Hasta el viento tiene miedo

"Hasta el viento tiene miedo" is a good offering of Mexican horror. It takes place in a boarding school for girls. Five years ago a girl that studied there committed suicide. At night, when the wind whistles.....

This film is a horror film with touches of comedy and it manages to create a good supernatural atmosphere (night, the wind blowing, the leaves trembling, the tower..). It reminded me somehow of "Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" an Italo-Austrian film made in 1961, that also took place in a girls boarding school. But "Hasta el viento tiene miedo" is the better film.

"Hasta el viento.." tells the story in a very straightforward way, no room for ambiguity is left, so it becomes predictable and this takes away some of the film's edge. The girls, though, are very charming and add eye candy to the film.

You can't compare it to the Italian Gothic films ( by Bava, Margheriti, Freda, Caiano..) with their visual grandeur (lighting, decors, camera work ..), and their magnificent soundtracks.

Anyway "Hasta el viento...." is an interesting film - I think that it won't scare the modern viewer, but it offers in return a well-crafted atmosphere, with touches of suspense and comedy. It is charmingly naive and romantic. It was released in Mexico in 30 May 1968. Some months later a hard wind blew and even the wind was afraid.

Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo, show us the story of a group of young ladies, that as a punishment, they have to stay in the boarding school for vacations. The ghost of a death schoolmate makes her appearance to unwrap a story with the most pure terror style. The movie it's great and although it follows the typical pattern of movies made during those times, it stills being frightening. It also shows a great perspective of the Mexican society and with the scene of the striptease, I believe that it goes a little beyond the times when it was released. Whether you like Mexican movies or not this movie proves that although the lack of resources which it was made, at least we can say that we have a great horror ancient film, a genre that isn't common at all in this industry.

It'd seem to be a cliche -haunted school, scared girls in uniforms... but 'Hasta el viento tiene miedo' is more than that. With some good actresses, but more than that, a smart script and a clever direction, it has unexpected moments and really scaring scenes. Highly recommended!

After hearing from neighbors and friends about a Mexican movie that sure will scare you, and also that the story was happening in a school, i was waiting for Televisa to show this movie, without any luck i had to wait about 7 years to find this movie on DVD and finally Watch, i would say the wait was worth it , sure is a 60's movie and the image, picture and sound is not that great, but the way the history is deliver will make you watch until the end. The film despite having a simple script, captivates and put the viewer in the story, and has been blamed for taking out dreams to two generations that followed and saw on television more than films. With an exceptional cast and successful, the film is full of subtle horror, fine and perhaps therefore highly effective, unlike anything he had done before.

A prolific horror writer and filmmaker as well, Taboada left an indelible mark in the Mexican cinema industry. Even without being aware of it, because many of us, as merely spectators -at least me and some other persons I've spoken to-, didn't realize for many years that El libro de piedra (1968) and Más negro que la noche (1975), were part of Taboada's film history.

Though i dig more El libro de piedra to a level as considering it his masterpiece, Hasta el viento tiene miedo (Even the wind's scared) it's such a powerful ghost story, that happens in a boarding school for girls. Since the beginning, the film warns you about what you're going to see because of a creepy start, that involves a sleepwalking girl on the outside in a windy night, attending a call made by another girl from the bell tower of the school's chappel. She starts climbing upstairs and the next thing you see, it's a pair of hanging feet and the sleepwalker awakening in a scream. Even on these days, the memories of the voice chanting like wind "Claudia, Claudia" in a whispering full of anguish, gives me the creeps. The first half of this story is told in such a brilliant way, that can only be surpassed by El libro de piedra in a whole; with good acting by names like Marga López, Norma Lazareno and Maricruz Olivier, Hasta el viento... moves around a girl whose dead, a bunch of brat student girls, and a mean school director. As I said before, the first half is brilliant in many ways. Taboada surely knew the sources of primal fear and took them to cinema extends, making you jump with scenes that has the ability to caught unaware, or leading tension into almost unbearable levels. Hope you can see it some time because it's well worth the feelings of anguish and fear caused by the sense of terror that we're led into while watching. Unfortunately, the second half falls on it's lap as a formulaic chain of events that leads to a cliché ending.

Even so, most of Hasta el viento... it's a live picture of Taboada's art. He knew how to grab you by the neck and never let go. With his movies, you can feel the greatest fear running all over the body and you don't want to stop watching anyway. That was and still is magic; it was great cinema that depended only on the subconscious manipulation of terror. In fact, I owe Taboadas some of the greatest fears from my childhood, like never watching at the curtain's end at night, or to a window when there's a storm.