Más negro que la noche

Getting a big house is one thing, getting it with baggage a completely different. And no I'm not talking about the house being fully "equipped" ... there are other sinister forces. This is a horror movie and decent one at that overall. Not really great, because it is flawed (cliches and all that), but one that you can watch.

Better horror movies out there (no pun intended) and worse too. This was nicely paced, very well shot and had really good production values. Acting is decent too overall, if you don't mind the stupid things characters do to progress the story ...

I didn't had huge expectations for this movie, because Mexican horror films usually suck. Being a Mexican, I hate Mexican horror/suspense films, because one thing they don't have is horror. And with "Más Negro Que la Noche", a remake from an old Mexican classic, I prove my point again. I missed it when it was on theaters, and it seemed really good, but I'm thankful I didn't paid more than 30 pesos to rent it. This movie is full of horror clichés, but the movie takes these clichés to another level: A haunted house that looks like something horrible happened there, four unlikeable lead characters that are molded with the typical personalities; the actresses acted like it was a theater play instead of a horror movie, they overreact too much, and the scared faces or screaming were too fake, seems like they didn't even tried. 90 of the 100 minutes of the movie are so boring. Nothing happens during the whole movie, the script is so messy and forced, you wait for at least one character to die but nothing happens. All the "horror" you get is noises, random stuff moving, and a very annoying score that was all over the top, and it attempts to scare you but fails miserably. If you know the Mexican horror movie formula, you'll predict that this movie includes ghosts, a black cat, and an old lady that acts as poorly as the young cast. I recommend you to avoid this one! You'll lose 100 minutes of your time.

I was really surprised about all the bad reviews about the movie all over Mexico's press and social networks, so I was in Mexico and I said: what the hell... So I went to the see the movie. I really enjoyed as far as I wasn't expecting things to happen. I had fun, got scared a couple of times. The idea of A Hunted Mexican Mansion really caught me... I found every character lovely in their on way. But there was something that didn't make sense to me, why is everybody so upset about it? I'm not an expert myself but a very huge fan of horror movies, I know a lot about Taboada's job and found this version of Mas Negro que la Noche amazing. What I really got me thinking on writing a review, was the truly emotional and over the top comments. And icon movie such as the original, was just that... An icon. There's nothing more. If you really take the time to analyze it, is both boring and the worst acting performances ever. But I got the point, is the Mexican Horror icon that can't be touched. I've read other comments on the IMDb and I found particular disappointing that even the actress's hair-done (that curly look) even takes more words that the movie review it self. The move is great and way better than the original. Is quite funny that a younger generation can be thrilled by a 40 year old so boring horror classic. Get real. I recommend this version and the 3D option a lot! Cool experience.

It may seem to some viewers that I am over-inflating this film but I genuinely love it despite its flaws. I loved Mas negro que la noche in the theater, and I have since watched it several times after I purchased it for home viewing. As a fan of giallo films and 1970s horror I thought this 2014 effort was absolutely chef's kiss and I have never regretted buying it.

I also think it is a vast improvement on the 1975 original (it's fine, you can throw things at me now, but I won't apologize).

Darker Than Night is a glossy, action-packed but silly haunted house thriller that abuses all the CGI. I typically hate when filmmakers replace talent with beautiful people and questionable technology but this flick is just pure fun to me, I consider it a "comfort film."

I may firstly say that I love some of the people who appear in this film, and one of the actors is someone I love dearly since childhood. They've had pretty heavy roles in some of the most controversial Mexican series of recent times. Their acting is usually very good, but it's a very different thing to make a long-haul telenovela to a proper feature.

Said that, this film revolves around a house, a cat and a bunch of girls and a weird lady that try to make us feel uncomfortable. The problem is that they don't succeed on the task. And that's supposed to be the very raison d'etre for a horror movie. If you can recall acting as contrived and stiff as the old lady's, well... I have to pry my brain open to remember one, apart from some very bad comedies.

Kudos for the location, cinematography and 3D. The post is superb. Lighting, audio and props, top notch... what you'd expect from a much more expensive film.

Thumbs down to the story-telling and the over-the-top acting. These girls could be very nuanced and subtle in some other films, but here... well, yeah, OK. Eréndira Ibarra may be one of those rare gold nuggets that needs a film just for her -this wasn't the one. And I KNOW for sure, she needs a film of her own, because she's a fantastic actress. Here, she's just the cussing tough one.

I guess the main problem is all the characters are fleshed out of their own stories and little is revealed to have the time to connect, empathize or feel for them even a slight connection. That puts them out of the way as you can concentrate more on the house, the furniture, the props... which... well, all of them are beautifully captured in glorious 3D.

So, in the end, they've got a very polished result, visually, but without bones to lay your teeth on.