Cueva, who is also the producer of Angel Baby, takes us on a rollercoaster of emotions as she navigates her way through grief and terror. Meanwhile, Val meets a mysterious neighbor (Chris Browning) desperately searching for the truth, and with the help of Maggie, the local bar owner (Rebecca DeMornay), she gains the strength to face what is tormenting her peace, leaving the audience cheering for her in the final act. 

Angel Baby is a film that, though delivering plenty of jump scares and terrifying musical cues, balances cinema horror with the deeper themes of grief and ultimately, acceptance.

Angel Baby is produced by Cueva of Cave Entertainment, and financed by Fearful Pictures. Cueva founded Cave Entertainment to make ground-breaking female-driven films and television shows focused on Latino, indigenous, and underrepresented voices. With the USC Annenberg

Inclusion Initiative report, released in October 2023, revealing that across 16 years, 3.1% of “Produced by” credits went to a Latino or Hispanic individual with “Women” representing less than 1% overall. Less than one-quarter of one percent (<0.25%) of all speaking roles went to Native American characters across the 16 years studied. In fact, the percentage of Native American roles did not exceed 1% across any of the years evaluated. There was only 1 film with a Native actor in the leading role.

Angel Baby is coming to select Theaters in the US and On Demand Dec 15. The film is distributed by Quiver Distribution in North America and Canada. The screenplay is written by Elisa Manzini (I’ll Be Waiting) and Rebecca Stahl (Everything in Between). Whitney Anderson (Holland, Michigan) and Chris Browning (Bright) also star in the film. Cinematographer is Alvaro Martin Blanco, Production Designer is David Hartwell, Composer is Max Di Carlo, Costume Designer is Elaine Lin.

The post REVIEW: “Angel Baby” delivers thrills and chills  first appeared on .

Oscar-nominated actress Catalina Sandino Moreno is trying horror again, a genre she has explored only a few times in her career. 

The  Colombian-born artist stars in the current Epix television series From, about a mysterious town that traps everyone who arrives, in the middle of a large forest and with terrifying creatures that come out at night.

“This show can be very scary,” Moreno says. For starters, once newcomers set foot in the town, there is seemingly no road that can lead them out of the nightmare they just entered. That is exactly what Moreno’s character discovered one day when she and her family arrived in their recreational vehicle and asked for directions to a highway whose sign they may have missed. After getting directions from a resident, the family tries to leave but soon find themselves back in the town, over and over again. Nighttime bring only more surprises and terror. 

“It is meant to be very scary,” chimes in show’s creator and writer John Griffin, a budding filmmaker whose only other credit on the website IMDb is writer of one episode for the TV horror series The Twilight Zone. “The show really began with the idea of what it would be like if the reality that you knew were taken away and your day-to-day reality literally became a nightmare.”

Interjects Moreno, “And there are monsters in those nightmares.” She plays Tabitha Matthews, a wife and the mother of a young boy and teen daughter. “My husband, my son and I have moved into a town in middle America that traps everyone who enters. We are plagued by the threats, including terrifying nocturnal creatures.” 

Cast as Tabitha’s family are Eion Bailey (Once Upon a Time) as husband Jim, Simon Webster (Lucas the Spider) as son Ethan and Hannah Cheramy (Van Helsing, series) as daughter Julie. Other cast members include Harold Perrineau, Shaun Majumder, Avery Konrad, Ricky He, Elizabeth Saunders and Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks.

A native of Bogotá, Moreno was studying acting at the Colombian capital’s Pontificia Universidad Javeriana when she was plucked out to play the lead in Maria Full of Grace (Maria: Llena de Gracia ) in 2004. In the U.S.-Colombian co-production, Moreno is Maria Álvarez, a pregnant Colombian teenager who becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family. That first role launched Moreno’s international career, receiving an Academy Awards nomination for her performance and earning her the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival 2004, an honor she shared in a tie with Charlize Theron for Monster.

Her acclaimed debut performance led her to move to New York to continue studying acting and soon joined other international and Hollywood movies like France’s Paris, Je T’Aime, Fast Food Nation and Love in the Time of Cholera, co-starring with actors like Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Javier Bardem, Benjamin Bratt and Benicio Del Toro. She also has appeared in the TV series The Bridge, American Gothic and East Los High.

