The Black Scorpion (1957) Horror Monster

The Black Scorpion (1957) - The film starts with some great footage of a newly created volcano in Mexico, and some horrible paternal voice over about the Mexican and there only response to the devastation caused by it. The character open is on Hank Scott (Richard Denning) and Artur Ramos (Carlos Ramos), Hank is an American geologist out to study the volcano with his Mexican peer. They have been driving a long time and still find themselves too far from the volcano. Coming across some carnage that does not seem to be created by the natural phenomenon makes a puzzle for them to solve. After visiting a village San Lorenzo they head to the crater where they meet the third main character Theresa Alverez (Mara Corday). She was riding up there but was thrown from her horse so they give her a ride back to town. It's a fifties movie so naturally Hank is attracted to the strong independent Theresa. Once these three are together we start to really get into the plot. Like many of the films from this era this relies on some scientist explaining what is going on is a flurry of exposition. In this case giant scorpions have been trapped in obsidian underground for thousands of years and the earthquake accompanying the formation of the new volcano has broken them free. We first hear of some creature in the village as the residents are shown as superstitious  simple folk who fear a demon is killing their friends and neighbors. This representation is one of many that we need to discuss.
  It sees them as a simplistic people who are more likely to pray for God to save them than to understand the phenomenon. The volcanic activity is important too it is the cause of the monster movie to come. Basing this film in Mexico as opposed to the classical early monster movies where the atomic bomb creates the monster is something to note. It also creates some really uncomfortable to watch scenes with its stereotypes and attitudes towards the people of Mexico. Remembering that this film was released in 1957 well before we ever used the word "problematic"  to point out in a nicer way that racism, sexism and paternalism in the media we consume. Besides the opening voice over we also get to here conversations all in English between the cops and our protagonist where the cops are Mexican but the hilarious voice that was more like a game show announcer than Mexican. We see simple villagers mildly chastise or maybe convince to help the White American hacienda owner on her ranch even after their safety was shown not to exist. Worst is the small mischievous Mexican boy who is constantly saying cute lines in his broken English and also continually get into places where the American protagonist has to save him. I think the one that struck me the most is when Hank and Carlos come across a farm that was attacked by the creature. They find a baby all by itself and hank takes it in his arms and jokes about the baby's quiet behavior  saying:

  "Look at this kid, not a peep out of him. If ever I have any of my own, I think I will feed him beans and tortillas too, and I'll be able to get some sleep nights. Later on a character mentions needing a Tequila and old hank blurts out "In your country I believe you call it a coffee break." All in all this film is not the best representation of how american film makers should depict another country and culture.

  The plot continues almost into classic Godzilla mode with the scorpions attacking people and a train, scenes of people running and screaming from them. Until our trio with the help of scientists from Mexico City and the Mexican army come up with a plan to end the scourge.  First the two geologists have to go down into a hole created by volcanic activity to investigate where all these scorpions are coming from. With a stow away hidden on there cart they are lowered into a nest of at least 50 scorpions. There are some really great creature feature stuff while they are down there and naturally have to save the little Mexican boy who hid to join them down there. Somewhere in the making of this movie they realized that they did not have a method to kill all the scorpions that they started with in the film. So first they blow up the nest but then still have to deal with the pack that is already on the surface. Early on a bunch roamed the country side destroying and killing. It was effective for the terror and the effects were really cool but the plot had a poison as the solution and a weak spot in the scorpion throat was the only way to administer it. So something had to be done to reduce the number of scorpions. The writing of a couple lines that the main characters hear is hilarious in its effectiveness to reach this end. Something to the effect of the reporter saying the big black scorpion has killed all the others and is now heading towards Mexico city. Problem solved.

