THE BLACK PIT OF DR. M.
(1959/MEXICO)
REVIEW BY-HARVEY F. CHARTRAND
DIRECTED BY-FERNANDO MÉNDEZ
CAST-GASTON SANTOS, RAFAEL BERTRAND, MAPITA CORTÉS, CARLOS ANCIRA, BEATRIZ AGUIRRE
SOURCE-CASA NEGRA ENTERTAINMENTTHE CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN
(1963/MEXICO)
REVIEW BY-HARVEY F. CHARTRAND
DIRECTED BY-RAFAEL BALEDÓN
CAST-RITA MACEDO, ROSA ARENAS, ABEL SALAZAR, CARLOS LÓPEZ MOCTEZUMA, JULISSA
SOURCE-CASA NEGRA ENTERTAINMENTSeeing The Black Pit of Dr. M. (Misterios de ultratumba) and The Curse of the Crying Woman (La Maldición de la Llorona), two forgotten Mexican horror masterpieces released on DVD through CasaNegra Entertainment [http://www.casanegrafilms.com/], was like entering a parallel universe of undiscovered Universal Horror, Val Lewton, Mario Bava and Roger Corman/Edgar Allan Poe classics.
Viewing these old south-of-the-border supernatural thrillers was a trip back in time to a nonexistent past for this aging boomer. Rafael Bertrand (the handsome, urbane, fortysomething star of The Black Pit of Dr. M.) could easily have become Mexico’s answer to Vincent Price. And yet Bertrand only made a handful of horror pictures. His last film credits were Isle of the Snake People (La
Muerte viviente
), with Boris Karloff, and The Fearmaker (Rancho del miedo) with Katy Jurado and Paul Picerni, both released in 1971. I’m not even sure if Bertrand is still among the living.Another captivating screen presence was the alluringly sinister Rita Macedo, who played a black-eyed brujo in The Curse of the Crying Woman – an old dark hacienda-style movie, complete with torture chamber, haunted mirror, bell tower and club-footed butler. The mature Macedo was the sexiest woman imaginable – perfect for the role of the raven-haired crying woman of Mexican legend, a banshee-like child-killer feared by the local peasantry. Tragically, Macedo committed suicide in Mexico City in 1993, two days short of her 68th birthday.
Both films contain gruesome scenes of disfigurement (one by acid splash and one by long-term imprisonment). In The Curse of the Crying Woman, two police officers are savagely mauled to death by underfed dogs. [The makeup and special effects are outstanding – years ahead of their time.] Although acceptable to Latin audiences, these scenes of intense violence were invariably cut or shortened for the badly dubbed U.S. release versions, most of which eventually turned up on such late-night TV shows as Chiller Theatre.
I will not give away any plot details for either production. Why spoil the narrative of these spellbinding tales? The artistry evident in The Black Pit of Dr. M. and The Curse of the Crying Woman came as a complete surprise to this viewer who thought that Mexican horror films consisted entirely of stories of masked wrestlers combating Aztec mummies, strangler’s ghosts, infernal men and hombres lobos.
Both The Black Pit of Dr. M. and The Curse of the Crying Woman are imbued with a nostalgic fairy-tale charm reminiscent of the Spanish Dracula: superb set design of decaying castles on sleek soundstages, elegant black and white cinematography, rubber bats on strings (watch out for the scary swooping bat-like entrance of the Crying Woman), attractive heroes and heroines, ugly villains – all played to the hilt by a talented cast of performers, most of them long dead. Verily, coming across these vintage CasaNegra releases is like uncovering a treasure trove of heretofore unknown horror gems. Both films are the original directors’ cuts and are in absolutely pristine condition, with excellent sound quality and easy-to-read English-language subtitles.
The packaging and variety of special supplements offered are also first-rate.
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