Mexico Bárbaro II (2017)
Label: Unearthed Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 87 Minutes 3 Seconds
Audio: Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1, PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Directors: Abraham Sánchez, Carlos Meléndez, Christian Cueva, Diego Cohen, Fernando Urdapilleta, Lex Ortega, Michelle Garza, Ricardo Farias, Sergio Tello
The second installment of the México Bárbaro II (2017) horror anthology series features nine Mexican directors offering eight stories ranging from eerie and haunting to grotesque and brutal, all exploring Mexican folklore and legends.
First up is the supernatural revenger "La Leyenda de Juan Soldado", directed by Abraham Sánchez (Devastación), set in 1939 a man accused of a heinous crime professes his innocence over and over to his captors, but his pleas fall on death ears. He is brutalized and executed, and in death finds himself in hell where he is tortured by demons, while there he makes a deal with the devil, and those who wrongly executed get a horrific comeuppance.
In "Paidós Phobos", directed by Diego Cohen (Mark of the Devil), a young woman who through flashbacks appears to have been the victim of rape and who might or might not have a child fantasizes about drowning the child, which she keeps locked up in a room. I think that's what we have here, but the brief duration doesn't allow for much development or exploration of what seems an interesting idea, it just sort of comes and goes, and I was scratching my head to be honest. Not without some haunting atmosphere, but under developed in my opinion.
In "Potzonalli", directed by Fernando Urdapilleta (Estrellas solitarias), a family that has been cruelly abused by the patriarch prepare a very special dinner. We see flashbacks of the swine of a man molesting his daughter, abusing his wife, disfiguring one son with hot oil, and humiliating the other, and when he returns home they have their gruesome revenge on him, carving him up like pig, and served up in a soup pot to unsuspecting guests. This is one of the most grisly of the stories, the black humor of it is sharp, and the gory special effects are stomach churning.
In "Bolas de Fuego", directed by Christian Cueva & Ricardo Farias, two low-rent porn actors/content creators hire a pair of attractive women who star in a live stream with them, the women start pleasuring them for the cams but they end up sucking off more than just usual jizz from the two young men. A cautionary vampiric porn tale this one is somewhat annoying because of the bizarre pop-up style ads that were quite distracting, but if you get past that it's pretty entertaining if shallow.
In "No te Duermas", directed by Sergio Tello (the co-writer of Atroz), a young boy is chock full of night terrors and weird bedtime rituals because of the scary stories his late grandmother told him, resulting in phobic behaviors and bed-wetting. His father assures him these are made-up stories, but he might be dead wrong about that.
In "Ya es Hora", directed by Carlos Meléndez (Hysteria), two teen girls perform a black magic ritual to summon an entity that will enact their revenge on a group of mean-girl teens that have maligned them. The incantation works and as the intended girls are gathered together at a sleepover they each experience gruesome deaths by way of vomiting blood and nails, melting, zombification, and one blows up like Thunder from Big Trouble in Little China. The practical effects and prosthetic works is highly satisfying in this gory entry, though there is some shite digital blood work. Extra points for the Claymation in this one!
In "Vitriol" directed by Michelle Garza Cervera (Huesera: The Bone Woman), a model alone her apartment disfigures herself with acid, we don't know why at first, but it all comes into focus when a photographer joins her for dinner and secrets come to light. This was a potent entry that not only is chock full of dread and disturbing visuals, but well-crafted.
With "Exodencia", directed by Lex Ortega (Atroz), we have a young woman in the depths of addiction, that addiction represented by a Cenobite-style demon that makes increasing demands for gruesome sacrifices, which leads to get cutting of fingers, hands and feet. Ortega really has a knack for capturing the scuzzier, dark side of life, and after this one you might need a shower, this one not only has some unsettling drug use but some gory self-inflicted trauma that hits hard, making for a difficult watch.
The lack of a proper wrap-around story detracts from this one a bit for me, I am a traditionalist when it comes to to anthologies, and I feel they should have a thru-line, as the first film did. That aside, these eight stories offer eight very different tales, the production values vary a bit story to story, and that affects the fluidity of it, but taken on their own what we do get is a pretty nasty compendium of terror. This is a much lower-budget production than the recently reviewed Satanic Hispanics, it's also quite a bit darker, and if you're tastes run toward the darker side of horror I think this anthology will deliver the goods. I would single-out "La Leyenda de Juan Soldado", "Potzonalli", "Ya es Hora" as my personal favorites of the bunch. This Mexican horror anthology is a reflection of a culture rich with legends and folktales, and these legends make for fertile story ideas to be explored by the directors, and while not all of them are zingers, each one has a unique voice and style worth checking out.
Audio/Video: Mexican horror anthology Mexico Barbaro II (2017) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Unearthed Films in 1080p HD widescreen, As you might expect from a low-budget horror anthology the quality and production value of the source material varies, some of these look quite good, others looks a little cheap, but the Blu-ray handles the varying materials well. Audio comes by way of Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1 or PCM 2.0 Stereo with optional English subtitles. Like the video the audio has ups and down, some more spatially designed than others but all deliver sloid audio presentation, dialogue is clean and the music and effects are well-balanced.
Extras include five Featurettes for Bolas de Fuego, La Leyenda de Juan Soldado, No Te Duermas, Exodontia and Vitriol, adding up to about 25-min , plus a Still Galley and Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- Bolas de Fuego Featurette (7:59)
- Exodoncia Featurette (2:30)
- Juan Soldado Featurette (9:12)
- No Te Duermas Featurette (3:32)
- Vitriol Featurette (0:36)
- Stills Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer (1:53)
Buy it here: https://amzn.to/48wYBYu
