So yes, like the title and cartoonish sombrero on the skeleton monster suggest, these are Mexican horror films. Movies from Mexico tended to get little to no exposure in English speaking markets, so most horror fans have probably never heard of any of these. But don't let that put you off. Because if you dig classic 80s atmosphere with big hair, cheesy soundtracks, blood and a variety of masked killers and monsters, this set's got the goods. Sure, it's a knock-off bonanza, with rip-offs of everything from Nightmare On Elm Street to Poltergeist, but this isn't like ridiculous, Indian SpiderMan-level filmmaking. These shot-on-film movies (mostly) display genuine, ambitious filmmaking with serious effort to create stylish, professional cinema that could compete the kind of horror favorites we were getting in our own Blockbuster Videos.
First up, starting from Side A of disc 1 to side B of disc 4, because yes these are flipper discs, is Vacation of Terror. Some of these movies are darker and more serious, but the first couple are a bit lighter in tone. Not horror comedy or anything too jokey, but more inviting you to enjoy a fun spooky ride rather than trying to scare or menace you. Here, we have a pretty traditional haunted house flick. In fact, it's biggest fault might just be that it's a little too by-the-numbers predictable, with a lot of gags we've seen before in other films. Basically, a family inherits a house that they intend to use as a summer home, and whoops, they awaken the spirit of an old witch who was buried there many years ago.
It has a cool black & sepia prologue, a la The Beyond, and then the happy family move in and start to notice things are a little supernatural. This isn't one of those super slow burns where you're an hour in and so far you've only seen a window close by itself. There's a natural progression, but it isn't long before mysterious sounds and creeping mists lead way to direct attempts on the characters' lives. The little girl gets possessed via her doll, and we start to get some serious Cathy's Curse vibes. It's not totally over the top, but it doesn't waste our time trying to be overly subtle either. We've got magical glowing medallions, people floating around in the air and driverless cars trying to run people down. One of the leads, the older sister's boyfriend who comes to stay with the family, is Pedro Fernádez, a big pop and television star in his home country, who's definitely going for the teen idol vibe in these films.
I say "these films" because he's back in the next movie, Vacation of Terror 2. For the first half of this one, I have to say I was enjoying it even more than Part 1. Pedro is back but the original family is gone (I guess he ditched his girlfriend between films). This time he falls for a cute young pop-star who happens to walk into his little shop. He goes to see her perform her new single at a Halloween/ birthday party being held in a movie studio, when somehow another witch's ghost gets awakened. This one really doesn't waste time getting into the action, there's a higher body-count, more creative special effects, people running around with guns, a catchy musical number (although the lyrics are either mistranslated or it's a very strange song), and this time the witch spends most of the film in physical form as a funky, hooded lizard monster. Plus, this one's Halloween-themed with colorful decorations to throw you into the spirit of things.
By the second half, though, it started to get a little repetitive (monster attacks, heroes escape, monster attacks again, heroes escape again), and it started to run low on steam. Overall, the original film probably wins out by virtue of being more grounded in a better story. Plus, it's a little disappointing that no one goes on vacation during this entire movie. haha But there's definitely a good time to be had with this sequel. The effects aren't exactly cutting edge in these films, but they're not no frills papier-mâché either. These movies had real special effects teams that were clearly trying to compete with American films, and no, they didn't match the Hollywood greats, but they're as effective and entertaining as flicks like Demon Wind or Spookies.
And we get Pedro back one more time for the next film, Hell's Trap. This is the weakest of the three films, objectively speaking; but I could also see it being many peoples' favorite of the Fernández trilogy, or even the whole set. This one's more of a slasher as opposed to a supernatural affair, and yes, the killer's got a cool mask. He's also got a crazy Freddy-like glove he breaks out for a couple kills. But this isn't your typical teens unaware that they're getting picked off one by one scenario. Here we've got two groups of teens who initially think they're hunting a bear before finding out there's a legendary madman stalking the woods. But they figure it out fast, arm up and fight back. Closer to The Final Terror than Friday the 13th, becoming even more of an action movie in the final act.
But just as an overall film, it is the weakest. There's a really heavy-handed comic relief character, and all of the dialogue and plotting is kinda lame. The other films were hokey at points, but work as your typical, catch it on cable TV horror flick. For Hell's Trap, you're going to have a blast if you're the target audience looking for throwback slasher films, prepared not to overlook some flaws but embrace all the 80s slasher trappings. Mainstream audiences will be turned off, although it moves at a good pace and the final act draws you in. But overall, this is much more Code Red than Scream Factory, if you know what I mean.
