Madres

I have no idea what I just watched. Why is this labeled a horror film? Literally nothing scary about this movie whatsoever. Decent film quality but that's it. Don't bother with this one. 4 stars.

I agree this isn't horror in the sense of make believe horror. It is based on real events that happened both within the continental United States and even in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico which is an American protectorate and its inhabitances American citizens. I remember reading about eugenics that were conducted on the island three decades ago when I was a freshman in college. Clarence Gamble, heir to the Proctor & Gamble and Ivory Soap fortunes perform such operations from 1936 to 1960. Gamble was also notorious for medical experimentation. He expanded the distribution of oral progesterone, accepting donations from pharmaceutical companies who, unable to conduct trials in the US, bid for access to the women in his clinics on the island. Through the years Gamble, " was involved in initiatives in Israel, India, Hawaii, Egypt, Japan, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Pakistan, South Africa, and, in the US, Appalachia and the South, where he maintained that a reduction in the birthrate among African Americans was the solution to the region's poverty."

Back to the film, I also agree the ghost weren't necessary and did more harm that good. I also thought the ending was lame and very stupid. It's a shame this subject matter showed up in a Blumhouse flick when it really deserves to be told in a legitimate documentary.

Great thing about our current era is this stuff is now documented on the web and a Google search for: United States and Eugenics will bring up tons of detailed information. So much for the The Hippocratic Oath in the best national on earth, as they say. Umm, yeah.

Out of other Blum House movies I have seen this one is better than most. Based on a true story it was scary to think this really happened. So in a way it was a horror, just not in the BOO! Kind of way. Great leads, I could relate with Diana being a Hispanic but not knowing a lick of Spanish. I recommend if you like true stories.

Madres (mums in Spanish) is a fine movie but is not a horror movie. There is a reference to a curse and some business with amulets, but this is perhaps 3 minutes out of 82.

The movie is about eugenics. This is the improvement of the human race by 'biologically engineering' out undesirable human characteristics. In this case the undesirable characteristics are being Mexican. It is the stuff of horror movies but in fact the movie is a straight drama intended to prick the viewers social conscious.

Production values are good. The film is bilingual and subtitles are liberally used. The cast are committed and characters are well developed. Director Ryan Zaragoza has things well in hand.

We even have the obligatory text roll overs at the film's end summarizing the real statistics and data related to eugenics in the States. As I say, it is a fine movie but just not a spooky one despite its' genre being defined as horror.

The message this has is .. an interesting and important one. But until it is revealed you have to endure a movie that keeps you hanging and guessing what is what. Not a bad thing in my book, but something that a few viewers may take issue with. That the story does not move along quickly enough.

Supernatural things occur or maybe they don't ... there are things you have to imagine happen ... on the other hand, the movie is quite clear on certain things ("real" or not so real). The performances are good and there are a few nice (scary) scenes that may get a reaction out of you ... not the best of the bunch produced by Blumhouse, but as you can tell I am not dissapointed either ... I am easy to please though, so maybe that doesn't mean too much. Still love the message, even if the real life implacations are more horrific than anything seen in the movie ...