, and (especially) mummies. In 1953, however, Mexico mounted its first-ever serious treatment of the Frankenstein myth, "El monstruo resucitado". Directed by Chano Urueta, "El monstruo resucitado" presents Spanish actor José María Linares-Rivas as a deranged plastic surgeon who keeps an ape-monster in his basement and successfully reanimates a corpse, albeit as a mindless zombie. "El monstruo resucitado" was a success in Mexico. Suddenly, the Western was taking second place on screen to the Horror genre films.

Another success "La bruja" (1954) cast gorgeous Lilia del Valle as a repulsive-looking wretch made beautiful by a scientist who then uses her newfound allure for her own evil ends.

"Ladrón de cadáveres" (1957), another popular success, is a wrestling film in which a masked combatant receives a brain transplant from a gorilla. It is also noteworthy for being directed by Fernando Méndez, who, that same year, redefined the possibilities of Mexican horror films with his landmark masterwork "El vampiro" (1957). "El vampiro" is widely considered to be a triumph in the Mexican Horror genre. Often called beautifully directed and photographed "Vampiro" featured film actor, movie writer and producer, "Abel Salazar in the lead role." Salazar would become one of the key figures of the Mexican horror film wave and shortly after starring in and producing "Vampiro" he formed ABSA Studios in Mexico. He would go on to co-produce eight more successful horror films between 1957 and 1963.

A sensation worldwide, Méndez followed "El vampiro" with "El Ataúd del Vampiro" (1958) and "Misterios de ultratumba" (1959), a.k.a. "The Black Pit of Dr. M", a genuinely horrifying excursion into the unhinged mind of the titular character, who runs an insane asylum by day and ventures into occult recklessness come nightfall.

The brain-eating reincarnation romp "El Barón del terror" (1962) is seen by its cult fans as one of the most ludicrous movies ever made anywhere. It caught on in the United States under the title "The Brainiac", where it remains a much-loved cult object nearly a half century since its release.

In 1962 "Witch's Mirror" came courtesy of director Chano Urueta. "Mirror" recounts the story of a sorceress who enchants a looking glass to protect her adopted daughter from domestic violence. When her magic fails, the witch embarks on a journey of vengeance.

The real life Mexican folk legend of "La Llorona" supplied the basis for multiple Mexican-made movies, none more polished and effective than "The Curse of the Crying Woman" (1963), a.k.a. La Maldición de La Llorona. This film, alongside "Misterios de Ultratumba" are often considered by critics as the Mexican counterparts of Mario Bava's legendary "Black Sunday" (1960),who|date=August 2008 although "Misterios" was made one year before "Black Sunday".

However successful the aforementioned projects may have been in their native country, it took one man to make them into international sensations: That man was K. Gordon Murray. Murray acquired and distributed an estimated sixty-six motion pictures in the United States, including fairy-tale fantasies, adult films, and approximately thirty horror imports, almost all of which came from Mexico. Murray's love of exploitation films and sensational subjects proved a perfect formula for selling his Mexican horror acquisitions. Aside from films like "The Brainiac" and other legitimate classics such as "El vampiro" and "Witch's Mirror", Murray's theatrical showings included "The Curse of the Doll People" (1961), a.k.a. "Muñecos infernales"; "The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy" (1958), a.k.a. "La Momia azteca contra el robot humano", plus its sequel; and "Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy" (1964), a.k.a. . He also churned out two of the most popular wrestling imports, "Samson vs. the Vampire Women" (1962), a.k.a. "El Santo contras las mujeres vampiro", and "Samson in the Wax Museum" (1963), a.k.a. "Santo en el museo de cera", a perfect pair of showcases for Santo, one of Mexico's most beloved grapplers. Working out of Coral Gables, Florida, Murray oversaw the rewriting and overdubbing of all his imports at a tiny studio called Soundlab Inc., which was, in fact, one of the very first facilities in the U.S. to focus effectively on reworking foreign films for English-speaking audiences.

Meanwhile, back in Mexico, director René Cardona had covered nearly every genre imaginable as a writer, director, and actor. In 1969 he tore into horror anew with "Night of the Bloody Apes", a.k.a. "La Horripilante bestia humana". Cardona's cult film boasts bona fide footage of open-heart surgery, occasionally hilarious betrayals of the movie's minuscule budget (including fake grass that moves when stepped on), and some genuinely harrowing violence.

Throughout the 1970s, American horror films evolved in new directions and shattered virtually every conceivable taboo on screen. This was a relatively dormant period for Mexican scare fare.

Nonetheless young Guillermo del Toro spent those years awash in horror cinema from all over the globe. After helming two lauded shorts, "Doña Lupe" (1985) and "Geometria" (1987), along with multiple episodes of the horror TV series "Hora Marcada", del Toro took the world by storm with his international arthouse sensation "Cronos" (1993), a tale of a cursed antique device and its demonic promise of eternal life.

Since then, the Guadalajara-born del Toro has interspersed the Hollywood blockbusters "Mimic" (1997), "Blade II" (2002), and "Hellboy" (2004) with the Spanish-language "The Devil's Backbone" (2001) and "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006).

Along with Texas native "Robert Rodriguez", whose "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996) ignited a new fascination with Aztec mythology and blood rituals, Guillermo del Toro is serving to keep Mexican horror cinema alive.

List of mexican horror films

* Dos monjes (1934) Juan Bustillo Oro.
* El fantasma del convento (1934) Fernando de Fuentes.
* El misterio del rostro pálido (1935) Juan Bustillo Oro.
* El hombre sin rostro (1950) Juan Bustillo Oro.
* El monstruo resucitado (1953) Chano Urueta.
* La bruja (1954) Chano Urueta.
* El vampiro (1957) Fernando Méndez.
* El ataúd del vampiro (1958) Fernando Méndez.
* Misterios de ultratumba (1959) Fernando Méndez.
* Muñecos infernales (1960) Benito Alazraki.
* El mundo de los vampiros (1961) Alfonso Corona Blake.
* El barón del terror (1962) Chano Urueta.
* El espejo de la bruja (1962) Chano Urueta.
* La maldición de la llorona (1962) Rafael Baledón.
* Hasta el viento tiene miedo (1968) Carlos Enrique Taboada.
* La puerta (1968) Luis Alcoriza.
* El libro de piedra (1969) Carlos Enrique Taboada.
* The Mansión of Madness (1972) Juan López Moctezuma.
* La noche de los 1000 gatos (1972).
* Más negro que la noche (1975) Carlos Enrique Taboada.
* Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1975) Juan López Moctezuma.
* La tía Alejandra (1978) Arturo Ripstein.
* Alucarda, la hija de las tinieblas (1978) Juan López Moctezuma.
* The Bermuda Triangle (1978).
* El extraño hijo del sheriff (1982).
* Veneno para las hadas (1984) Carlos Enrique Taboada.
* (Cementerio del terror), Cemetery of Terror. 1985
* Cronos (1993) Guillermo del Toro.
* Kilómetro 31 (2007).

External links

* [http://www.kgordonmurray.com/index.html K. Gordon Murray Mexican film archive]

* http://www.santoandfriends.com (Complete Index of Mexican Horror Films)