L'œil du mal

We all know the story behind The Evil Eye. Actually, many stories- and in most countries those stories are taken quite seriously. Mexico is one. It's been said that just a strong glance can cast a spell on those most vulnerable- babies and small children- resulting in illness or even death. The Aztec and Mayan Cultures date this phenomenon back as early as 1300 BC. Even today, almost all countries have bracelets designed to either repel or absorb this "negative energy".

Now, take the truly original imagination of one of Mexico's most gifted young filmmakers- and you may have something really special.

This story revolves around a family of 4 - William & Rebecca, and their two young daughters- Nala (played by promising Paola Miguel) and Luna- who is ill. The movie begins with her hospitalization. She has organ failure and there is nothing more they can do. In desperation, Rebecca turns to her estranged mother- played brilliantly by Ofelia Medina. She has not seen her mother in years, and the family have never met her. Ezban creates immediate sustained tension between all 3 women. Parents go away for a few days, leaving both kids alone with Grandma and her Maid - Abigail. Right off the bat, Nala and Grandma are at each other's throats. Their angst grows while little Luna's life hangs in the balance.

One night, Abigail tells both kids a scary tale about Triplets. In the story, an evil Witch pays them a visit at night to suck a child's blood in order to steal their youth. One girl got so sick, that the other 2 sisters in the story sought help from a Sorcerer and struck a deal- She taught the girls how to make a "Baca"- a Caribbean mythical being who grants wishes but in turn- brings evil. The stage is set.

What fascinates me with Witchcraft are the details. For example, they remove their skin - when they fly- only to "reskin" themselves later, and Salt proves deadly. Ezban creates this horrifying creature with little to no CGI. This film is a battle to the end between Grandma and Nala until reaching its shocking, conclusion.

Shout out to the amazing Production Design by Adelle Achar- Her work was brilliant in "El Incidente" as well. Her imagination and attention to detail perfectly complements Ezban's unique vision. Solid 8/10.

"Nala, a 13-year-old girl from the city, travels with her family to her grandmother's home in the countryside, to try to find a cure for her little sister's mysterious illness - But she'll soon find her granny is not exactly what she seems."

7/10

A kind of folk horror about the cruelty of time. I find Mexican and Spanish horror films very different and I like to explore other Latin genre flicks. This is the first film I watch by Isaac Ezban and I got to admit that it felt like a pleasant surprise.

Sure, I hoped to find more subtext and it certainly have its plot flaws, but overall it's a solid horror picture.

Mal de Ojo (or Evil Eye for the English title) is a Mexican horror movie. It's actually a decent movie with some creepy moments. The horror scenes are well done and worth watching, gives the story a creepy ambiance. There are not much of those scenes though (or not enough in my opinion) and that's a pity because the make-up was well done. A bit more of those scenes would have benefited the story and rating of this movie. The acting was good and that from the entire cast, from kids to adults. The cinematography was also good, certainly for Mexican standards. It's worth a watch if you're into witchcraft and urban tales.

The Story: Parents ("Rebecca" and "Guillermo") desperate to save the life of their youngest daughter ("Luna") take Luna and her older sister ("Nala") to the countryside to visit the maternal grandmother ("Josefa") at her crumbling manorial estate. As the parental search for the cure requires more travel, they drop off Luna and Nala with Josefa while they continue their journey alone.

We quickly learn that the imperious and demanding Josefa has little patience for the outbursts of Nala. And Josefa's dismissive attitude toward her pre-teen granddaughter, while also dotting endlessly on Luna, bring Josefa and Nala to loggerheads at several points in the film. (Let's just say an iPhone pays a heavy price at a key moment in the film.) With Josefa at her neck, Nala quickly turns to the hired-help, "Pedro" and "Abigail," for assistance. With mixed results.

What follows is a rather well-done, but also rather conventional, story that feels closer to a Guillermo del Toro offering than Ezban's surprisingly off-beat and wonderfully surreal "The Incident" and "The Similars." The sets and lighting in "Evil Eye" are top notch, bathed in filtered light and the olive, hunter green, slate gray and yellowed color schemes that have become so familiar in the horror genre for the last twenty years or so. Yet at the heart of "Evil Eye" is a familiar folktale or parable: That a request for supernatural intervention in the present will require even greater sacrifices down the road. It was simply Nala's fate to be caught up in a transaction that was undertaken years ago, but now requires the debt to be repaid.

Indeed, it is one of Abigail's rural legends involving witchcraft that convince Nala at an early point in the movie that grandma really is a bruja. After enduring Josefa's dismissive and (frankly) cruel behavior, Nala attempts to leave the property with Luna several times, to no avail. Nala is convinced that grandma is literally draining the life out of Luna for her own "restorative" benefit. And as time passes, the old woman does indeed disappear into a mass of bandages that make her look less like an old woman than Claude Rains or a plastic surgery graduate. Nonetheless, it is this transformation, increasingly hidden from the viewer, that is the key to the last part of the film.

I can't say I was "let down" by "Evil Eye." It is a very good movie with a few neat twists, including the ending that I suspect many viewers will see coming before it arrives. But I do think Ezban, confronted with a much larger budget, was playing it very safe here. Despite the narrative frame at the beginning and end of the film, the narrative here is linear in a way that his other offerings to date have not been. And it is that loss of "quirkiness" that I perhaps miss the most. If Ezban was a sort of cinematic Jorge Luis Borges up to "Evil Eye," here he really is much more of a del Toro. That's not bad. It's just not what differentiated his work from the rest of the pack.

"Mal de ojo" is one of the best Mexican horror films of recent years, Isaac Ezban has shown his talent as a director and now he comes with his best film to date. Ezban masterfully brings a script of folk horror to the screen, including witches and related themes with a touch of fairy tale. The production design is tremendous, the special effects are realistic and beautifully crafted, the skinless witch is incredible. The performances are good, highlighting the legendary Ofelia Medina. The cinematography is well done with several nods to the giallo. The filming locations are a success, both interior and exterior are perfect. It is worth mentioning that the film pays tribute to several horror classics such as "Carrie", "Suspiria" and "Hellraiser", achieving a nostalgic effect that is appreciated. A modern classic of Mexican horror cinema.