Até o Vento tem Medo

It's been over thirty years since I've seen "Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo" but I still think it is the best thriller movie ever...I can still picture some of the scenes. If you want to be scared without being grossed out, this is the film to see. When I saw it, I thought it would be the usual campy type scare film. But, instead, it turned out to be one of the best I've ever seen. The suspense builds throughout the film and brings to mind the thrillers by Hitchcock. The actors were wonderfully natural, not the usual "kid" actors and the scenery was frightfully eerie. The sound effects were also good, you could feel the wind blowing throughout. I would love to see it again...does anyone know where I could buy a copy?

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.

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.

While not as prolific as the USA, UK and Italy; Mexico is responsible for many great horror films; with the sixties in particular being something of a goldmine for the horror fan. Carlos Enrique Taboada's Hasta el viento tiene miedo has a great reputation amongst those who have seen it; and after having finally tracked the film down myself, I have to say that its reputation is completely deserved! The title translates into English as 'Even the Wind is Afraid' and as you would expect from a film with such a title; this is a macabre treat! Like the classics The House That Screamed and Suspiria, this film focuses on an all-girl boarding house. After a group of girls sneak into a restricted part of the school and are caught; their punishment (doled out by the head teacher nicknamed 'The Witch') is that they have to stay behind during the summer break! Naturally the girls are not too pleased, and things take a turn for the worse when a long dead student is sighted during the heavy winds, and seems to be after a student named Claudia...

The story is very much of the slow burn variety and while we do get plenty of horror; the film focuses more on building the characters, their relationships and the central situation. The horror is brought forward more through atmosphere and while the locations used are not as Gothic as those seen in similar Italian films; the film does deliver a great air of creepiness and the way that the wind is used provides one of the main highlights. The acting is very good, with adult performers Marga López and Maricruz Olivier delivering the standout performances as the two teachers. The younger performers are all very nice looking and while the acting is sometimes a bit cheesy; it doesn't harm the film too much. The plot does move slowly but it's always interesting and the film builds tension as we get closer to the end, with the film taking a rather unexpected twist half way through. It all boils down to an engaging and original (for the time) climax and overall; Hasta el viento tiene miedo may not be one of the best known horror films ever made, but it will certainly be of interest to horror fans. Recommended!

I think there will never be a movie like this.. why? because it was made a masterpiece without any special effects at all. The wind sound is scary as itself, and the voice saying "Claaaaaaaudia" is the best!

Carlos Taboada had very clear the effect that this sub-rated film would have through the time.. he didn't use something with lights or shadows... the simple and peaceful image of Andrea standing in the middle of the woods chills you out, or Diego, saying that when the wind is like that... he knows she's around.

What I don't know exactly about this film is that my husband says there are two endings... one that shows the feet in the window, and the other that it doesn't. Is that true?

in three words.. It's awesome!