Le squelette de Madame Morales

Laced with morbid humour and effortlessly sustaining its macabre wit throughout, The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales is a pitch black comedy horror that's competently crafted, intelligently narrated & brilliantly acted as it takes its time to acquaint us with the taxidermist's charm & persona and also compels us to root for him after he takes his marital woes borne out of his overbearing wife to the extreme. As demented as it is amusing, the story is further enriched by crisp photography & steady pace while it captures the longstanding effects of a toxic marriage and despite turning dark, it never loses its funny side. One of the better examples of its genre(s) and surely amongst the finest works of Mexican cinema. Highly recommended.

This is a very good crime/comedy/horror movie that's very straightforward, but remains well-made and entertaining throughout. It's about a taxidermist stuck in a loveless marriage who gets the idea one day that maybe he can pull off the perfect crime, and be rid of his wife for good. Naturally, things spiral out of control and get very chaotic from there.

There's less horror elements than I was expecting, for a movie with the word "skeleton" in the title. Taxidermy is creepy, and the house that most of the film takes place in looks unsettling, but it's probably more of a pitch-black comedy over anything else.

And as a dark comedy, it works well. The acting's all very good, and the otherwise dark story becomes more entertaining because of the film's interesting, surprisingly comedic tone.

I wasn't in love with the film overall, but for a straightforward, fairly short, darkly comedic crime movie, it worked well. I can imagine that if the Coen Brothers have seen this, they'd be pretty big fans.

Few times has the Mexican movies industry explored this type of comedy. This particular film is surprisingly very well made, specially since its 2 main characters are played by an Actor, Arturo de Cordova, and an Actress, Amparo Rivelles, whose background is in tragic and/or very formal performances. It is a story of a married couple whose life has come to the point of a disaster, basically due to the jealousness of the wife. The Husband a taxidermist announces to their friends that she has gone to another City on vacations, but keeps in his shop an skeleton. This of course is the center plot of the movie and all black humor situations are derived from this. The movie is light and keeps the viewers entertained throughout its entire length.

This film is charmingly macabre, about a taxidermist with a sincere love and lust for life, and his terrible antithesis of a wife. The performances are absolutely convincing, and the pompous catholic padre is unforgettable during the confession at the end, as is the lead character. The attention to detail makes it a pleasure to watch this film again and again.

I've seen quite a few cheezeball Mexican dramas. This is NOT one of those - it is a fine ensemble performance, with very high technical values. Most of the acting is top-notch. Some great 'Hitchcockian' camera angles and lighting- especially close-ups.

If I were to criticize this film mildly, it's that it views like a stage play. Perhaps it started this way? Anyway, I really enjoyed it thoroughly.