50's Fernando Méndez Part Two

THE BLACK PIT OF DR. M
(1959)
Overall: GOOD

 

One of the more singular entries in Mexico's golden age of horror, The Black Pit of Dr. M, (Misterios de ultratumba, Mysteries from Beyond the Grave), throws together Gothic cinematography, melodramatic performances, seances, an insane asylum, ghosts, and a little bit of Faustian "Be careful what you wish for" warnings from the afterlife.  Screenwriter Ramón Obón was and would continue to be as versed in the macabre as director Fernando Méndez was for yet another pairing between the two, crafting something that stylistically is in keeping with Universal's 1930s and 40s output, yet unique in its narrative.  Mankind's curiosity for what lies beyond is at the heart of Rafael Bertrand obsession, which grows to include his dead colleague's daughter Mapita Cortés who has eyes for a more age-appropriate man.  Yet the intermingling of violent tragedy and the supernatural is wonderfully realized by Méndez and Víctor Herrera's camerawork, which is endlessly atmospheric in a traditional dark and spooky sense.  Throw in Gastón Santos going for gusto in the final act with deformed make-up on, and the film provides a little bit of a lot of things with a more sincere tone than most unintentionally silly Mexican genre exports from the era allowed.

LOS DIABLOS DEL TERROR
(1959)
Overall: MEH

 

A Western with a mysterious horseback cult wearing luchador masks because Mexico, Los diablos del terror, (Night Riders), does not properly convey any horror atmosphere despite its catchy title.  Like most south of the border filmmakers, Fernando Méndez had made his share of low-rent Westerns as much as he had made anything in any other genre and he utilizes the usual array of clean, eye-catching costumes and fist-fights in place of pistol shoot-outs because apparently the prop gun department was low on blanks.  Though the day for night scenes are as pathetic as any that were ever filmed, Méndez and cinematographer Victor Herrera manage to get a lot of mileage out of colorful backlighting that make the otherwise cheap sets pop off the screen better than they have any business to, especially in some underground cave sequences.  There is also a bumbling comic relief cohort who gets fly paper stuck to him over and over again while having a terrible time remembering that he can just use his hands to take it off, plus we have a ridiculous prison escape where a horse and a flimsy piece of rope manages to rip an entire cell wall off within a few seconds.  Harmlessly silly, but too sluggish and cheap to be of much interest.

THE LIVING COFFIN
(1959)
Overall: MEH

 

The sequel to the same year's Los diablos del terror, The Living Coffin, (El grito de la muerte, Scream of Death), is another horror/Western hybrid that comparatively adheres closer to the former genre than its companion film does.  Actor's Gastón Santos and Pedro de Aguillón reunite as the dashing gunslinger hero and his bumbling sidekick respectfully, both of whom square off against La Llorona herself.  The Western elements are mitigated to two fistfights amongst cowboys who forget that they have guns and Santos' apparently human-brained horse being able to save him from drowning in quicksand with a lasso, with the emphasis being on people who are convinced that "The Crying Woman" is behind a series of town murders.  Director Fernando Méndez keeps the lights down low for most of the alleged specter's appearances, framing some atmospheric shots of quiet alleyways and a candlelit house where family members jump at the sound of a ringing bell.  It all ends up being nothing more than a Scooby-Doo worthy ruse though and once again Aguillón's doofy mannerisms are completely out of place with the otherwise sincere and eerie tone.