  Mixed in with the monster movie is the ridiculous love story between Theresa and Hank, in that movie time period the movies had character go from meeting to spending their lives together in ninety minutes or less and in this film we get just that. The character of Theresa is a strong woman and she is almost equal in her pursuit of Hank as he is for her. Still that wonderfully entertaining banter leads over the course of the story to a life long commitment. Luckily there are at least a couple weeks between when the story starts and concludes unlike some of these relationships which go from "Nice to meet you" to "I love you" in a day.  So when Hank is at risk at the end of the film , and has to take the big shot to kill the black scorpions he is trying to get back to his love. Strangely the film does not end with the lovers back together kissing but instead just ends when the creature is dead. All that prepping us for a romantic ending for nothing.
  Leaving it depictions of Mexico out of this film I have to say I really enjoyed the scorpion attack part of it. I grew up on Creature Double Feature in Boston and always have a soft spot for these fifties monster movies. This one was fun for the most part but not great by any means.  Again if you can separate the story from the horrible stereotyping you can probably enjoy the monster part of this. I find it really flawed with some real logic gaps necessary to make the plot work so I won't recommend it. 

Scherzo Diabolico (2015) - Horror Revenge

Scherzo Diabolico (2015) -  The description on the box pales to the actual film. Described as "Tired of his nagging wife and his dull existence as an underappreciated employee, seemingly mild mannered Aram snaps after he is passed over for a well-deserved promotion. Suddenly and menacingly asserting his long reserved power, he devises a plan to kidnap a schoolgirl and keep her tied up in an abandoned warehouse in order to finally get what he feels he is owed. But what seems like a perfect plan soon unravels into his worst nightmare."
It sounds good if a bit creepy and possibly horribly twisted in a control sexual power way. The thing is though this is not that movie. It is more like Falling Down (1993) where for most of the film you think it is just about a guy that snapped but it is really much more deeply disturbing where the road to the final acts have been paved for quite a while. In that film the antics are exaggerated as the Michael Douglas character weaves his way through LA but it is all about his decline. It shares with this film in that at the turn we learn that the motivations of the main character are not exactly as the film is sold. Still this film is different in that it ends up being about the unforeseen consequences of the main characters actions. That the depth of the plot is greater than it is originally portrayed. It is going to be difficult to review this film without ruining the turn and where that leads but I will do my best to do it spoiler free.