To dramas, thrillers and comedies, she also added horror projects like the TV movie Incarnate and the indie films Pure Magic and At the Devil’s Door.

The new Epix series brings Moreno back to the scary genre. 

“In From, I think my first meeting of ‘the creatures’ is in episode three, we’re moving into our house,” she says. “And they’re not that scary, at first. I mean like they’re just normal people walking towards you, but then you learn what they can do.” In those encounters, death is a strong possibility.

The horror sometimes felt real in the set, according to the director. “I’ll add one more thing about the monsters,” says Bailey, the show’s creator. He recalled the filming of a dream sequence in which a creature frightened Simon, the child actor playing the son. “And if we ever had a chance to see how sufficiently frightening these creatures are, we saw it by how Simon responded,” stated the filmmaker. “One of the cast members, very thankfully, recognized that Simon was definitely afraid. We had to comfort him and put an arm around him and tell him, ‘It’s going to be okay.’”

Echoing the director’s concerns, Moreno also considered the need to address the impact of horror scenes on the cast members, especially children. “I remember me asking, ‘Can we just talk about this scene?’,” recalls the actress, adding that throughout the shooting of the episodes the collaboration with the cast and crew felt great. Her personal experience and Latino culture also helped Moreno with the role of Tabitha. “I think it’s helpful to just imprint some of (myself) into my character,” explains the Colombian thespian. “I think we all did that. I hope so. As a Latinx mother of a 13-year-old, I think we do things differently from other cultures.” She concludes, “I think it was interesting to bring myself into this woman I was playing. I really enjoyed doing that.”

The From crew features other filmmakers who have worked in major Hollywood productions, including an award-winning Puerto Rican.

Joining Bailey as a writer is Javier Grillo-Marxuach, a Boricua whose writing and producing credits include the series Lost and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, both of which earned him Primetime Emmys for production. 

The series is executive produced by Josh Appelbaum (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Jack Bender (Lost), Anthony Russo (Avengers: Endgame) and Jeff Pinkner (Fringe). Tom Luse (The Walking Dead) is a consulting producer.

From premiered Feb. 20 and airs Sundays. For international audiences, the show streams on Netflix.

The post Catalina Sandino Moreno Fighting Horror in Epix Series ‘From’ first appeared on .

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.

The post Ryan Zaragoza & Gigi Saul Guerrero:
Two Different Faces of Horror first appeared on .

For 12 hours, all criminal activity is legal but all the rules are broken as a sect of lawless marauders decide that the annual Purge does not stop at daybreak and instead should never end in The Forever Purge.

The film stars Ana de la Reguera (Nacho Libre, Cowboys & Aliens) and Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico) as a married couple living in Texas. Huerta’s character Juan works as a ranch hand for the wealthy Tucker family, though his presence does not sit well with all of the family. Despite the differences in the two families, both must work together after the Tucker family is attacked the morning after The Purge.

The Forever Purge cast also includes Will Patton (Halloween) as Caleb Tucker, the patriarch of the Tucker family; Josh Lucas (Ford v Ferrari) as Caleb’s son Dylan; Cassidy Freeman (The Righteous Gemstones) as Dylan’s wife and Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games) as Dylan’s sister.

From a screenplay by franchise creator James DeMonaco, the film is directed by Everardo Gout, writer-director Days of Grace. The film is produced by the franchise’s founding producers: Jason Blum for his Blumhouse Productions; Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller; and Man in a Tree duo James DeMonaco and his longtime producing partner Sébastien K. Lemercier. The film’s executive producers are Marcei A. Brown, Gout and Jeanette Volturno. The Universal Pictures and Perfect World Pictures film is a coproduction of Platinum Dunes, Blumhouse and Man in a Tree.

The Forever Purge is set to release in theaters July 2.

The post Trailer: Mexicans at the forefront of ‘The Forever Purge’ first appeared on .

By Justina Bonilla

Five years after its initial release, Knock Knock, which stars Hollywood royalty Keanu Reeves and, at the time, relative newcomers Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo, has gained a resurgence in popularity thanks to Netflix.

Netflix released Knock Knock on October 28 and immediately it shot up to the #2 spot on its top ten list of films trending in the United States. Director Eli Roth reacted to this on his Instagram with an ecstatic, “This is incredible.” Adding, “Out of nowhere. Thank you everyone for watching.”