This is our Halloween rip-off. It's our second film set on Halloween night, with a group of teens and a younger group of trick or treating kids being menaced by a slightly supernatural masked killer. The teens have stolen a body from the morgue and resurrected it as part of a Halloween gag (just go with it), but of course they unwittingly picked the most evil, unstoppable corpse possible. And Stiglitz is unquestionably our Dr. Loomis, a slightly manic doctor who knows what's up and has come to town to try wake the local sheriff up and finally stop the monster. Some nice kills, creeping around a cemetery and an old boarded up house at night, and even a magical book of the dead. It's cooler than a lot of our native Halloween knock-offs, that's for sure.
Then Grave Robbers is pretty similar to Galindo's Cemetery. Like Vacation of Terror, it starts with a cool backstory prologue, this time with a mad monk who's caught performing a Satanic sacrifice and buried alive. Then some teens who like to rob graves for a living fall into his tomb and pull out the magical axe that was keeping him dead. So you've got another evil, undead madman hulking around a cemetery offing everybody who crosses his path, and the local police, priest and teens need to work together to stop him before he manages to wipe out the whole town. I think they're even using the same magical book of the dead prop from the last movie.
Our evil monk zombie guy wears a hood and lurks in the shadows with a big axe, executing some pretty nasty kills. And there are a few supernatural twists added to the mix to keep things spicy. Really, if you don't like this one, I think you just don't appreciate 80s horror flicks. The special effects are cool, the killer is bad-ass, gore is flying, the score's effective and the pacing is pretty tight. Okay, there's no great story at the heart of this thing; but it's one sweet set piece after another. Trust me, dudes, this movie's awesome.
But Demon Rat, unfortunately, is the one film that doesn't fit in. It's from the 90s, and more importantly, isn't any good. I understand why it's here - it's another Rubén Galindo Jr film. But where his other endeavors seemed to take their influence from the nightmarish works of Carpenter and Fulci, this time it's like he's aping a late 90's era Roger Corman production. It's just a bad idea followed upon with bad execution that shows none of the artistry his previous two films did. Yes, there is a demon rat in this film, but we only see it for about twenty seconds and it looks ridiculous. It doesn't even really factor into the plot, which is actually about a couple of goofily dressed clods standing around in a boxy apartment arguing about corporate ethics and the environment. Oh, and it's set in the future, but looks like it was filmed in the past. I mean the past even for the 80s.
We find a beautiful young teacher living in a post ecological disaster, where everybody has to wear gas masks whenever they're outside. Every single scene in this film begins and ends with the characters checking a little pollution detector taped over their doors that let's them know when it's safe to take the masks off inside. They get so much screen-time; it's crazy! Anyway, meanwhile, her ex husband has taken over her father's corporation, which he makes secretly dump toxic waste in the local park. It turns the local animals into oversized mutants, but the only one we encounter is the titular demon rat who takes up residence in the teacher's apartment and kills the exterminator. But forget about that, because instead the story follows her new boyfriend who discovers what the company's up to, and the rest of the film is her boyfriend and ex-husband chasing each other around with handguns. The plot is mind-numbingly dull, all anyone talks about is the pollution and the corporation, the cinematography is completely flat and uninspired, and the acting sucks. Even Mystery Science Theater would have a hard time making fun out of this one, because so little ever happens on screen.
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dubbed English version on top; subtitled version below. |
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dubbed English version on top; subtitled version below. |
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dubbed English version on top; subtitled version below. |
Except maybe for Demon Rat. That one doesn't have the egregious headroom and might be chopped on the sides. Either way, it's a much worse looking transfer than the other films, which at least respect their filmic roots. This one looks like it could be sourced from a video tape master. But then, the director also seems to have added varying levels of a filter to every shot to make it look like there's "pollution" coursing through the scene. So it's hard to tell exactly what flaw is to blame for what symptom. Bottom line, though: it looks awful.
But on the plus side, every film in this set is presented in its original Spanish language with removable English subtitles, so we're not saddled with goofy dubbing spoiling the films. Well, except for Don't Panic, where we get both options. Don't Panic is also the only film in this set to have been previously released on DVD... by budget labels in the UK, and I believe those are both the dubbed version, meaning this is the first and only time it's been released on disc in its original language.
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Grave Robbers - see? They're all interlaced. |
But Vol. 1 is a treasure. It features all these films that aren't available anywhere else, all seemingly uncut, and most of which are a real kick. There are zero extras of course, and fullscreen, interlaced standard definition transfers are hard to get excited for. But these could've been a lot worse, especially since it's not like we have any other options. Some of these flicks are so good, they should really be on blu-ray (Grave Robbers, I'm looking at you). But they're not, so this set is it. When it was new, this set was a budget release, too - the kind of thing you could score for just a couple of bucks. Unfortunately, now it's long out of print and has to be found used for serious collector's prices. But you can see why those in the know cling to their copies.