  I am a fan of  Director Andrián García Bogliano. When I had my old twitter account we followed each other and I look forward to renewing that twitter relationship with the new account. Since I cleared my account for this current experiment. He is a great writer and director already with a roster of films as strong as any professional working in genre. Rooms for Tourists (2004), Cold Sweat (2010),We are What we Are (2010), Penumbre (2011) with its absolutely stunning ending, and the remarkable Here Comes The Devil (2012). He also directed the recent Nick Demici vehicle Late Phases (2014), all very solid entries and I look forward to getting each new entry in Adrián's resume.
  In this film he gives us a scary look into the beta male psyche and shows how being powerless warps healthy interactions in the world. In this case the main character Aram (Francisco Barreiro) is pressured by his wife (Milena Pezzi)  to do more with his life. He works as and accountant and is a bit of a push over, working long hours saving his boss's hide only to be overlooked and under appreciated. This powerlessness is presented to the audience with a series of interactions setting the character up as a bit of a loser who is unhappy with this life. His boss Licenciado Sosa (Jorge Molina) telling him how much he is appreciated in one minute and then in the next telling him he will not be paid for the overtime he worked is just perfect. Then we get to see that maybe Aram has more too him than we first thought. There is a plan he is working on.  We see him studying a schoolgirl walking home tracking her time in each section of her walk. In a series of scenes we realize he is planning to kidnap this girl. This being a genre film we expect this is the character exercising what little power he has in a psycho sexual way. He will have control over someone he sees as weaker and thus feel empowered while all around him in the rest of his life he is giving ground. These expectations though are deftly thrust upon the audience only to be turned in a surprising new direction.
  Women are intricate to the plot of this film, from the pressuring wife   who is not the most positive female stereotype. Unsatisfied with her husband inability to do more with his life, her dissatisfaction plays out with a coldness and lack of intimacy. A male excuse for misbehaving men since the first women's movements in the 1800's it is not this reviewer's favorite presentation. Lack of intimacy and denied physical contact drives our male lead though and sets us up that he may have the heinous idea of kidnapping a high school girl. Forming in our minds that he is a certain kind of sicko. We see through a series of scenes, one rather shocking one of his preparation always calming himself as he goes by listening to the piano classic the Mephesto Waltz. Later we see Aram getting advice on how to bind someone from a prostitute he sees on the side and so we see he through these early scenes what he is planning how it is being ritualized. She is emblematic of how the powerless male seeks a place where he is in charge, paying for the right to do as he pleases with her body. Still I thought it was telling that he took a passive position during the sex with her on top and in control. Later when he thinks he has won we see a very different approach with his new secretary. Our captured girl Anabela (Daniela Soto Vell) once captive is held and to an extent mistreated but for her the experience changes her from an innocent child to a revenge driven adult. She is shocked with a taser repeatedly as a way to pacify her and it hardens her. She becomes a very damaged woman all so a male can feel empowered.
  When the crime is committed and Aram has this young woman we see more than a man's desire to control a woman, although he is mistreating her there is something else going on too. He is has some reasons we are yet not privy to. Tasering her to get here to beg for her life on camera, having her strip and filming her naked body. They are acts that could fit the sicko profile but he is disturb by his own behavior. Is this the reaction a non alpha man would have? There are hints along the way to what the real motivation is but still the turn is hidden well enough to make it a good plan when it is revealed.
  Aram after successfully executing his plan is a changed man. Now the man who is in charge at his work he is becoming the alpha he always wanted to be. His wife likes his success and he is more attractive to the ladies in the office. Through inter cut scenes we see that success for Aram means an affair with a coworker, his wife's renewed interest, but no more visits with his prostitute since he now has all he desires.Still there is a disturbing truth about this man. He keeps the images and the video of the girl he used to gain what he has, that marks the need to see and feel the control all over again even after he has apparently won. He is still a beta male hiding beneath the skin. While juxtaposed with the recovery of the girl and her family. Everything he did appears to have great benefits for him but the girl struggles to deal with an ordeal that has scarred her deeply and torn her family down. They are never going to be the same and again we are reminded what a small man Aram really is, willing to sacrifice others for the allusion of success.

  Here the need to be vague because there is a shocking turn triggered by the Mephesto Waltz, and what a turn it is. The climax we were not expecting where this little strange thriller about male need for control becomes much more of a revenge flick where finding victims is easier than finding forgiveness. The walls close in on Aram as the consequences of his action are suddenly appearing all around him. Sometimes you wear the mantle but are not really the king. Wonderfully paced the third act raises stakes and takes no prisoners ending in a gory spree of murder. This is a definitely a film worth seeing and you should buy or rent it soon.
As I have done so far this year; I am doing as an experiment my Twitter account @Soresport is dedicated to following and being followed by people in and behind the scenes. Then I am also hoping some of them follow me back.. It really is an experiment and where I love the horror community it is a way to keep track of what is going on by the people involved in it.  I am now following over 160 people while the followers is only 23 so as you can see people in the biz do not follow just anyone back. :) 

