The museum of the film academy in Los Angeles opens its doors to Mexican horror

In 1975, the legendary Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart brought together a sense of humor unique in the music industry to poke fun at an obscure gem. of the Mexican horror film. The rockers dedicated Debra Kadbra a the baron of terror, a 1961 film that tells the story of an aristocrat burned at the stake by the Inquisition in 1660 and who swears to come back from the dead for revenge three centuries later. The baron returns in the form of a creature that feeds on human brains that caused more than fear laughs to Zappa and Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart). “It’s fucking stupid,” said the leader of the Mothers of Invention, who was a declared connoisseur of Mexican horror. His favorite movie was The Curse of the Aztec Mummyfrom 1957.

The display of absurd special effects of the baron of terrorknown on America’s cult circuits as The Brainiac, will arrive on October 16 at the Museum of the Academy of Hollywood. Starting this Thursday, the organization opens its doors to 20 Mexican horror films made between 1950 and 1993, when Guillermo del Toro filmed Chronos. The first double program this afternoon starts with the classic The Vampire (1957), starring German Robles, who with this interpretation became the favorite bloodsucker in Mexico despite being born in Gijón. This is followed by the debut feature by the director he created The Pan’s Labyrinth.

The selection is made up of films populated by creatures that have lived in the shadow of other brilliant classics of Mexican cinema. Although they have been relegated and even looked down upon by the industry, many of the titles which will be screened until October 27 they achieved very good box office receipts and caused nightmares among the audience.

“This is a very violent moment in Mexico and I understand that there are people who do not want to deal with terror, but this is like spicy. There it is and one chooses whether to consume it or not. It is important because it is a reflection of our psyche. Being a deeply Catholic country, it also believes in the afterlife, the devil and supernatural things, ”explains Abraham Castillo Flores, who curated the selection for the Oscar museum in Los Angeles, in a conversation via Zoom.

Castillo, who was a programmer for the Mórbido festival, which has become a reference for fans of the genre in Latin America, believes that the selection is an attempt to “revive” the names of creators and their works that have been forgotten over time. .

Among these is Chano Urueta, born Santiago Eduardo Urueta, the director of The baron of terror. The filmmaker died in 1979 after having worked in the industry for 50 years, during which he directed people like Cantinflas, Jorge Negrete, Pedro Armendáriz and launched the career of Blue Demon, the fighter who rivaled The Saint. This is just a handful of talent he worked with in the 140 movies he directed. This Friday you can see The world of the dead (1970), the 25th film of the silver masked man, originally from Guanajuato and who plays a member of the Holy Inquisition, a soldier of Christ.

One of the scenes from ‘The Baron of Terror’ (1962), directed by the Mexican Chano Urueta.Alameda Films

“Urueta started as an assistant. He had three university degrees and left them all to go to the movies. He was a brilliant man,” Castillo notes. The witch (1954), another of Urueta’s films, will be screened on October 21 at the museum’s Ted Mann Theater. “It has one of the most elaborate make-ups in Mexican cinema and it is not a film that has been made much noise about,” adds the curator, who lived “an adventure” to be able to find this film and include it in the sample. The witch takes a harrowing twist to the story Pygmalion of George Bernard Shaw, will follow Holy Blood (1989)where Alejandro Jodorowsky mixes circus life and the life of Goyo Cárdenas, the Mexican serial killer, in the same occult cult.

The viewers of The curse of La Llorona (1961) may appreciate Rita Macedo in all its glory. An off-screen whirlwind, Macedo embodies the villainess that torments his young niece, played by Rosita Arenas. “It is a film that presents a very funny and perverse Latin American gothic,” describes Castillo, who also acknowledges that the influence of the Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, who revolutionized terror in Europe in the 60s with the devil’s mask. La Llorona will share the screen on the same day, Saturday October 8, with Veneno para las hadas, one of the great mexican horror classicswritten and directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada.

In addition to Macedo, another great female figure of Mexican cinema stands out among the selection. Isela Vega stars and directs The lovers of the lord of the night (1983). Vega, born in Hermosillo, became with this film the first woman in Mexico to direct a genre film, according to Castillo. As a traveling companion in the production, she chose Irma Serrano, an extravagant character who lived many lives in one. She was a senator, singer of ranchera music and writer. She never denied that she openly practiced witchcraft.

The lovers of the lord of the night will close the exhibition on Thursday, October 27. The double function complements it Alucarda, the daughter of darkness, by Juan López Moctezuma, who is considered a cursed genius of Mexican cinema. He was the first producer of the films that Jodorowsky made in Mexico and a distinguished executive of Televisa, the Latin American communications giant (which, together with Univision, has helped shape the show thanks to its foundation). Towards the end of his life, López Moctezuma donated all the rights to his work to his followers, which proved to be a disaster. Today there is no copy of alucarda in 35 millimeters that is not damaged and in conditions to be projected. The only negative that existed in the United States of this film, which contains scenes of Catholic torture inspired by Goya, was burned. “It’s scary to think about,” says Castillo.

López Moctezuma ended up in a mental hospital. Two fans of his work went to look for him there, who performed a psychomagic ritual with the films he had directed to remind him who he had been in his life outside of there. alucarda It was a box office and critical failure. Now it has been resurrected in Hollywood.

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The museum of the film academy in Los Angeles opens its doors to Mexican horror