El grito de la muerte

Not much to recommend here: this motion picture has a few elements reminiscent of "El vampiro" (the ghostly woman walking through dark corridors, the evil surrounding the sets of the dark hacienda in contrast to the sunny exteriors, humor combined with terror) but director Fernando Méndez and screenwriter Ramón Obón were not up to that previous collaboration. Obón would still write a few fine horror scripts (as "El mundo de los vampiros" and "La loba"), but Méndez stopped directing movies two years later, after making a routine western diptych and a formulaic melodrama. The leading man (swinger Gastón Santos, rich son of the big señor of his hometown, in real life) is prettier than the whole cast, but everybody acts better than him. He plays some kind of lone ranger and detective who arrives at a gloomy hacienda where an old woman (Hortensia Santoveña) lives in fright of her dead sister's spell, objecting all intents by her young niece (María Duval) to make life happier in the country side. The few persons remaining in a once prosperous town now live in fright of the vengeful Llorona (Crying Woman), who is somehow connected to the town doctor, two statues sculptured on a strange stone, a deadly swamp and killer cowboys. Santos is a good rider though and his horse Rayo de Plata also plays a key role in the plot, while Pedro de Aguillón plays Santos' sidekick in the lines of a Sancho Panza, adding lines and slapstick here and there, intended to be funny. Unfortunately the action lacks the right spirit, be it comedy or horror, in spite of Gustavo César Carrión's funny effort to add galloping beats to his score. Nothing said if you care for stiff terror westerns with intelligent horses and haunted swamps. Then this is for you.

Well, this is the fifth release I've seen from Casa Negra, and the other four were all excellent; those being The Curse of the Crying Woman, The Witch's Mirror, The Black Pit of Dr M and Brainiac...and while this film isn't terrible, it pales in comparison to those four as there isn't a great deal of imagination and the plot seems stretched out, despite the fact that the film only runs for seventy minutes! I was surprised to find that this film was directed by Fernando Méndez: the same director behind quite possibly the best of the Casa Negra releases so far, The Black Pit of Dr M. Perhaps he was running short on ideas by the time it came to making this film? Anyway, it won't surprise many people to find that the plot focuses on the Mexican legend of 'The Crying Woman'. We follow a Cowboy and his sidekick Crazy Wolf who comes across the mystery of the Crying Woman while investigating an attempted murder in an almost deserted Mexican town. The duo soon learns about the mystery behind The Crying Woman and attempts to get to the bottom of it.

The film mixes elements from horror and westerns in more ways than just the fact that the central character is a cowboy. The bar room brawl is one of the action centrepieces, and is of course a staple of the western genre. The film features a decent atmosphere emanating from the nearby swamp, and this helps to implement the horror tones. Surprisingly, the film is shot in colour, although unsurprisingly, it looks very grainy and cheap. The plot can feel a bit dry at times as there isn't a lot of it, and the film never really capitalises on the 'Crying Woman' theme that made The Curse of the Crying Woman such a delight to watch. The acting ranges from over the top to completely unenthusiastic, and this gives the film more of a trashy feel. When the plot starts to unravel it does feel kind of disappointing, and while fans of Scooby Doo may be happy with how it all turns out, I reckon many people will feel a bit cheated. Overall, this film may be of interest to people who were impressed by other Casa Negra releases, but I certainly wouldn't recommend stating with this one!

The most famous of the 1950s/1960s horror flicks came from the US, but Mexico also made a number of them. One example is "El grito de la muerte" ("The Living Coffin" in English). Fernando Méndez's movie has the feeling of the average Vincent Price movie while incorporating the story of La Llorona (the weeping woman). Like the average Vincent Price movie, "The Living Coffin" makes no pretense about what kind of a movie it is. It looks like the sort of movie that they probably had fun making. I suspect that many people in Mexico likely think that the makers tried too hard to make the sort of movie that the United States would have made - as opposed to a movie focusing on issues affecting most Mexicans - but isn't it OK to occasionally make a movie whose sole purpose is to entertain? All in all, a fun movie.

Living Coffin, The (1959)

** (out of 4)

Mexican film that mixes the Western and Horror genres while at the same time connects the main villain to The Crying Woman character of various other Mexican films. Two cowboys show up to help some ranchers rid their curse, which appears to be the work of the ghost The Crying Woman. I was shocked to see how fast this 71-minute film flew by. A lot of these Mexican movies move rather slowly but that wasn't the case here. The look of The Crying Woman is very cheap but effective and the performances aren't as bad as you'd think and in fact they manage to be pretty good. The horror elements work very nicely but the Western stuff never really takes off too well. The ending is also a major disappointment and comes over very badly but overall this isn't too bad of a film but I'd recommend starting with a different Mexican film. Original title: Grito de la muerte, El.

This is a weird amalgam of Gothic horror elements with the Western genre, also interesting for being shot in color. The 71-minute film emerges to be a generally likable curiosity that, with an engaging (even complex) plot, evokes affectionate memories of American 'B' serials from the previous decade – though, ultimately, it's marred by a lethargic pace and, when finally exposed, a trio of uninteresting villains.

Gaston Santos, a famous bullfighter, plays the hero; he's flanked by his resourceful steed and a chubby, perennially sleepy sidekick (initially amusing, he soon becomes overbearing – especially when his antics are accompanied by incongruous 'comic' sound effects!). Unfortunately, too, the star is engaged throughout in some extremely fake fistfights! The main 'ghost' of the narrative actually ties the film with a long-running horror series revolving around a legendary character known as "La Llorona" (The Crying Woman); I've only watched one such film, the fine Mexi-horror THE CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN (1961) – which, incidentally, has also been released on DVD by Casanegra.

The typical atmosphere of the horror films originating from Mexico – steeped in family secrets, shadows and superstition (by way of Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie) – is further boosted in this case by the muted but pleasant color scheme. Finally, I much prefer the original title of this film – EL GRITO DE LA MUERTE, which roughly translates to SCREAM OF DEATH – to its American moniker, the rather meaningless THE LIVING COFFIN (which is actually a reference to its being armored with an alarm system in case of body snatching, or in the event the coffin's occupant has been buried alive!).

The most substantial extra on the disc is a very interesting essay by David Wilt about this characteristically Mexican hybrid genre (incidentally, the potential camp entertainment promised by the wealth of titles mentioned here – the absolute majority of which have yet to see the light of day on any digital format – is proof once again that this particular cinematic well is far from exhausted!). However, given its considerable length, the inordinately tiny font used (also for the accompanying cast biographies) is a real strain on the eyes!; besides, the audio for the main feature is a bit low.