Curandero (2005) Horror Satanic Cult

Curandero (2005)  - A complex and winding tale following an investigation of murders in Mexico. It is also a supernatural tale of the battle between good and evil. At the center of this story are two characters Carlos (Carlos Gallardo) and Magdalena (Gizeht Galatea). Carlos Guttierez is a reluctant Curandero, a spiritual healer in latino culture. He sort of inherited the power to see the signs of good and evil from his father Don Carlos (Jose Carlos Ruiz) but is reluctant to embrace the visions which can be quite disturbing. He is a man who while growing up saw the tricks of the trade when his father was casting out evil, or purifying a place for the locals and sees that a good deal of what was done is slight of hand and tricks. He chooses to limit the work he does in this field instead letting the other curandero in town Alex (Javier Escobar) take much of the work. His father only passed away a few weeks before and it is unclear if that is the reason he is passes on work or if seeing behind the curtain has made him too skeptical to be a curandero? Any way you cut it this is a guy who is very reluctant to wear the helm left by his father. When he does get pulled into the story it is with reservations and an attitude that the people who believe in evil are silly in their beliefs.
The actor Carlos Gallardo who is probably most famous for his first role as El mariachi in Robert Rodriguez's first film is calm cool and aloof in the role. He and Rodriguez have a history and since this film is written and executive produced by the Rodriguez, Gallardo steps in as a regular player in his films. It is also note worthy that this actor played God in the Soska sisters "Dead Hooker in a Trunk". Not that it has any bearing on this film just a cool connection since those girls are making so much of a buzz these days.This picture held out of the US market until this year can be found on Amazon Prime for about a 4 dollar rental. It may be other places for cheaper so shop around.
  Brought into a case by Federale Magdalena Garcia, a cop with a past tied to the Guttierez family. This story does not give you all the information all at once, in fact it is so densely plotted that it takes the full running time of 92 minutes to tell all the details. The case is a strange one, people have been going missing and the police finally get a break. An informant named Lopez is taken into custody and spills the beans on his leader known as Castaneda (Gabriel Pingarron). The police arrest the man and start to work there way through trying to identify the victims. Castaneda is a spiritual legend, a satanic cult leader of great magical power who is like the curandero gone bad. His drug cartel is using black magic to gain power. Even when arrested he is arrogant in his confidence and soon uses his magic to escape. This is what prompts Magdalena to seek out Carlos, the police station has had bad magic used on it and the police will not enter again until it has been purified. Since as a child she was helped by the elder Don Carlos (Jose Carlos Ruiz) she seeks him out again. Finding the son she hopes he can help which he reluctantly does.
  Now I can't spend a lot of time telling about the plot without giving away a lot of the wonderful twists and turns of this film. Every character is tied to the plot in a meaningful way. As a script is it really well written, but may suffer from being so well tied together that its all too neat and tidy. Now I liked this, the police chief and rival curandero play equally important part in the script other than to be counters to the main characters. Its well done in this way where we see as the film goes on that the connections between the characters also grow and fill in every possible detail of the story.
Carlos and Magdalena are connected through the real magic that the elder Don Carlos performed on the child Magdalena and witnessed by Carlos as a boy. That magic ties into the connection of Castaneda to Magdalena in such an unexpected way. Her bosses actions tie into the case and her connections to Castaneda. Carlos and his rival Alex meet in the story and we learn that the latter was a student of Don Carlos but he has been pulled to the side of the evil magic. Don Carlos himself is a known and respected curandero and his influence is not only known by Castaneda but those who are around him. In the end is a bigger story of an evil man looking for imortality, a younger man finding the power of good inside him and the continuing battle raging in the world between good and evil.
  I see that the movie only rates at about 5.1 on the IMDB site but only has three reviews. With one being a 1 star job pulling down the two good reviews, I guess you can't please all the people all the time. I found the film completely enjoyable. Not particularly scary but certainly very engaging. The director Eduardo Rodriguez does a fine job with the flashes of gore and integrating the visions of the curandero into the film. What starts out as little gory flashes of pain and suffering that Carlos sees when near crime scenes steadily grow as he embraces his role as spiritual champion of good. We are privileged to be introduced to the world of these psychics, who see bit of the world that live in the shadows of our souls. They when they choose can shine a light on us and in turn either help or leave us hindered by those corners of ourselves.
  If there is a weak area in the picture I would go with the use of musical cheap scares, I have never been a big fan of strong musical noises to get reactions. I find subtle undertones and themes that accompany the pictures are more interesting the the louder da da daaaaah approach. It is a personal preference but I was put off at time by the music that felt a bit too manipulative. The special effects are displayed well throughout this film, noiw not all the flashes of gory scenes made a lot of sense but I think they were intended to set a dark mood more than to tell the story. They did do that in spades, and I particularly liked the market scene where we are seeing Magdalena and the world through the eyes of the curandero.
  So if you are looking for a tightly written cop thriller packed full of the supernatural this is the picture for you.PS The room 217 reference was not missed by me.

