Más negro que la noche

I really enjoyed this. It is paced a little leisurely and is not full of startling action but it is colourful and engaging with a gentle but relentless move towards the inevitable bad ending. A fairly simple, 'Old Dark House' tale featuring four good looking young women who go to live in the aforementioned mansion. They are disrespectful from the start of the building and its 'junk' contents and the elderly Sofia, the housekeeper, magnificently played with complete eeriness by Alicia Palacios, and the film makers seem to wreak their own revenge to some extent by allowing the girls to make such asses of themselves. Also, deliberate or not the many and varied 70s outfits they sport seem to get progressively worse as the film continues. One or two moments of half baked 'soapy' melodrama, usually featuring preposterous plump and mustachioed 'boyfriends but for the most part a creepy fully focused and unusual horror that is well worth a watch. I must also mention the cat. Featuring heavily in the great opening credits, this black cat does not put a paw wrong and is caught on camera looking as mysterious and fearsome as is possible. He also features in the fine original poster.

I have only seen two of director Taboada's movies, the other one being Veneno para las hadas, and both are very macabre. Mas negro que la noche is very scary because we not only hear strange sounds on a very creepy house inherited by four female relatives of the deceased old woman, but we also get to see her and I must say it's one of the scariest ghosts I have ever seen in movies. The reasons of her apparitions are related to her calling of her dear black cat who died shortly after she died. After some gruesome deaths, the ending is shocking but justifiable for people who love black cats.

Moderately paced and highly atmospheric 'Hunted house' flick from Mexico. This film is mostly about the mood and the overall look (of the house and the girls) , fortunately there is almost no 'gore'. Four beautiful ladies move into an old house, but they are not safe. Maybe if they had shown a bit more tolerance and understanding towards a certain cat, all would have gone well, but alas. I have rarely seen a spooky mansion so well utilized- winding staircases, spacious open rooms, an impressive color scheme - all this combined so well with the camera work and dialogue , a wonderful blend designed to led one gradually, step by step, into a state of paranoias, fear and dread. 7.6 stars.

In Mexico, the young Ofelia Escudero (Claudia Islas) shares an apartment and expenses with her friends, the librarian Aurora (Susana Dosamantes); the newcomer Marta (Lucía Méndez), who is an unemployed model and actress; and the divorced Pilar (Helena Rojo). Out of the blue, a lawyer (Enrique Pontón) summons Ofelia to tell her that she has inherited a large real estate with an old house from her Aunt Susana (Tamara Garina) that Ofelia met once, since she is the last relative alive from her family. In her will, Aunt Susana begs only that Ofelia takes care of her beloved black cat Bequer. She moves to the house with her friends, where they meet the old housekeeper Sofia (Alicia Palacios), who lived her entire life in the house, and Bequer. Ofelia befriends Sofia, and treats Bequer, but her friends hate them both. Unexpectedly Bequer vanishes and one night, Ofelia is returning home with her fiancée Roberto (Pedro Armendáriz Jr.), her friends show her that Bequer was locked in the attic and has died of starvation. Sofia and Roberto bury the animal and soon strange and tragic things happen in the house.

"Más negro que la noche", a.k.a. "Darker Than Night" is a scary "haunted house" Mexican movie by the master of horror Carlos Enrique Taboada. The plot is very well built, with explanation for every event. The actresses are very beautiful and the screenplay is scary and creepy. It is amazing how Taboada uses the supernatural in an ambiguous way, and the story may be interpreted as Sofia impersonating Aunt Susana and the frightened women believing that Aunt Susana and Bequer are back from the beyond. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Mais Negro Que a Noite" ("Darker Than Night")

Some old lady who adores her black cat dies and leaves her big creepy house to her 20-something niece (or granddaughter? I don't remember). All she kindly requests is that the young woman take care of her beloved black cat, Becquer.

Well, the niece moves in with her three roommates, all young women. Unfortunately, some of these scintillating ladies hate cats and are a bit hard on to help, which leads to some disastrous results for the characters but a bit of satisfaction for the audience as justice is well-served.

It's a Mexican movie, but don't expect to see any tortas, farmers, or street urchins. This movie is firmly grounded in the Mexican urban upper middle class/upper class world and could very comfortably be dubbed into the language of any developed country and I don't think anyone would notice the difference. It exclusively takes place in a lavish manor, an expansive library, and an upscale apartment.

Very effective sets and direction for a horror movie. The house looks big and creaky, like a 19th century manor just made for heinous activites. The head servant left by the grand-aunt is effectively creepy because of her emotionless face and monotone delivery. In short, there are lots of possible vectors the evil can take and you don't know from the beginning where it's going to come out of.

It's a satisfying watch as a moderately creepy drama-horror, but probably not the type of movie that will scare you out of your pants. There are a limited number of frightening scenes but it's nothing too intense.

It's very much like in the tradition of 1970's US horror flicks, but it can't match US horror of the decade in scares or thrills. It also doesn't have any Mexican (or non-US) charm to make it unique, so it's probably low on the list of 70's horror films to watch for the fans out there, but if you do watch it you probably won't be disappointed.

Honourable Mentions: Burnt Offerings (1976). A horror movie where the house itself is the evil villain. More outrageous and scary than this one. Worth a watch!