(1960)
Dir - Roberto Gavaldón
Overall: GOOD
A celebrated supernatural film from director Roberto Gavaldón, Macario is an adaptation of B. Traven's story "The Third Guest", itself a variation of the brothers Grimm fable "Godfather Death". Centered around the poor woodcutter of the title who lives out a meager existence with his wife and numerous children, Macario longs to be full instead of perpetually hungry on the Day of the Dead ceremony when he witnesses turkeys being prepared for wealthy people who can afford to lay out feasts for those that are not even living. The story explicitly deals with class struggles and Catholic guilt brought on by the grossly impoverished being granted a taste of the good life, though not without their share of suffering in order to find everlasting salvation. Ignacio López Tarso turns in a wonderful performance in the lead, looking like a Mexican Jeffery Lewis in some respects with an innocent, benevolent demeanor that makes his hardships and those of his family that much more impactful. It is tragic without being miserably dour and its "meek shall inherent the earth" message, (while rooted in dogma that is not universally accepted), still has a heartfelt undercurrent that is sincerely presented.
(1965)
Dir - Ramón Obón
Overall: MEH
The only directorial effort from screenwriter Ramón Obón, 100 Cries of Terror, (Cien gritos de terror), is a two-part anthology film and an uneven one at that. The first segment "Panico" is the classic, infidelity double-cross where a guy and his mistress believer that they are getting his wife out of the way in an isolated, supposed haunted house and the second "Miedo Supremo" is nothing more than a woman going hysterical while her and another guy are trapped in a crypt overnight. Obón utilizes some creepy sound effects here or there and stages some moments of slow-building intensity, but he or somebody involved also occasionally throws in loud, busy jazz music to completely break up the mood. Speaking of loud, the second story grows unbearable as Alicia Caro relentlessly wails and complains as Jorge Martínez de Hoyos repeats the same dialog over and over again in an aggravatingly futile attempt to calm her down. Though the latter is more one-note and skippable, the opening "Panico" is poorly executed as well, ending several minutes before it actually ends as we wait for something else to happen instead of just Ariadne Welter merely walking around quietly and gathering up her things. Both stories could have afforded to trim twenty minutes and ergo would have worked better as brisk television episodes than something that is stretched into an hour and forty minute feature.
(1968)
Dir - Carlos Enrique Taboada
Overall: GOOD
A haunted, all girls college is an ideal setup that plenty of horror films have utilized and writer/director Carlos Enrique Taboada gets good mileage out of such a premise in Hasta El Viento Tiene Miedo, (Even the Wind is Afraid). It is a classic slow-burn affair where the first two acts only tease at the sinister elements that are afoot, allowing us to spend more time getting to know the small group of girls who are stuck at their school over the holidays by their strict headmistress, (because you have to have one of those). This is not a problem though since throughout the entire movie, Taboada upholds a creepy atmosphere, playing with shadows and tricks of light every time that evening falls and utilizing the wind of the title like a tornado that touches down every night. This latter element becomes silly in how violently it blows open locked doors and women's hair into their face as they keep going outside to see what kind of spectre activity is going on. It plays all of the subtle, supernatural horror tricks well and delivers when the curtain is finally pulled back during the finale, making this a more lighthearted precursor to Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's excellent La residencia from the following year.
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