We Are What We Are (2010) Horror Cannibals

We Are What We Are (2010) - "Somos lo que hay" Although I said I wanted to avoid cannibal movies for awhile, this small little film comes my way and gets me back in. What is good about this film is the scope. It is not really about cannibalism but more about dealing with a crisis and defining new roles when things go wrong in an organization. I know that doesn't tell you much so let me explain the plot a bit.
  The film is about a family of cannibals living in a Mexican city. They have set rolls with the elder father, wife, two sons and a daughter. All the children are teens or older the eldest son Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) is a bit shy and questioning his sexuality, the younger son Julian (Alan Chavez) is stronger but hot headed, the manipulative but strong daughter Sabina (Paulina Gaitan) who will do what ever it takes to survive. Patricia (Carmen Beato) the mother, seems a hurt older wife who is displeased with her spouse as he is unreliable and his behavior repulsive to her.  The father (Humberto Yanez) an older man who does all the "hunting" for the family focuses primarily on prostitutes. By being a John to them it is easy to lure them to a place where he can subdue them and bring them back as food for the family. Although his wife does not like this aspect and frowns on eating "whores" when you see the old man in the beginning of the film it makes perfect sense why this is how he does it.
  In fact you only see the father in the opening scene as he stumbles through a mall before collapsing and dying of a heart attack. (Obviously too much red meat). This event leaves the family in a crisis, with the need to feed only a few days away the family has to figure out who will provide. There is trouble beyond just a family meeting though. None of the teen children have ever hunted and Patricia seems to be in a funk. Sitting quietly mourning in her own little world while the children discuss what to do next. If Mom was more approachable thing could probably be worked out but with the leadership vacuum there is politicking to do.
  The natural order of things would normally have been to have the oldest son take the reins. The timid Alfredo though is to scared to step up. Sabina seems like a hand of strength but her role as a girl in their society leave her only the opportunity to influence from behind the scenes. She maneuvers Alfredo trying to sure up his confidence about being the family's next provider. Julian, she says is to callous and hot headed and would get the family caught by making a mistake. Sabina is a good judge of character and is right on about both young men. The imperative to organize comes from the mentioned three days until they need to do the "ritual" and feed. It is never clear what the ritual is other than a sacrifice nor what will happen if it does not happen but it is implied with tone and urgency that something bad will happen. This setup left me wanting to know more but it is strategically held back.
  Alfredo and Julian work together on the problem and first decide grabbing one of the city's many street kids may be something they can pull off. Unfortunately for them the packs of kids stick together and they fail in a really embarrassing manner leaving their confidence shaken and raising the specter that they may fail at getting a subject. So plan B is to do what their father did and get a prostitute. They know their mother will not be happy about this but they can not see another option. When they successfully bring a girl home Sabina starts some of the preparations for the ritual. Unfortunately Mom comes out of her stupor and realizes that her sons have done the things she hated about her husband. She freaks out and kills the girl in what is not an acceptable way. (No Ritual , no meat?) Suddenly the family is back to square one and time is running out.
  The dynamics of the family makes this pretty compelling, the Mother does not see her children as anything more than that. At the same time she does not want to be back in the pattern her former husband created and she so disliked. So she scolds the boys and to make sure that they can never get near the prostitutes again to acquire a victim, she takes the dead prostitute back to the street corner making sure they all see her family and threatening them. Culture dictates that the oldest son inherits the leadership mantle but he has yet to find his way. Sabina who is supposedly powerless in this structure does what she can by wielding power behind the scenes. Still there is also a competitiveness with her Mother.
  A duel storyline comes out of this last incident, Patricia not seeing her sons as providers takes matters into her own hands. She seduces a taxi driver with sex and lures him back to the apartment. At the same time Alfredo is fighting through his sexuality question while trying to figure out the best way for his hunt to happen. He finds his way by seducing a young man and also bringing him back to the apartment. All the while the ineffective police force is closing in on the family. The family has made enough noise that they are finally getting noticed. The three groups come together around the same time in a climax that is worth the time invested in this film. The choices at that point are dictated by the circumstances and Alfredo I have to say steps up and makes a sacrifice I was not expecting. Good for him.
  Like I said in the beginning this is a small film and so if you are expecting explosions and special effects you will be sorely disappointed. This is more of a family drama where the family is a cannibal group. The payoff would have been better if we saw the effects of not feeding, or more about the ritual, maybe some back story on how this family came to be. Still it played out well and left us with an image at the end that I thought was very effective. I will definitely recommend this film.
Rating (6.1) 5.0 are recommended, some more recommended than others.

