The horror anthology Satanic Hispanics brings together five hot Hispanic directors into one cool feature. As with many of this ilk though, temperatures can vary. Satanic Hispanics offers more cheers than fears, but still makes for un gran momento.
Title: Satanic Hispanics (2023)
Director: Alejandro Brugués // Mike Mendez // Gigi Saul Guerrero // Eduardo Sánchez // Demián Rugna
Writer: Pete Barnstrom // Alejandro Mendez // Lino K. Villa
Studio: Dread // Epic Pictures
IMDb Plot: Five horror stories from five Latino directors
Joe Says: Satanic Hispanics is more quirky than creepy and offers more cheers than fears.
The anthology sports four Latinx-themed horror segments loosely interconnected with a fifth, overarching story. The stories rise to be quirky and creepy yet also wallow in gimmicky sheerness; there is more winking and nodding at the genre than fully immersing.
The wrapper – “The Traveler” – is directed by Mike Mendez, who has worked in anthologies before (the equally lopsided but charming Tales of Halloween), and links together the additional tales of suspense all told by an enigmatic stranger (Napoleon Dynamite star Efren Ramirez) who seeks to prepare for the coming of the vengeful wraith, San La Muerte (Saint Death).
The four vignettes are all clever and inventive in their own ways. Both creepy and callous, the disparate moods can differ between personal taste and viewing experience. There is a tale of the afterlife set in an old house; a jungle nightmare ridden with possessed animal-men; an exhausted Vampire enjoying his out-in-the-open feasts on a Halloween night; and an amateur demon-hunter who wields a hellish … appendage.
Argentinian director, Demián Rugna helms “También Lo Vi,” an atmospheric ghost story. Gustavo (Demian Salomon) borders on the OCD spectrum and accidentally opens a portal to the afterlife. The only person he can turn to for help – Dios Mio – is a podcaster. Rugna has spooky fun here with a questionable outcome.
In “Nahuales,” actress/director Gigi Saul Guerrero sees to having a CIA collaborator captured and tortured by a possessed group of Mexican animal-men. Although perhaps the slowest moving of the bunch, Guerrero’s distinctive look captures that Wes Craven Serpent and the Rainbow vibe yet with a renewed look at folklore.
“The Vampire” is the silliest of the bunch but endearing in its own way. Directed by Eduardo Sanchez (co-director of The Blair Witch Project), the titular bloodsucker (Hemky Madera) races to get home before sunrise only to be waylaid by traffic, police, and obnoxious dog-walkers. The gags might be as tired as Madera’s performance but his anxiety is perfectly captured – and humanly relatable.
Everything comes together in a place-setting way with “The Hammer of Zanzibar.” Directed by Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead), “Hammer…” blatantly riffs on old school Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns. Here, Malcom (Jonah Ray) uses a variety of weapons to conquer a Cuban demon named King Zombie (Morgana Ignis) in an action-packed and blood-soaked spectacle. Full of slo-mo hipness, a pop-punk soundtrack, and beautiful practical f/x, “Hammer…” is also sophomorically contrived and innuendo-heavy, especially regarding the phallic hammer.
As an anthology, Satanic Hispanics successfully portrays a range of themes that transcend the director’s nationalities. Horror works best as analogous storytelling. And here, vengeance, loneliness, love, and even the gift of life are all explored. Questions about the unknown are exhumed – and perhaps just as quickly thrown back into that deep hole. Above it all, Satanic Hispanics makes for a fun show – even one containing a petrified penis.
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