Horror films are the most underappreciated genre with the Motion Picture Academy. They rarely get nominated or win Oscars. The only true horror flick to win, The Silence of the Lambs in 1992, won Best Picture plus several other coveted categories. Two-thousand-seventeen saw The Shape of Water take the big prize, but Guillermo del Toro’s fish tale isn’t so much a horror movie as it is an amphibian, fantasy, re-telling of the Beauty and the Beast fable. Guillermo del Toro’s creature from the black lagoon is a mistreated critter who oozes pathos, not terror.

Despite being snubbed by the Academy, horror films are often critically acclaimed works of cinema and enormous commercial successes. Look no further than Halloween Kills which is currently killing it at the box office.

So, it is most gratifying to see Blumhouse produce Madres and Bingo Hell, two well-crafted horror films featuring Latino casts, themes and two young, promising Latino directors with distinct and unique approaches to the ever-popular, ticket selling horror movie genre.

THAT ENDLESS PERVADING SENSE OF DREAD

Madres is a classic gothic horror story. But rather than being set in a 19th-century dark, musty castle or spooky old Victorian mansion, director Ryan Zaragoza (All American) skillfully puts together shots that create a pervading sense of impending dread to a migrant farm community in the 1970s.

The story of Madres, written by Marchella Ochoa (Worry Dolls) and Mario Miscione (Dark Web), tells the story of a young Mexican American girl from Los Angeles who moves to a migrant farm community with her Mexican husband. But not long after arriving, she finds herself confronted by terrifying visions.

“This story takes place in the ’70s,” says Zaragoza, “and I am a huge ‘70’s horror movie fan. I especially love the way those filmmakers use the camera and block scenes.” He continues, “I spent a lot of time preparing for this movie analyzing the work of Stanley Kubrick (The Shining) and Steven Spielberg (Jaws).”
The Jaws reference is significant because Madre’s understated but haunting music score by Esqbelle Engman-Brodwik (Bebé) is eerily reminiscent in its effect, forewarning us something bad is going to happen like John Williams memorable score for Jaws.

Madres is also aided by an excellent cast led by a strong performance by Ariana Guerra (Hellstrom), who plays Diana, the young expecting Mexican American mother who is a complete cultural fish out of water in the migrant farm community. Tenoch Huerta (Sin Nombre), plays Beto, Diana’s sympathetic husband. And the always marvelous Elpidia Carrillo (Chateau Vato), is the mysterious curandera, Anita, who knows more than she cares to reveal.

Zaragoza’s careful framing and pacing allow the characters to tell their story with authentic voices. Zaragoza also shuns the use of CGI gimmicks to show the terrifying images Diana sees. Instead, like the old masters he admires, Zaragoza uses blurred images and shadows to impart jolting, shocking lightning flashes of fright.

Madres is frightening but at the same time a very satisfying gothic-horror tale with a surprising coda based on a current, relevant event. The horror movie masters of the ‘70’s could smile and say to Zaragoza, “You’ve learned well, Grasshopper.”

Madres
Director: Ryan Zaragoza
Stars: Ariana Guerra, Tenoch Huerta, Elpidia Carrillo

TAKE A RIDE ON A BIZARRE MERRY-GO-ROUND

Gigi Saul Guerrero (Into the Dark) is a beautiful, vivacious, upbeat Latina actor, director, writer with an outgoing personality and engaging sense of humor. Not exactly the traits you associate with a horror filmmaker, but Guerrero has made good use of those qualities in the weirdly wonderful outlandish Bingo Hell.

“The idea for the story came about,” recalls Guerrero, “when my writing partner and I started speculating what might happen if you took bingo away from a group of senior citizens and closed down their bingo hall?” The result is Bingo Hell, a playful scary-ass meditation on what happens when a mysterious stranger comes to town and turns an old-fashioned, small-town bingo hall into a high-stakes, life-and-death bingo casino.

“I love horror films like Goonies, Gremlins and Needful Things,” says Guerrero with a smile, “Those films were scary with quirky characters and had an underlying sense of playfulness. I also liked Cocoon which had senior citizens as the lead characters.” Those cinematic influences are on a full Gigi-style display in Bingo Hell.

When casting the lead role of Lupita for Bingo Hell, Guerrero asked herself, “Who can I get to play an authentic Mexican chingona?” Obviously, veteran Mexican superstar, Adriana Barraza (Rambo: Last Blood). ¿Quién más? As Lupita, Barraza chews up the scenery with spicy hot relish as the Mother Hen, abuela of her neighborhood and the self-appointed guardian angel of the sacred bingo temple. But things start to turn deadly when Mr. Big comes to town and transforms the innocent bingo hall into a glitzy, glittering carnival sideshow of temptation and death.

Guerrero’s camera is always moving and circling her over-the-top characters. Richard Blake (Doom), as the evil, gaunt Mr. Big makes John Carradine look like Mr. Olympia. This guy is so deliciously wicked you could see him spending an evening with Creulla de Vil gleefully pulling the legs and wings off houseflies. It’s a scene Gigi with her off-beat dark sense of humor would shoot as a macabre rom-com. When the hapless winners of Mr. Big’s bingo game meet horrible deaths, Guerrero films them like a grotesque burlesque act. But Guerrero makes all the oddball, Bizarro-world pieces of Bingo Hell work. The climactic shotgun blasting, avenging angel scene with la chingona Adriana Barraza is well worth the price of admission.

