El fantasma de la casa roja

The best thing about Mexican comedy/horror The Phantom of the Red House is some of the clichéd characters' goofy names: heroine Mercedes Benz, detective Diogenes Holmes, and doctor Hipocrates Piedra. Come to think of it, there's very little else about the film that I did enjoy.

In true 'old dark house' tradition, a group of people gather at a creepy house for the reading of a will, which stipulates that they must all stay there for three nights, on the last of which they will be allowed to search for the benefactor's fortune. Of course, there's a good chance that not all of them will survive to join in the hunt, for a murderous phantom dressed in wide-brimmed hat, cape and luchador mask is on the prowl.

What makes this film so intolerable is the dreadfully unsophisticated humour as exemplified by Antonio Espino Clavillazo as the moronic Holmes, who spends most of the film gurning, gesticulating wildly, and talking nonsense. If that sounds funny to you, have at it, but I found it difficult to endure. Alma Rosa Aguirre as Mercedes is almost as annoying and unfunny, perpetually frightened and screaming at just about everything. As if the awful comedy wasn't bad enough, the film regularly cuts to the nightclub inherited by Mercedes where we are subjected to insipid songs by a moustachioed crooner and a guitar-playing mariachi trio, all of which is totally pointless filler.

2/10.

When thinking about the Mexican movies brought north of the border by K. Gordon Murray we tend to think of EL VAMPIRO, INVASION OF THE VAMPIRES, the NOSTRADMUS series and so forth. Here is a haunted house comedy starring Antonio Espino, a/k/a Clavillazo that is surprisingly funny. You know right away we cannot take the plot seriously when we find out the name of the heroine is "Mercedes Benz Rattington" and not much later Clavillazo pops up as a detective so bumbling he makes Stan Laurel look like a genius. The plot, oh yes there's a plot, involves a bunch of greedy relative getting together for the reading of a rich mans will. They all have to live in his scary mansion for three days and on the third day they can search for his hidden fortune. Meanwhile there is a phantom in a red cloak (at least everyone says it's a red cloak, the movie is black and white so it looks like a grey cloak to me!) sneaking around through the secret passageways that all spooky houses have in movies and sticking daggers into peoples backs. Still this is a comedy so everyone who gets killed has it coming to them. There is a happy ending and a final surprise that you probably won't be expecting. Performances are good and the dialogue is priceless. One exchange between the heroine and the chauffeur is great:

Mercedes: I have a limousine?

Chauffeur: Yes, with 400 horses.

Mercedes: I abhor horses. They'll have to go.

Chauffeur: It's horsepower I'm talking about.

Mercedes: The car is pulled by horses? I thought it was

modern.

Chauffeur: Let's forget the whole thing.

Other classic lines include "God will forgive you, even though you're a lawyer." and too many others to repeat here. Clavillazo is funny but I do wish historians would stop comparing him to Buster Keaton, there is no similarity in style. Foreign comedies are not usually well received because many of the jokes don't translate well but here is a rare exception that is most enjoyable. It's hard to find on video but it IS out there so give it a try.

Gathered at a remote mansion to hear a family member's will-reading, a masked murderer tries to keep the surviving members from getting their inheritance and forcing an amateur sleuth to put an end to the rampage.

A Mexican horror-comedy, focusing mainly on the comedy but still with enough horror to really count when it matters, that spoofs the classic-style haunted house films, with secret passages, peeping portraits, and such that it feels really funny and goofy without the benefit of understanding the wordplay jokes. With lots of great physical jokes, including the knife-wielding hand emerging from a picture frame to continually swipe and miss at a clueless and oblivious passerby to time-outs for liquid refreshment during a stalking scene and constant bonks on the head, there's lots of good slapstick here that provides plenty to laugh at. While that ends up diluting the horror somewhat, the fact that it's still a worthwhile enough film does have it's positive points.

Today's Rating-Unrated/PG: Mild Violence.

Remembering the great, great Clavillazo. He owns this movie. His comedic skills are truly ahead of it's time and his on-screen charm is worth the watch.

The movie has an interesting plot that if taken seriously, could've been something really creepy. You have the typical plot where a group of heirs need to spend a night on a haunted mansion. But we learn that the living are more dangerous than the dead.

The atmosphere is somehow creepy as in most classical Mexican Horror movies but it goes away soon when the comedy (voluntary and involuntary) starts. The whole ghost costumes are really good considering that not many Horror movies from the time used them. Also, some Horror clichès were used here. For example, the grand father's painting that has two holes where the "ghost" spies.

The chasing scene where "the ghost" with an ax runs after Mercedes is memorable. He throws a knife to her but she just stands in desperation. After three minutes of running around a table, Mercedes manages to escape just to hide under her bed sheets. There, another ghost appears next to her! They struggle under sheets. Non sense! Mercedes spends most of her on-screen time screaming and crying. Not even in the ending she could stop being a pain in the ass.

The ending leaves a lot to desire. Clavillazo solves the mystery of who is the man behind the mask. And in the typical detective film, everyone reunites in the center of the mansion to discuss the situation.

Watch this movie if you are a fan of the great Clavillazo. He's a comedy delight.

If done correctly, this movie could've been something important because it has Horror elements well done but the comedic factor ruins the atmosphere.

I bought this on DVD in a pawn shop, so it is available. It's freaking hilarious. The box made it sound like something really scary, so my friend and I put it on last night and almost immediately started laughing, since the intro music sounded like something from a goofy comedy (on the other hand, a similar thing happened to start Ghost Ship, and that was still very creepy).

The very next thing, however, is seeing a bunch of people in devil costumes that rival John Lovitz's Saturday Night Live portrayal of the devil. Turns out they all work in a bar called "The Devil's End" or possible "Inn", but while the actors have been dubbed into English, the bar's sign has not. The bar is complete with rocky-looking walls, real flaming torches, and a mariachi band. Yikes!!!

Turns out Mercedes Benz (the heroine) and her fiancé work at the bar, which was owned by her great-grandfather (or some such relation). Word comes that the esteemed relative has died and she is one of the heirs. Then they have to spend the night in the spooky mansion, together with the other heirs, who are being encouraged (by the lawyer, whose principal line of dialog is "you will now be silent!!!") to "Pray for your sins tonight and search for the treasure on the third night", though the subtext is "kill anyone who gets between you and the money."

The funny part is until the arrival of the blatantly comic detective, this movie could have been serious - only funny due to bad dubbing or something. But it's really meant to be a comedy. There's even a chase scene worthy of bugs bunny where Mercedes is being pursued by the cloaked man wielding an axe, and they run around a table again and again - she stops to take a drink of water and he waits, then they start up again.

Very silly, but a lot of fun, too!