Knock Knock is an erotic home invasion horror/thriller filmed in 2015 in Chile. It’s Roth’s third writing collaboration with Uruguayan director/producer/writer Guillermo Amoedo. Their first two other films include Aftershock and The Green Inferno. Two of the actor who appeared in these films Aaron Burns (The Green Inferno) and Ignacia Allamand (The Green Inferno, Aftershock) were tapped to also star in Knock Knock at the time.

In this psychological thriller we meet Evan (Keanu Reeves), a dedicated middle-aged father who loves his wife and two young children, but is dissatisfied with his current situation. One rainy night, while his family is away for the weekend, two wet and lost young women, de Armas and Izzo, show up at his front door asking for directions. Evan opens his home to them with good intentions only to eventually fall for their charms and have a lapse in judgement. In the morning the women refuse to leave, proceeding to drag Evan into hell on Earth.

The style of horror seen in Knock Knock was the first major cinematic departure Roth had taken from his signature style of vivid gore and graphic violence known as “torture porn.” Knock Knock instead emphasized psychological horror, through the torturing of Evan by the two young women, with a dose of physical violence.

This film was a remake of the 1977 film Death Game (also known as The Seducers), which starred Colleen Camp and Sondra Locke, who were also producers on Knock Knock.

Knock Knock was de Armas’ first cross-over into English-language film and her introduction to U. S. audiences. Prior to this de Armas, who was born in Cuba, had mainly worked in films and television in Spain. Once she caught the attention of Hollywood, de Armas landed a plum role in Blade Runner 2049. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in her follow-up film Knives Out (2019), where she starred alongside Daniel Craig. She then went on to once again star alongside Craig when she was cast as “Bond Girl” Paloma in No Time to Die. Her biggest role to date will be playing the title role of Norma Jean AKA Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming film Blonde which is being produced by Brad Pitts’ production company, Plan B.

Chilean actress Izzo began her acting career in two popular Chilean romantic comedies. Her first English speaking role was in Aftershock. She later worked in the films Green Inferno and the Oscar-winning Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as well as on television in the Showtime limited series Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.

A unique suspenseful horror film, Knock Knock explores the diversity of modern Latin horror cinema.

With Knock Knock adding to Netflix’s roster and Latino themed films, domestic and international, it only broadens their major international influence for promoting Latino content and talent.

The post ‘Knock Knock’ Re-release Surges in Popularity on Netflix first appeared on .

The Welcome to the Blumhouse series, a VOD collaboration between Blumhouse Television and Amazon Prime Video, has announced the next four films to complete its eight-film TV series. Gigi Saul Guerrero (The Purge (TV Series) , La Quinceañera) and Ryan Zaragoza will each direct one of the four films which will be released in 2021.

The suspenseful thrillers will continue to highlight female and emerging filmmakers, and diverse casts; and will launch next year on Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories worldwide. The “Welcome to the Blumhouse” program continues the legacy of original, elevated, genre storytelling. Centered around unsettling themes of institutional horrors and personal phobias, the films tap into people’s deepest fears. These social thrillers present a distinctive vision and unique perspective.

“Coming off the successful launch of the first four films of the program, which has surpassed our expectations, we are excited to reveal the next chapter coming in 2021,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “The spine-tingling, edge of your seat thrills continues in this next collection of titles that will surely entertain, surprise and shock our global customers.”

The Welcome to the Blumhouse series has hired a wide variety of diverse and emerging talent in front of and behind the camera with their first four horror films Black Box, Nocturne, Evil Eye, and The Lie. Each of these films were original social thrillers, unique to each filmmaker. Behind the camera talent included cinematographers Hilda Mercado and Carmen Cabana who captured the captivating visuals of Black Box and Nocturne respectively.

The Manor, Black as Night, Madres, and Bingo are the next four films in the Blumhouse series. These four films will to be released in 2021. Here is a small peek at these films

The Manor

Axelle Carolyn, Director/Writer

Synopsis: Judith, an elderly woman, is placed in a historic nursing home, after suffering a stroke. Soon, she notices something supernatural impacting her and her fellow nursing home residents. Despite her condition, the only way to escape the unknown supernatural presence, is to persuade those responsible for her care that she is without doubt healthy enough to be discharged.

