SATANIC HISPANICS (2022) (Epic Pictures Blu-ray Review)

 

SATANIC HISPANICS (2022) 

Label: Epic Pictures 

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: R

Duration: 113 Minutes 

Audio: 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Directors: Mike Mendez, Demian Rugna, Eduardo Sánchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Alejandro Brugues

Cast: Efren Ramirez, Greg Grunberg, Jonah Ray Rodrigues, Jacob Vargas, Hemky Madera, Patricia Velasquez, Demián Salomón, Luis Machin. Ari Gallegos

Satanic Hispanics (2022) is an indie horror-anthology that dishes out both humor infused and serious minded terror with a Hispanic culture twist to it. It opens with “The Traveler” directed by Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider), wherein the cops raid a house in El Paso, TX and find it full of dead immigrants, the lone survivor is a mysterious man named Garcia (Efren Ramirez, Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite!). Detectives Arden (Greg Grunberg, TVs Heroes) and Gibbons (Sonya Eddy, V/H/S/99) bring him in for interrogation but his cryptic supernatural explanations less than satisfactory, and when they begin to question him about a collection of relics he carries with him he spins four tales related to the trinkets, this becomes the wraparound story, and the action-packed final segment.

The first tale he spins is “Tambien Lo Vi”, directed by Demian Rugna (Terrified), in it wanna-be Rubik’s Cube champion Gustavo (Demian Salomon, Terrified) lives in his dead grandmother's home, a spooky old place where he practices solving Rubik's all day, as well as having perfected some sort of light algorithm that seems to open up a portal between this world and the next. This skill attracts the attention of a podcaster looking to connect with his dead mother, but the process also opens up a nightmare world for Gustavo, conjuring something that should have been left unconjured. This chilling entry is moody and well shot with some gruesome gore effects that make this a highlight of the anthology. If you're familiar with the director's previous film Terrified it dabble in the same sort of shadowy spookiness with a similar aesthetic, which works great for me.  

Up next is a comedic vampire tale “El Vampiro” directed by Eduardo Sanchez (Exists), wherein a 500 year-old vampire (Hemky Madera, TV's Ash vs The Evil Dead) enjoys the one night a year he can wander the streets freely, Halloween 'natch. We catch up with him as he's exsanguinating a bar room full of patrons, but when his familiar Maribel (Patricia Velasquez, Malignant) calls him to remind him that it's daylight savings time and the sun rises an hour earlier than expected he has to make a mad dash home before dawns breaks, but finds that delinquent egg-throwing teens and cops prove an obstacle, as does morning drive-time traffic! This is played for laughs and is really quite a bit of good fun in the spirit of What We Do In The Shadows by way of My Grandpa Is A Vampire, I loved it. 

 In “Nahaules”, directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero (Bingo Hell, México Bárbaro), De La Cruz (Ari Gallegos, V/H/S/85) is a C.I.A informant looking to be forgiven for his past crimes, but when he stumbles upon a shaman ceremony the witchy Madre Tierra (Gabriela Ruiz), leader of the animalistic “Nahuales” is not so forgiving of his trespass. Perhaps my least favorite of the vignettes here, not awful, but there's not a lot to latch onto, but it does whip up some spooky gruesomeness by the end at least. 

The slapsticky “The Hammer of Zanzibar” is directed by Alejandro Brugues (Juan of the Dead), starts with the beat-up looking Malcolm (Jonah Ray Rodrigues, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) meeting his ex-flame, Amy (Danielle Chaves) at a bar they use to frequent. He regales her with wild tales that he feels are linked to curse that afflicts their group of friends from an encounter years earlier. This one has some time-shifts in it as parts of the story are relayed, and eventually we get a Cuban demon by the name of King Zombie (Morgana Ignis, Stan Against Evil) and a mythical phallus-shaped demon-killing weapon - so yeah, it's pretty humorous stuff with an Evil Dead demonic vibe I couldn't resist, even if it comes off super-goofy and a bit disjointed. 

