Veneno para las hadas

At first, Poison for the Fairies may remind American viewers of the classic "Wonderful World of Disney" feature films, leading some people to believe they have been tricked into watching a children's movie. However, it is not for children. It is instead an atmospheric, absorbing fairy tale about two little girls and their intense, unsettling friendship--if one can rightly call a relationship based on psychological dominance as "friendly." The plot is deceptively simple: Lonely, aristocratic Flavia comes to a new school, where she instantly grabs the attention of Veronica, a girl from a lower-class family, who pretends to be a witch in order to comfort herself for a lack of power in the real world. All the other girls have long since learned to ignore Veronica, but Flavia is just innocent enough to believe that Veronica truly is a witch, her beliefs helped along once several macabre coincidences seem to reinforce Veronica's claims that she possesses black magic. Gradually the line between childhood friendship and a master and slave is blurred, and Veronica's games of make-believe witchcraft have filled Flavia with a fear and despair that are far too real.

People who expect a traditional horror film will definitely be disappointed in Poison for the Fairies. The pace of the film, along with the lack of violence or even blood, may be too slow for some viewers to tolerate. Visually, the film looks dated, and certain stylistic techniques (particularly the lengths to which the camera goes in avoiding the faces of adults) seem a little hackneyed. But all in all, this is a film of culminating, creepy horror building to a shocking but inevitable denouement, and well worth a watch.

I'm a fan of horror flicks, and I must say that "Veneno para las hadas" is the scariest film in 80's Mexican cinema. Horror films were very popular at that time, films such as "Friday the 13th", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Halloween" -and their sequels- followed the same plot, you know a boogyman killing everyone around, except a virgin heroine. "Veneno para las hadas" has a flawless direction, some false scares, and very good acting; this movie is for those who believe in witchcraft, devil, and in good horror. That's it, go and rent it!!!

Veneno Para las Hadas is a very good horror/fantasy movie. It's very psychological too because Graciela (Ana Patricia Rojo) constantly submits her new friend Fabiola (Elsa Maria Gutierrez) through extortion forcing her to believe her that she is a witch and bad things could happen to Fabiola if she doesn't give her what she wants. Graciela is an orphan who listens to her grandmother's horrific fairy tales and her nanny's knowledge about withces and pacts with the devil. Graciela learns a lot about witchcraft and uses her knowledge against Fabiola, the daughter of a rich family, who is new in the all-girls private school where the two first meet. Contrary to Graciela, Fabiola is brought up in a very modern way being told that ghosts, demons and witches don't exist. Not even prayers are encouraged in Fabiola's family. Knowing this Graciela forces Fabiola into giving her the things she wants on basis of her being a witch and there is more convincement by Fabiola when a strange coincidence totally convinces Fabiola that her new friend is indeed a witch. Fabiola changes from skeptic of everything (including prayers) to a believer of ghosts and witches.

The movie is set apart by only the main character's points of view because we never see the faces of the adults, we only see them in unnatural ways or in very low light. Even though Graciela appears to be evil, she and Fabiola are still very young and childish in their behavior.

A great musical score by Carlos Jimenez Mabarak delivers a fairy tale-like atmosphere to the already beautiful cinematography by Lupe Garcia. Set in early 60's Mexico City and the Tlaxcala woods, Veneno para las adas is a fairy tale by itself. A very dark one anyways, like the ones the Nana tells Graciela before going to bed.

I'm not sure how I would categorize this film, and I also don't know who I would recommend it for. It's slightly twisted, but only so. Much of the movie feels more like a drama centering on the friendship of two little girls. Eventually, they pull the rug out from that, but these kids aren't as messed as, say, the girls in "Do Not Deliver Us From Evil." Closer to a Mexican 1960's "Ghost World." So it's largely tame, but then throws in some elements that would really bother some people. I thought it was well worth a watch, but not for everyone.

Word of advice: if you're looking for a genuine horror film with decent scares and gore, don't expect any of those things in this movie. "Poison for the fairies" is not a horror movie, although it was advertised as one. It was directed by the well known Mexican horror director Carlos Enrique Taboada, which probably led to some misinterpretation when it came out. I would probably label this movie as an exceedingly captivating, charming and stylish adventure/family/dark-comedy with some mildly disturbing situations here and there. Other than that, I would never recommend this film to anyone who is in the mood for real horror. As a matter of fact, I think this movie is in reality suitable for all audiences, including children. The final scene is a little bit wicked, that's true, but the rest of the story is somehow childish and naive in a good way. Even though this film ended up being poles apart from what I was actually expecting, I must say that this film is charming and lovable in a way that I would have never imagined.

"Poison for the fairies", is some kind of wicked fairy tale about two little girls who become friends, despite the fact that there entirely unlike. Flavia is the nice, innocent girl who doesn't know anyone at school and has no friends. On the other hand, Veronica is a weird and yet sweet-looking blonde schoolgirl who happens to be fixated with witches and all kinds of sinister things. This fascination for witchcraft and her peculiar manners, earn her a very bad reputation among the other girls. Regardless, Veronica doesn't seem to care and she even claims to be a witch herself!. At first, Flavia doesn't trust her friend's menacing side, but eventually, she becomes a victim of Veronica's delusional reality and constant charades, until she finally ends up believing what is clearly a lie. In "Poison for the fairies", we see this amusing friendship that connects these two little girls and their deplorable attempts for black magic.

I honestly didn't think I was going to be so fascinated by a movie that didn't promise anything at all, to begin with. "Poison for the fairies" is a movie that reminded me of some of some Italian horror films, due to its artistic virtues and antique settings. "Poison for the fairies" is a very naïve adventure/family/horror fairy tale that shows a magical and dark world seen by an untrained and hopeless little girl who sees an alternative reality. The circumstances that Flavia and Veronica undergo to during the course of this film, are adorably entertaining. I'll never understand why "Poison for the fairies" is actually measured as a horror film by some people. The only scenes that may have a little share of horror, are the ones in which the figure of a creepy witch appears very quickly. Also, the final minutes are a little bit too dark and dramatic for a movie that didn't prepare the audience for something like that and it was the only thing I didn't enjoy that much. Other than that, this film is highly enjoyable, calm and enchanting. Be prepared to enjoy a dark comedy for children, with a very unexpected and powerful ending.