Cast: Barbara Hershey, Bruce Davison, Nicholas Alexander, Jill Larsen, and Fran Bennett

Black as Night

Maritte Lee Go, Director

Synopsis: During the summer time, in New Orleans, a teenage girl struggling with self-esteem issues, battles vampires, with her best friend, a boy she has a secret crush on. As her self-confidence grows thought her vampire battles, will she ever find the confidence to tell her best friend her feelings for him?

Writer: Sherman Payne; Cast: Fabrizio Guido, Asjha Cooper, Craig Tate, and Keith David.

Madres

Ryan Zaragoza, Director

Synopsis: In 1970s California, a young couple, who are expecting their first child, movie to a migrant farming community. Disturbed by the strange pregnancy symptoms and nightmarish visions, the young mother-to-be investigates to see if what she is experiencing is influenced by a local legendary curse, or something worse.

Writers: Marcella Ochoa & Mario Miscione. Cast: Tenoch Huerta, René Mena Joseph Garcia, Ariana Guerra, Jennifer Patino, Evelyn Gonzalez, Elpidia Carrillo, Composer Geraldo Garcia Jr. and cinematographer Felipe Vara de Rey.

This is Zaragoza’s first feature length film. His previous directorial work includes the short films The Painter, Bebé, and Sterling and TV episodics.

Bingo

Gigi Saul Guerrero, Director

Synopsis: A lively group of elderly friends, led by the spunky and bold Lupita, are fighting against the gentrification of their beloved barrio. However, they face the biggest challenge of their lives, when their treasured Bingo hall is in the process of being sold to a highly influential tenant, more powerful than money.

Written by Shane McKenzie & Guerrero Cast: Not yet announced

Bingo will be Saul Guerrero’s second feature film collaboration as a director and writer for Blumhouse Television. Her first collaboration was with Culture Shock, an episode of the Hulu series Into the Dark. It’s the highest-rated film of the Into the Dark series, on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% rating.

The post Gigi Saul Guerrero and Ryan Zaragoza Direct on “Welcome to the Blumhouse’ Series” first appeared on .

Though Covid-19 has become responsible for canceling many of our favorite holiday events and traditions, such as the famous West Hollywood Halloween Carnival, local haunted houses, and trick-or-treating, Halloween is not canceled. Many venues in Southern California have created spooky and safe alternatives for adults and families alike. Highlighted either by county or at home programs are Covid-19 guideline-friendly Halloween events for a frightful good time. In fact, several programs are already underway, bringing the Halloween spirit early. (Featured photo above by Toni Cuenca from Pexels)

Prices and dates for events available in the title links.

LOS ANGELES:

LA Art Society

Dedicated to “Bringing people together through ART”, the LA Art Society is hosting a horror movie drive-in cinema experience at the Gardena Cinema in the city of Gardena. Each day has two separate themed screenings from the family-friendly horror films “Spooky Series”, to the rated-R horror films “Dark Series”.

Haunted Hayride

The favorite LA Halloween attraction is modifying its signature scares for a drive-through experience. At the end of the trail, enjoy a drive-in of scary short film festival, with scare performers in a live show.

LA Zoo

Hosting their first ever drive-in movies experiences, the LA Zoo is hosting three weekends of film, with unique themes which are predominately family orientated. The themes include: Week#1: Animal Adventures (Zootopia), Week #2: The Brilliant Betty White (The Lorax), and Week #3: Hair-Raising Halloween (The Addams Family (2019)).

ORANGE COUNTY

The Frida Cinema Drive In

Orange County’s only art house cinema theatre, The Frida Cinema, is hosting an array of pop-up drive-in experiences. Among their array of films for the season are the horror classics Evil Dead 2, Deep Red: 45^th Anniversary, and the Halloween classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Santa Ana Zoo

A COVID-safe Halloween family friendly trail through the zoo. Family friendly costumes are encouraged and goody bags are available for children.

OC Fair Food Drive-Thru

The tasty treats that are featured attractions of the fair, are now available by drive-thru. Drive-thru the OC fair grounds for a unique food experience, with food favorites from funnel cakes, to kettle popcorn, and Pink’s Hot Dogs.

Urban Legends Drive-Thru Haunt at OC Fair & Event Center

Enjoy three interactive scare zones at the OC fair grounds, filled with monsters and special effects. Each scare zone is filled with “immersive storytelling and terrifying scenes”. 