Bingo Hell
Director: Gigi Saul Guerrero
Stars: Adriana Barraza, L. Scott Caldwell, Richard Blake

NEW FACES FOR AND OLD GENRE AND MORE

The future of Latino Hollywood is indeed bright with brilliant filmmakers like Zaragoza and Guerrero behind the camera telling their stories through the lens of the Latino experience. The Hispanic culture is a fascinating and diverse one that easily lends itself to all the classic Hollywood movie genres. Kudos to Blumhouse for giving Zaragoza and Guerrero the opportunity to strut their stuff in the horror genre.

Madres and Bingo Hell are currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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Two Different Faces of Horror first appeared on .

A working-class family moves into a mansion after discovering the death of its wealthy owner. Mistaken identity and a rag to riches comedy of errors ensue. Chateau Vato the latest from director/writer Tom Musca (Stand and Deliver, Tortilla Soup), a comedy film premiering on HBO November 27 stars comedian Paul Rodriquez, film actress Elpidia Carrillo (Mayans, Madre).

This is Carrillo’s first comedic role and she enthusiastically embraced it. “I have been a dramatic film actor all my life working with Johnny Depp, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Gere, and Jack Nicholson. I always wanted to do comedy and somehow I was never cast in one. I was labeled a dramatic film actress. Then Tom Musca came to my rescue and without a question or auditions he believed in me, Carrillo said. “I never had so much fun. I loved working with Paul, we laughed, cried, and laughed a bit more. She went on to say, “This sort of thing is exactly what we need in sad times like this, I needed some joy so much in my life. I found joy in being funny, and sexy, this is just what I needed.”

As the story begins, we find Gustavo Alvarez’s business taking a blow when undocumented gardeners undercut his prices and steal his clients. What happens when this consummately skilled, but down-on-his-luck gardener, desperately trying to drum up new business stumbles upon a glorious estate that looks like it hasn’t been landscaped in months?

What if this gardener, finding no one home but the underfed dog, decides to audition for the job and manicure the property gratis? And what if this same gardener is evicted from his own house and suddenly finds himself homeless, and decides to return to the magnificent estate only to find the elderly owner… dead…what will he do?

That is only the beginning of the Alvarez family’s improbable journey. Before the comedic posturing ends, and before the good life tests marital harmony, the true cause of death of the previous owner will unearth mysteries that pit our gardener’s strong sense of ethics against the comfort and well-being of his family.

Poverty and hardship do not drive the family apart – but ironically the “fake good life” does.

With pathos and humor, this comedy aims not only to entertain but also provides an interesting take on addressing universal dilemmas, with humor and insight on the dual effects of stumbling onto wealth and wish fulfillment.  The film is intended to challenge us to think of our cultural heritage and class as a unique strength upon which we can build lives of independence in a multicultural world, rather than discount heritage, or even forfeit it.

With the city of Miami serving as the main location, the film is sociology embedded into this low budget/high broad-comedy concept that results in a timely crossover film that will appeal to all ages and audiences.  

The Latino population, according to the Pew Research Center, surpassed 60 million in 2019, and they are, per capita, the most frequent repeat moviegoers in the U.S.  A recent LA Weekly article pointed out that Latinos are the largest minority in the nation, and for all intents and purposes, invisible on the big screen.   This lack of inclusiveness offers an opportunity for Chateau Vato, with an all Latino lead cast, to appeal to all audiences, but in particular, Latino audiences.

Yet this film’s appeal will not be limited to one demographic; its emotional journey will cater to a wide audience both internationally and domestically.  It follows a U.S. Latino-themed film formula that has already proven successful with films like Instructions Not Included, starring Eugenio Derbez, and a mixed cast was made up of Latinos and Anglo actors.  The film went on to make $20 million in it first two weeks in release, with most of that coming from the U.S. Latino audience.  (Boxoffice to date: $100 million worldwide).

Director Musca knows a thing or two about producing a small budget film that makes a big impact. The film he co-wrote with Ramon Menendez and directed, Stand and Deliver received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Edward James Olmos in the lead role of Jaime Escalante and went on to receive critical acclaim. Although in a different vein, the casting formula, Latinos in the lead roles, is the same. And, most audiences look for films with top-notch talent, production value, and in the case of Chateau Vato, a comedy that entertains. 

Mosca recalls the first day of production on Chateau Vato, “I was driving to the set at 6 a.m. I passed numerous Latino gardeners and maids walking on the side of the road, a long march between the bus stop and the palatial homes where they make their living,” he explained. “I thought about how we were making a movie for these people, who are always seen but never heard, and rarely will anybody tell their story. This movie was an opportunity to explore character terrain that had been previously ignored, or worse – portrayed in a stereotypical fashion. I wanted to depict them, not as saints or sinners, but as real human beings”.

Although the predominant point of view is told through a male gardener (Gustavo played by Rodriguez), Musca says the film’s success will largely be due to the strength of the actresses. “In almost all respects, the females dominate the males in this film. I worked very hard to write women who were conflicted, have secrets and private dreams – the types of things that give characters dimension”.

It’s The Beverly Hillbillies for the Latino community. Just enough plot, just enough life and death stakes, just enough quirky humor, and just enough mainstream narrative push to make this a highly successful project. 

Cast: Paul Rodriguez, Elpidia Carrillo, Patricia De Leon, Jenny Arzola, Tomas Roldan
Director/Writer: Tom Musca
Producers: Tom Musca, Tim Sparks
Executive producers: Alex Agrasanchez, Jeff Detlefs, Merilyn Marshall-Cullen, Cheryl Riess, Arturo Smith
Director of photography: Arturo Smith
Production designer: Isabela Isern
Composer: Jose Luis Esquivel
Casting director: Carlos Rojas

Production company: Chateau Vato Prod.

Distributor:  HBO Max, HBO Latino

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