COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - SATANIC HISPANICS (EPIC PICTURES BLU RAY)
Part of what draws people to horror is the universal feeling of being scared. And while that fear unites it, it doesn’t always present in the same way for all of it. It is one of the main reasons why representation has become such a hot topic in all aspects of entertainment. In the realm of horror, representation hasn’t always been equitable, but it also depends on where you’re from. While North America, specifically the US has a habit of presumptively claiming some kind of superiority, it is well-documented that the horror genre in this part of the world has historically not been very inclusive. Sure, films like Ganja & Hess and Ringu all provided some diversity in the mainstream (in the latter’s case, getting a full-on remake), but overall it wasn’t until the turn of the century that we started to see more diverse voices, stories, and horrors on-screen. Latin Horror has been around as long as the genre itself, but how often are the tapestries of their collective experience combined in anthology form? Not many, in fact never until the release of Satanic Hispanics from Dread/Epic Pictures. Featuring stories from an array of Latine voices including Mike Mendez, Demian Rugna, Eduardo Sánchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero, and Alejandro Brugues is this Spanish-speaking scare-fest worth the hype?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
When police raid a house in El Paso, they find it full of dead Latinos, and only one survivor. Known as 'The Traveler,' he is taken to the police station for questioning. There, he recounts tales of horrors from his life, chronicling portals leading to other worlds, mythical beings, demons, and the undead; he speaks of legends from Latin America.
HOW IS IT?
This isn’t the first time we’ve reviewed Satanic Hispanics here at Macabre Daily (check out Lowell’s review here), but this is a first-time watch for the crypt. As someone of Mexican heritage, it is always fun to observe how other cultures approach horror stories. While there is no regionality per se to horror, how one's identity shows up in the work provides a lens into the culture the filmmaker is from. The combination of various stories from filmmakers representing different lived Latin experiences is an idea that seems almost too good to be true, and thankfully it is as good if not better. While it does suffer from the same unevenness most anthologies do, it has a compelling through-line story that buffers any of the lesser parts from detracting from the whole.
The throughline story is about the interrogation of El Viajero, (Efren Ramirez) who has been captured by police after being discovered as the last remaining survivor of a violent shootout. As police try to discern fact from fiction in his story, he weaves in various tales all about people adjacent to his journey and the violent aftermath they rescued him from. The film is divided into a total of 6 chapters that encapsulate 5 stories, including the wraparound. The standouts are easily the ones from Demian Rugna and the wraparound from Mike Mendez which both offer the most fun in terms of originality and violence. Tambien Lo Ví from Rugna is almost predictive of what we would get later last year in When Evil Lurks. A perfect harmony of the viscerally grotesque makeup effects and his nihilistic worldview combined into a truly original ghost story. Rugna continues to prove he is not just making great films, he is pushing the entire genre forward film by film. With The Traveler, the dynamic portrayal by Ramirez combined with one helluva ending make this wraparound far more entertaining and interesting than most. The lore built throughout the story breaks is compelling and not overdone
There are no “bad” entries in this anthology, which is a huge plus considering the failure rate is much higher in these kinds of movies. Still, some didn’t work as well as the other two. Nahuales is a truly surreal indigenous horror experience that was teetering on greatness with interesting mythology and strange visuals. The storytelling, however, made it hard to latch onto anything to build tension. El Vampiro is best described as “cute”. Mostly a comedy with some over-the-top violence, this asks the hilarious question; what would a vampire do if they forgot about daylight savings? It has some moments that will force a smirk, but it also has just as many groans along the way. Finally, No Title/Malcolm was the biggest miss in the bunch. Again, not bad, just a bit too much for our tastes. The humor is very broad and feels like a horror version of Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny in how colorful and silly the setup is. Unlike that film, this one doesn’t have the charm since most of the jokes fall flat. Nevertheless, as a whole Satanic Hispanics is easily a new anthology favorite here in the crypt, and dedos cruzados we get a sequel!
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
Satanic Hispanics was released last year, so no details on any sort of restoration work this time around. Dread / Epic Pictures have put out a solid release here and the film looks great! With the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 in 1080p HD, there isn’t much more one could ask for in the visual department. All of the colors pop on the screen, and the darks aren’t overdone and look great on our OLED. Images from this release are used throughout this review and below.
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
Much like the visual elements, the sound options for Satanic Hispanics are great! There is both a 2.0 Dolby Stereo option as well as a 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound option. The latter was the one we used for the review and it is perfect. The mix is well-balanced so that dialogue comes through clearly and isn’t overwhelmed by the action. The use of the rear channels is effective and provides a more immersive experience than the standard two-channel mix. There are also both English and Spanish subtitles for the hearing impaired!
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
The film is full of great stories, and the special features are decent, but not as comprehensive as one may want. Alongside a director’s commentary, which we did not listen to for this review, there is a 30+ Dread Talks interview with four of the five filmmakers and two members of the Dread Central team. In an informal and informative interview over zoom, the directors talked about how they approached coming up with their ideas as well as if they had any specific countries they wanted to include. While there are more Cuban heritage and two Mexican, they all still brought different perspectives on their culture and how they translate into their stories. It was a pleasant interview for those looking for a bit more background, however, it would have been nice to get more focused interviews with each as well as some of the cast. We will be checking out the commentary on our next watch, and I’m sure if there were more of a guaranteed market we would get a lot more supplemental material. All of the special features included in this release are listed below.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Directors’ Commentary
Dread Talk
Theatrical Posters
Official Trailer
Dread Trailers
LAST RITES
Satanic Hispanics is easily one of the best anthology films of the last few years! Not only does it bring more diverse voices to the genre, but it is also brimming with good ideas from filmmakers that will be the future of the genre. This is easily a must-own for any anthology fan!
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you to the fine fiends over at MVD ENTERTAINMENT for providing a review copy for the crypt! Satanic Hispanics is available NOW and can be purchased via MVD DIRECT!
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