SAN DIEGO

Mr. Jack O’Lanterns Pumpkins

The family fun of a pumpkin patch can now be experienced at home, with Mr. Jack O’Lanterns Pumpkin’s newest features, curbside pickup or home delivery with Grubhub. Enjoy ordering online an array of pumpkin sizes and fun pumpkin decorating and carving kits. Mr. Jack O’Lanterns Pumpkins is available in both San Diego and Los Angeles.    

Birch Aquarium

The Haunted Aquarium Remix at the Birch Aquarium has created a mix of new outdoor activities as well as animal activities and encounters for families. Costumes are encouraged when enjoying their Haunted Kelp Maze and viewing the sea creatures of the deep and dark parts of the sea.

SPECIAL ONLINE EVENTS

The Frida Cinema: Camp Frida Blood Stream

While also hosting the pop-up drive ins, The Frida Cinema is also holding its traditional Camp Frida 12-hour movie marathon online, on October 24 from 8pm to 8am. This year’s films are 1980’s cult slasher horror films, such as Spookies, Zombi 3, and Terror Train, starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

STREAMING SERVICES

While most streaming service already proved horror movies year-round, some are highlighting horror films in either special Halloween sections, with original content. 

Netflix

With its featured Halloween section, Netflix is also expanding on its horror section new horror film premieres, in particular Vampires vs. the Bronx. 

Hulu

Featuring its highlighted horror films in Huluween, while also premiering new horror films, like Books of Blood.

Shudder

The year-round horror film streaming platforms, is featuring new film releases and highlighting horror cult classics.

Tubi

The free streaming service features an array of horror movies, including modern, classic and cult films.

TV:

TCM

Every Friday night in October, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) will play classic horror films, from the timeless Universal Monster films of Dracula and Frankenstein to the infamous The Wicker Man, and a full day of classic horror delights on Halloween.

The post Fun So-Cal Halloween Alternatives first appeared on .

According to the 2015 NPR article, “Why Latinos Love Horror Films”, nearly, “…half the box office” of horror film ticket sales comes from Latino moviegoers. With such a hunger for horror films, comes an equally strong desire from this fanbase, to see horror films include Latino characters, filmmakers, and/or storylines. Murder in the Woods, covers all of these areas, thanks to its collaboration between writer and producer, Yelyna De Leon, and director Luis I. Garza.

While working on their master degrees at the USC film school, De Leon and Garza were putting together possible film projects which included leading and non-stereotypical roles for Latinos. Pulling together their resources, investors, and inspirations, they saw the potential of creating a low budget slasher mystery horror film. Horror, unlike most film genres, can actually benefit from a low budget, inspiring filmmakers to become more creative with their content. This scenario has created groundbreaking chills and thrills, such as Night of the Living Dead and Paranormal Activities.  

Murder in the Woods follows six teenage friends, who drive from Los Angeles to an isolated cabin, in Topanga Canyon, for an all-out birthday bash. While indulging in intoxicating and sensuous fun, a mysterious assailant torments the friends. Now, they all must work together and fight back, before they all lose their heads.

According to De Leon’s Horror Talk interview, Murder in the Woods the first American horror film to feature, “an all-American Latino cast, to have lead characters in non-stereotypical roles”. The main cast features Chicano cinematic legend Danny Trejo as Sheriff Lorenzo, along with the main six young people, including José Julián (Narcos: Mexico), Jeanette Samano (Reversion), Chelsea Rendon (Vida), Catharine Toribio (Jane the Virgin), Kade Wise (Empire), and Jordan Diambrini (Jane the Virgin). The supporting cast features Soledad St. Hailaire (Real Women Have Curves), De Leon (Will & Grace), Rolando Molina (Next Friday), Kurt Caceres (Prison Break), and newcomer Max Chavarria.

This indie thrasher horror film combines two classic horror storylines, being isolated in a cabin in the middle of the woods (Cabin Fever) and an unknown killer on the run killing a group of young people (I Know What You Did Last Summer).

When writing the script for Murder in the Woods, De Leon drew from her early horror influences from her grandmother’s ghost stories. She expressed how, “This movie is a love letter to her” grandmother. On long Greyhound bus road trips every Summer, from her native Chicago, Illinois to Tampica, Tamaulipas, Mexico, De Leon’s grandmother would tell her scary Mexican folk stories. Every story came with a moral, encouraging De Leon to behave, or else.