Terror and Black Lace (1985) Horror Thriller

Terror and Black Lace (1985) - "Terror Y Encajes Negros" is what some call a Mexican version of a giallo. It is not quite that but it is a story that is heavy on moral message wrapped in a thriller. Isabel (Maribel Guardia) is a young wife of an older man, she is a kept woman safely ensconced in her penthouse apartment she longs to interact with the world. Her husband Martinez (Gonzalo Vega) likes to know where she is, to know what she is doing, as well as controlling her access to money. It is always great when a scene sets up a character without exposition about that character and there is a great simple one to show how Martinez thinks. He comes home and there is a service truck in front of the entrance, he gets out of his car and rips off the wipers from the van before it can speed away. When upstairs with his wife she is doting on him, calming him with a drink and dinner. She tells him she made him pork chops and rice. He says he already had something like that today and then proceeds to take her in the kitchen and explain how she will make him a "tortuga" totally ignoring the work she did in preparing him a meal. He is bit of a dick but it sets up both her and him. His overbearing behavior is going to drive Isabel to do things she probably not do. Of course the moral lesson is hers to learn and through her the audience gets the message.
Little do the residents of the apartment building know that there is a deviant in their midst. Cesar the instrument maker has a compulsion that will blow up into murder later in the film. The movie does a good job hiding his predilection with a bit of misdirection. The opening scene has the creeper Cesar (Claudio Obregon) in a mall following a woman onto an escalator. He stands really close to her and after he gets off we continue to follow the woman. Suddenly people notice that her dress has been cut up on the back. Did that creeper really just cut pieces off her dress in public? Later we see Cesar in the elevator of the building fighting the urge when women enter. He says to himself, not at home not where he lives. You get the picture from this that his urge is strong and it takes all of his will power to restrain himself. Still though it is surprising when you see what his real deal is. If you pay attention to his interaction with the cleaning girl Coquis (Claudia Guzman) you can figure it out but this viewer was a bit slow. We cut to scenes of Cesar and his mistreatment of women throughout the film. We really get the full picture of his fetish and know that at some point it will come into play with the main story.
That main story about a kept woman romanticizing about a different life is a bit mundane. It is well developed if not particularly interesting. Isabel decides to change her life by getting out more and in so doing she meets another man. The black lace outfit she initially thought would get her husband back to treating her like more than a useful piece of decoration is now a way to break from her boring life. She meets and flirts with Ruben (Jaime Moreno) on a few occasions. So her husband was right all along thinking that if he gave her too much freedom she would soon stray? She decides to meet Ruben at his apartment on a weekend when Martinez is going out of town Ruben for his part is thrill with the idea of finally getting this woman in bed and who wouldn't Maribel Guardia is a former Miss Costa Rica and a beautiful women. Ruben is exactly the reason Martinez is so protective of his wife. He is a single man who thinks nothing of trying seduce another man's wife. His smarmy coolness makes the viewer cringe and thus he is the perfect foil for the moral tale being told here. So when he gets Isabel to agree to join him at his apartment we are set up for the lesson.
