80's Mexican Horror Part One

DEMONOID
(1981)
Dir - Alfredo Zacarías
Overall: MEH

Teetering on the verge of being a trainwreck, Alfredo Zacarías's Demonoid, (or Demonoid: Messenger of Death), is embarrassingly stupid for the large bulk of it.  The premise of a mummy hand that possesses anyone it grabs is a difficult one to pull off without looking silly as said appendage regularly does battle with people who are trying to make it seem believable that they are wrestling with what is ultimately a rubber toy.  The fact that no attempt is made to explain any of the mythology going on makes the film's entire supernatural struggle one that never becomes engaging because it is really anybody's guess as to why anything is happening.  The performances dip into incompetence here or there with some of the actors either coming off way too excited or not nearly excited enough.  Probably the most hilarious blunders are the absurd musical themes which show up every couple of seconds it seems, ridiculously punching up some scenes in the most abrupt fashion.  Combining Omen-esque Latin chanting with a triumphant, action movie melody, the score could not be less fitting if it tried.  It is occasionally amusing how poor everything comes together though, so you can at least give it that.

 

EL EXTRAÑO HIJO DEL SHERIFF

(1982)

Dir - Fernando Durán Rojas

Overall: MEH

A supernatural horror western from prolific Mexican director Fernando Durán Rojas, El extraño hijo del Sheriff, (The Sheriff's Strange Son, El hijo del Sheriff, The Strange Son of the Sheriff), utilizes the ole Siamese twins set-up where one of them is diabolical and out for vengeance against those who separated him from his brother.  If this sounds suspiciously like the premise to Frank Henenlotter's Basket Case, (also released in 1982), then you get the idea of what is in store here, just if you eliminated the wacky, midnight movie presentation and the whole idea of one of the twins being a deformed monstrosity.  So in other words, this is a much more lackadaisical affair with no memorable set pieces of any kind.  Perhaps due to the clearly minuscule budget and Wild West setting, it is much more akin to genre movies from a decade and some change prior and Rojas uses the usual tactics of camera zooms and drawn-out, completely unengaging sequences with stock shot construction and zero momentum.  Also, you can count the number of times that otherwordly activity occurs on one hand and there is no spooky atmosphere to speak of, besides some glass breaking and character's eyes changing color.

VENENO PARA LAS HADAS
(1984)
Dir - Carlos Enrique Taboada
Overall: MEH

The penultimate directorial effort from Carlos Enrique Taboada, (though he would go on to write screenplays for another decade or so), was 1984's Veneno Para Las Hadas.  Translated to Poison for the Fairies, it is a somewhat predictable tale of two young girls who fancy themselves witches, something that of course does not end up well for them.  As a psychological horror film centered solely around children, (no adult faces are seen unless they are dead or meant to be terrifying), it is an interesting approach that presents everything as taking place in the wild imaginations of the two young leads.  The concept does not carry the movie through though as there are a number of problems with it.  Once again, the often cheerful musical score seems to be taken from a completely different movie and never once compliments the proper tone.  Also, there are a couple of cuts that seem sudden and unintentionally funny and the second act slows down to a numbing crawl where the girls spend endless minutes gathering up items for a witches stew, (the fairy poison of the title).  After awhile it becomes depressing to watch one of them get so easily manipulated by the other who is being endlessly cruel to her.  The ending is also pretty jerky and rather void of context, made all the more curious by that same inappropriate music accompanying it.