Then onto the the wraparound story coming full circle with the traveler finally convincing the detectives of the truth of his stories, and hoping to get his hands on a saint-killer gun to kill the San La Muerte, or Saint Death, a vengeful Paraguayan wraith that's been pursuing him for many years, ending the anthology on a action-packed supernatural siege at the police station.  . 

I thought this was quite a solid horror anthology, I enjoyed the Hispanic elements and folklore which gave it a certain flavor that we don't get from most anthologies, so it set it apart, and it was certainly one of the more polished and entertaining that I've seen in quite a few years, we get portals leading to other worlds, mythical beings, demons and the undead, I for one was a very happy horror fan after watching this one, I am only sorry it took me so long to see it! Sure, as with every anthology not all the segments are created equal, some work better than others, but for the most part I thought the blend of the more serious stuff and the more comedy slanted made for a wholly entertaining watch. 

Audio/Video: Satanic Hispanics (2022) arrives on Blu-ray from Epic Pictures in 1080p HD widescreen (2.35:1) and looks great. The digital shot film is crisp with good depth and clarity, the colors were vivid and the black levels are strong. Audio comes by way of lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 surround with optional English Subtitles. I am still surprised that Epic go with lossy audio on the HD format, but the track is serviceable, it's just not as robust as it could have been. 

Extras include an Audio Commentary with Producers/

Directors Mike Mendez and Alejandro Brugues and Directors Demian Rugna, Eduardo Sanchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero, the 26-min Dread Talk, this is an interesting zoom-style conversation hosted by Dread Central with directors Mike Mendez, Alejandro Brugues, Eduardo Sanchez, and Gigi Saul Guerrero. We also get a slideshow of Theatrical Posters, the 2-min Theatrical Trailer; plus a selection of Epic Pictures Trailers including Colonials, The Jester, Island Escape, Last Night At Terrace Lanes. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie poster artwork. 

Special Features: 

- Audio Commentary with Producers/Directors Mike Mendez and Alejandro Brugues and Directors Demian Rugna, Eduardo Sanchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero

- Dread Talk (36 min) 

- Theatrical Posters 

- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 

- Epic Pictures Trailers: Colonials, The Jester, Island Escape, Last Night At Terrace Lanes

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/3NLHoCy

MEXICO BARBARO (2015)

MEXICO BARBARO (2015) 

Label: Dark sky Films
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 115 Minutes
Audio: Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Directors: Isaac Ezban, Laurette Flores Bornn, Jorge Michel Grau, Ulises Guzman, Edgar Nito, Lex Ortega, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Aaron Soto
Cast: Dulce Alexa, Sara Camacho, Lorena Gonzalez

I do love a good horror anthologies and I was particularly excited for Mexico Barbaro from Dark sky Films, showcasing eight horror-filled storied from eight Mexican directors. Of the eight I only recognized the name of Jorge Michel Grau who brought us We Are What We Are (2010). The eight tales seem to be based on Mexican folktales and legends, which give the proceedings an interesting slant. I live in Arizona and I have an appreciation for the varied folktales coming out of Mexico, a rich culture with a storied history marked by violence, sounds like a fertile place for up and coming horror directors. 

We begin minus any intro/wrap-around story, straight into Laurette Flores Bornn’s 'Tzompantli' which combines modern Narco terror with ancient Aztec blood sacrifice as a reporter interviews a narco about the deaths of youths in the area. While it does a decent job combining Mexico's past and present it doesn't make for the most compelling watch as a short, but it does serve as an appropriate introduction to the anthology, ending with the phrase "Mexico... Terror is here... Now."

Edgar Nito's 'Jeral de Berrios' is a haunting tale of a pair of bank robbers on horseback with bricks of gold, one is mortally wounded with a bullet to the gut. The duo take refuge in an abandoned mansion, and as the partner of the wounded man explores the mansion he experiences some damn spooky stuff, including the horny spirit of a woman. Some great camerawork and eerie atmosphere make this an early contender for the best of the bunch on the anthology.  This one also goes for the throat with an erotic scene that turn disgusting, which is not something exclusive to this story in particular, a few of these stories might induce some nausea among the more sensitive viewers, which I was not expecting. There are also some nice nods to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movies, which I certainly appreciated. 