Isabel for her part will have to make a decision before the night is out. She sees her husband off and gets ready for her night out at Ruben's. She knows what she is getting into dressing in the black lace outfit she is beautiful and then puts her blue dress over it and heads out. It is sort of a shame really what happens to her. Martinez with a chance to impress his boss and possibly get a promotion has some really bad luck. A flat tire and a bad car jack make him miss the opportunity of a lifetime. He heads home a broken man. His scenes are really played almost for comedy with every one of his reactions a real exaggeration. Isabel has equally bad luck, even after making her decision at Ruben's she is punished for even thinking about cheating on her husband. As she rides the elevator back to her apartment she has the misfortune of coming in contact with Cesar.
He has been having his own bad night and it has spun completely out of control. An argument with Coquis turns fatal and it is poor Isabel's fate to be in the elevator just as Cesar is trying to get rid of the body. This starts the rather good final sequence of the film where Cesar does all he can to get Isabel and make sure no one ever knows about his crime. It is a long sequence and Isabel has several very close calls in and out of the elevator, the roof and her apartment. When finally she manages to reach the apartment of the party and it seems she is safe, the moral lesson smacks her one more time. Her husband arrives home as she is being calmed on the balcony and from his viewpoint it is his wife in a black lace outfit surrounded by men. He is furious and refuses to listen to anyone pulling her out of the party and forcing her back into the elevator, the place of her trauma. As she cries in a ball in the elevator he walks up the stairs to see the door of his apartment hacked open, he realizes something more has happened and cries for forgiveness.
The lesson in this film is a rough one with Isabel even though she ends up making the right decision is a victim for just thinking about cheating on her husband. In a way the film presents her as young and naive and Martinez as her protector. This is a bit of a relic of a pre-feminism world maybe reflecting Mexican society at the time but maybe not even that. Reflecting on it with today's views Martinez comes across as more manipulative and Isabel is responding to his smothering personality. A women though who would cheat on her spouse becomes fair game for any psychopath lurking in the world. It does not matter if she follows through or not, if only she had listened to her husband and accepted her cage nothing bad will ever happen to her. Not the most modern of messages. Still the film was reasonably well constructed and the final sequence well done. So it will get a pass from Soresport movies. Oh and since you are wondering here is the toruga recipe
1. Open a roll and pull out most of the bread leaving a hollowed crust.
2. Refried beans spread on one side, avacado and chilies spread on the other.
3. In the middle Ham, slices of tomato, avacado, cheese, onions, and some chili peppers.
Eat and be merry!
Rating (6.1) 5.0 and up are recommended.

