Ladronas de Almas

Ladronas de Almas: Old style Zombies with some interesting Zombie creation lore thrown in. Given the Gothic setting and the young women as "witches" this might even qualify as Folk Horror. 1815, the Mexican War of Independence, a group of supposed insurgents arrive at an estate which has already suffered from the depredations of the Royalist Army. A crippled father, his four daughters and one servant should be easy meat for the soldiers but things take an interesting turn as the family have the support of the Undead! Given the murderous nature of the sisters, even the 12 year old. the Zombies are hardly required. Decapitations of both humans and Zombies, stabbing, shooting and biting (and not just by the living dead). Some great scenes in dimly lit old ruins. The young girl treats a Zombie as a pet! Directed by Juan Antonio de la Riva from a screenplay by Christopher Luna. On Netflix. 7/10.

This is by far one of the best horror mexican films in many years which is not so surprising considering how low is the standar for these films. México folklore is so rich I fail to understand why mexican movies can make them justice. And if its true for this one we dont have a folklore coming to life its refreshing to see a mexican horror movie going for something different and that is what makes this movie worth the watch. The best part is the plot twist and the actresses nail their performances. However I stick with my argument that this could have improved with a rewriting of the script and reshooting, so I can forgive when I remember this was more likely a low budget movie like most of mexican movies are. So this is a solid ok, not something special but defenitely a movie that deserves more appretiation.

Me and Mexican cinema have not had the best history together, the best film I've seen entirely made by a Mexican studio was The Similars (2015) and that managed an astounding 3/10.

I don't know what it is, I don't come across many and when I do I tend to miss the point altogether.

Ladronas de Almas which translates to Soul Thieves tells the story of a group of outlaws disguised as rebels during the Mexican civil war. They descend upon the home of a man, his 3 daughters and man servant in search of lost royalist gold. During their search however they find more than they bargained for and the horror begins.

A stylish horror I appreciate everything they were trying to do here and much of it works. Sadly too much of it doesn't and it just doesn't come across very engaging. It's violent, it's gory and it looks great, sadly it just fails to be as interesting as you'd imagine.

Everyone involved in front of the camera does a decent enough job and I like the idea, I think they just dropped the ball more than a tad. On the flipside however this is at least now the best Mexican movie I've ever seen.

The Good:

Some nice ideas

Looks the part

The Bad:

Frustratingly unengaging

Wasted potential

If you like that kind of trashy horror, a lot of blood, simple acting, modest effects, short budget, beat script, dark locations (I love a Mexican country house, I already want to), well, if you like all that, here's a full square, no it scared even my 8-year-old goddaughter, we watched it together, she thought it was boring... Lol, I loved it...

Thoroughly enjoyed this very atmospheric creature feature. The sisters definitely protected their father's estate admirably. The one thing that really stood out were the sets and the excellent use of lighting and color.

This isn't a Friday the 13th horror film for the inexperienced... it slowly builds in intensity, almost to the point where you start feeling bad for the interlopers. Well done!