Aaron Soto’s 'Drena' (Drain), a another creepy one that finds a young woman walking home through the desert, she finds the corpse of a man in a ditch,  still clutching a cigarette in his hand. For reasons I cannot make sense of she takes the cigarette and returns home, only to smoke it in her room. When doing so she is visited by a strange spectre that says she must perform a strange vaginal bloodletting ritual on her sister or it will return to suck her soul from her anus. This is a strange one, it comes and goes quickly, and the final scenes is a strange shocker you won't soon forget, a solid entry. 

Next comes Isaac Ezban’s 'La Cosa Mas Preciada' (That Precious Thing) concerning a young virgin couple who travel to a remote cabin in the woods to consummate their young love, only to have it ruined by some rapey demonic goblins who live in the forest. This one was probably the most vile and over-the-top of the stores. It won me over with a mix of some cool creature effects, goblin cock,  and loads creamy yellow stuff. I didn;t love that this entry had that artificial grindhouse veneer added to it but I still loved the movie, a fun watch that is part Sam Raimi's Evil Dead and part Walerian Borowczyk's 'The Beast'. 

Lex Ortega’s 'Lo Que Importa Es Lo De Adentro' (What Matters Is On The Inside) is a bogeyman story of sorts, concerning a troubled adolescent girl who stares out from her upper floor apartment window and cries about the bogeyman, a homeless man who lives in the nearby alleyway. This bogeyman story combines the fear of children with some child kidnapping and organ harvesting, pretty gritty stuff with some gruesome gore effects, and a hint of necrophilia.

Jorge Michel Grau's 'Muñecas' (Dolls) has a great setting, the Island of Dolls in Mexico, shot it attractive black and white, it captures the dark beauty of the black waters of the swamp and the broad leafed plant life, but there's very little story, this on relies on visuals and atmospherics. A woman is chest deep in the black water on the run from a murderer, with very little dialogue the story seems to be about what lurks just beneath the surface of the popular tourist destination, but like  Laurette Flores Bornn’s 'Tzompantli' it is tonally very cool but left me wanting more than a good short story should have.

Ulises Guzman's 'Siete Veces Siete' (Seven Times Seven) again brings us to modern day Mexican narco violence with a phantasmagorical twist of revenge and the occult. This one was mighty creepy with some seriously atmospheric cinematography that set a strange tone, it was quite an eerie watch.  Some cool special effects bring the nightmare imagery to life. The story itself is a tragic tale of revenge, as a man disfigured by fire sets out to avenge the death of wife and kids, again and again. Of all the tales I think this one did the best job of marrying the real-life violence with an voodoo-type of mysticism, my hat if off to Guzman, hope to see a feature length from this guy at some point. 

Gigi Saul Guerrero’s 'Dia de Los Muertos' (Day of the Dead) finishes up the Mexican horror anthology with a fun stripper-revenger, which more or less feels like a riff on Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn,  with strippers in Day of the Dead make-up in the absence of vampires. Not that original but that's just fine by me, it's always nice to go out on a fun note, and this certainly does just that with a mix of campy eroticism and gruesome revenge. 

Special Features: 
- Behind The scenes (31 Mins) 
- Trailer (2 Mins) 

Mexico Barbaro was a solid horror anthology, I didn't love every segment but that's almost never the case with any horror anthology in my experience. Of the eight stories I would say 'Jeral de Berrios',  'La Cosa Mas Preciada' and 'Siete Veces Siete' take the top honors with a stylish blend of creepy storytelling and atmosphere, though 'La Cosa Mas Preciada' is just disgustingly fun throwback. The other stories are decent and well-crafted, nothing ruined it for me, they were just below par. An anthology on par with the V/H/S movies, more consistent than the ABCs of Death, and absolutely worth a watch, this is recommended. 3/5