Murder in the Woods is a refreshing take of beloved horror storylines, seamlessly blending in cultural references, funny moments, and blood. Considering the lack of representation of Latinos in American horror films, especially Latino Americans, this brings a deeply desired Latino diversity to the screen. Overall, Murder in the Woods is a bloody good time.

Now playing nationwide in select drive-ins and in theatre. Also available now on digital download and VOD.

For tickets and further film information: https://www.murderinthewoodsmovie.com/

Rated R

The post “Murder in the Woods” A Bloody Good Time first appeared on .

Written by Roberto Leal

Dateline: San Antonio, Texas

Speaking of island…

Yesterday, I was having lunch at the Sea Island Restaurant with a group of friends. I asked one of them, Millennial Millie, if she remembered the old TV show, Fantasy Island. She looked at me with that puzzled look that so many of her generation get whenever asked a historical or cultural reference question that goes back more than five years.

Well, old geezers like me, certainly remember Fantasy Island, the TV show, with Latino Legend, Ricardo Montalban, and his diminutive sidekick, Hervé Villechaize. Every Saturday from 1977 to 1984, Montalban, as Mr. Roarke, and Villechaize, as Tattoo would greet a plane load of guests to the resort island with Tattoo announcing their arrival by ringing the bell, pointing to the sky and proclaiming: “Ze plane. Ze plane.”

Then it dawned on me. Millennial Millie was born in 1984, so, of course, the iconic TV show never crossed her cultural radar screen or Smart Phone. But I was looking forward to the movie remake, which premiered today. My interest was piqued by a recent GQ Magazine article hailing the Sony Picture and Blumhouse production remake as “2020’s First Great Horror Movie.” Blumhouse is the studio that made us wet our collective movie-going pants with two recent horror hits: Us and Get Out. 

Fantasy Island  director, Jeff Wadlow had previously teamed up with writers, Jillian Jackson and Chris Roach on 2019’s Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare, a spooky offering with a similar motif as this re-incarnation of Fantasy Island: a seemingly harmless and promising beginning turns horribly bad for the unsuspecting participants. Wadlow also directed the TV series, Bates Motel, so this creative team knows from scary.

But what about Mr. Roarke?

Michael Peña has been given the difficult task of resurrecting one of TV’s most memorable, enigmatic and mysterious TV characters: Mr. Roarke. For me, one of the most enduring mysteries about Mr. Roarke, was how the character, as played by Montalban, the suave, courtly Mexican with the cultured accent wound up with an Irish last name, running a resort for dreamers on a remote, tropical island. 

But Peña proves to be a good choice. The son of Mexican immigrants, Peña’s Mr. Roarke, retains that aura of mystery, but in a younger, cooler, hipper persona. Peña has an extensive and impressive filmography. I especially liked him in War on Everyone, (2016).

In a YouTube interview, Peña reflected on the challenge of playing Mr. Roarke and his approach to the part.

Back in the misty, prehistoric TV days of yore, Mr. Roarke would grant the guests their fantasies, with a price, of course. The episodes were frequently morality plays. The price of those fantasies was often a dark, unhappy ending for the guests.

However, in this updated rendition of Fantasy Island, Mr. Roarke grants each of the guests one fantasy, but they must follow the rules of the island. They must pursue their fantasy, no matter where they lead, to its logical conclusion. But when the fantasies inevitably turn into nightmares, the guests must solve the island’s mystery in order to escape with their lives.

The story follows the various fantasies as each one grows darker and creepier. Things start to get confusing as the fantasies overlap with each other and wind up merging. Eventually, after a series of hair-raising, often violent, sequences, the fantasies, in the end, reach a logical conclusion, with a surprise twist.

Fantasy Island is a fast-paced, action, adventure, horror, thriller, laced with moments of humor. The youthful, attractive cast headed by Peña, along with Lucy Hale, Maggie Q. and Portia Doubleday, will appeal to those younger movie-goers who don’t remember the original TV show.

So, to Millennial Millie: “Welcome to Fantasy Island“. To my fellow, aging, creaky, sometimes cranky, Baby Boomers, who loved the TV show: Welcome Back to Fantasy Island. But be careful what you wish for, in this version of Fantasy Island, you arrive on a plane, but you could leave in a body bag.

FANTASY ISLAND

Sony Pictures / Blumhouse

Rated PG-13

Director: Jeff Wadlow

Screenwriters: Jillian Jackson, Chris roach

FULL CAST

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