Monsters (2010) - Horror Monster

Monsters (2010) - " Six years ago... NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A space probe was launched to collect samples but broke up during reentry over Mexico. Soon after new life forms began to appear and half the country was quarantined as an infected zone. Today The Mexican and US Military still struggle to contain the creatures."
So starts the 2010 low budget drama, road movie, science fiction, love story Monsters. In the story a photo journalist Andrew (Scoot McNairy) is coerced by his editor to collect the paper owner's daughter Samantha (Whitney Able) and get her away from the danger of the infected zone. Her hotel has been attacked and Andrew asks about looking for her. The monsters, large air squid seem to be spreading and the military seems to be losing ground to them. They are not coordinated but more seem like giants migratory animals. They move about and interact but are so large often will kill people in their passing. When the two people do find each other the plan is to take the train to the coast where Samantha can board a boat back to the United States. Andrew is hoping that in their travels he may still get that good photo of the creatures he has not been able to get. We see on signs that northern Mexico is all infected zone. Northern Mexico as an infected zone with the US trying to keep the creatures out, and they caused it through their own actions. This all seem so familiar somehow?

So Samantha and Andrew board the slow train to the coast with the sounds of battle nearby to indicate they are near the southern border of the zone. Time is running out with the zone moving further to the south so they have just 48 hours to get there before that port is no longer useful. They start the trip and get to know each other while the train chugs alone. When it is turned back by the military they are still 100 kilometers from the coast and so decide to disembark and make their way on foot. We get them bonding until they get to the port. Their the timing is bad and the officials corrupt making an exit impossible. Then on top of it after spending a very cool night at the Day of the Dead celebrations, Samantha is resisting his advances since she has as fiancee waiting in the states. He after being turned down finds a local to wet his willy and ends up getting their passports and money stolen. Options are gone now the two decide to hire men with their remaining cash to take them across the infected zone on foot. Like many an illegal immigrant they are going to traverse northern Mexico and slip into the United States.

The journey is really well done from the boat up river, we have close encounters with the giant beasts, see their destruction and share the Americans fears as they are lead through this dangerous land by armed gunmen. We get to see the way the creature procreate and learn some of their spawning patterns.

When the main crisis hits the group it puts our couple in a desperate place where they must rely on each other to get through to the border. It is a struggle but when the large border wall is reached the area is abandoned. The battle it appears has moved north into Texas.

This is a very cool movie, with just enough special effects to please. It is not an action packed thrill ride like District 9. It is a story of two people on a trip that changes them profoundly and allows them to find each other. Writer, director Gareth Edwards works wonders shooting non actors in their homes and businesses, in parks and on streets and works those interactions into his science fiction tale. The actors working with minimal script give honest and clear performances. Whitney and Scoot dating at the time the shoot started are now married and in interviews talked about the continuous shooting while traveling with Edwards through Mexico and Costa Rica capturing the footage. How many times innocuous answers to questions about the government or a recent storms were edited into the movie to fit the alien battle scenario. They talk about the incredible effort put in by Edwards to get all the visuals for this film, including some shooting in Galveston TX after a hurricane wiped out most of the community.

This film is a success that shows that good movie making does not take hundreds of people and millions of dollars. It take a story, skill and lots of heart. This film has that.

Rating (7.2) 5.0 and up are recommended in the Zombiegrrlz system I would say Go see it if you can.

Machete (2010) - Action

Machete (2010) - A former Mexican Federale left for dead after being betrayed by his own boss, Machete (Danny Trejo) comes illegally into the United States. He is picked up a a day labor stop by Booth (Jeff Fahey) the powerful aide to Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro). Booth wants him to kill the violently anti-immigrant McLaughlin, well that is at least what he tells him. Really it is an elaborate set up to blame an immigrant for a shooting and get the senator reelected. The stellar cast includes Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), as the head of an underground immigrant movement called the network. Torrez (Steven Seagal) as the arch enemy of Machete and former boss in Mexico who now leads a major drug cartel. Jessica Alba as a young immigration officer rounding up illegals. Cheech Marin as Padre the brother and priest of Machete. Lt. Stillman (Don Johnson) as the leader of a vigilante group who hunt and kill immigrants as they attempt to sneak across the border. There is also an amusing turn by Lindsay Lohan as Booth's daughter April.

Machete for the most part is on the run in this movie, there is lots of killing and funny dialog with the plot winding its way to a giant conclusion, a fight between the network and the vigilante group. Machete also gets a showdown with Torrez which is a great finish. Writer Director Robert Rodriguez has done a great job bringing forth many of the issues of illegal immigration and how the US on one hand wants the labor while also vilifying the participants. There have been complaints in reviews of this film saying it is heavy handed in its messages. This writer does not see it that way. What Rodriguez did was create a story that includes the issues and also give a multifaceted reading of the issues. The serious scapegoating of illegal immigrants in our society while ignoring the American who hire them and then drive down working Americans wages on top of it is not discussed her, what we see is how easy it is for American small businessmen to get cheap labor.

The film also has many wonderful turns and twists that make the humor and action an enjoyable trip. If you are looking for a fun and action filled movie this is the winner of the summer.

Rating (8.3) 5.0 and above are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz rating system Go See it and then Buy it!