(1960/MEXICO)
"El Espejo De La Bruja"
Review By-Cathleen Grado Directed By-Chano Uruetaa Starring Isabela Corona, Dina De Marco and Armando Calvo./
b&w / 75 Minutes Casa Negra Presents/ "Classic Mexican Cinema" from Panik House Et.The Witches Mirror is an interesting film which Brings Together classic ideas of witchcraft and revenge.
It begins with a lovely montage of Goya's grotesque etchings, as a narrator voices the history of the witch, or bruja. As they are described as being dark creatures working for the devil, we are introduce to Sara, played by Isabela Corona. Sara is a benevolent witch of the highest power, as she has been able to possess control over her own Witch's Mirror. A powerful scrying or divination tool, the mirror can show Sarah the future as written by fate.
Within a castle during what looks to be the early 19th century, Sarah and her God Daughter, Elena (played by Dina De Marco), stand before The Witch's Mirror, in an attempt to discern why Sarah feels her beloved Elena is in mortal Danger. Within the reflection we see the image of a man surrounded by mist. It is Elena's husband, and he is shown to have given his heart to another. The benevolent witch Sarah tells Elena her life will be taken by the hands of the man she loves, and that she will do everything in her power to protect her, and reverse this horrible fate.
Calling upon her masters of darkness, Sarah pleads and begs for the life of her God Daughter. With every prayer, she is met with the same message from her spirit guides; Elena must die as it is her fate.
Within the main room of the castle, Elena sits, playing the piano beautifully as her husband, Eduardo, relaxes while sipping brandy before the massive stone fireplace, accented by two very sexual female caryatid pillars. Showing he is truly finding Elena tiresome as the Mirror foretold, he scolds Elena for repeating the same song nightly. In response, she quietly goes to bed for the last time. A short while later we see Elena before her vanity, brushing her luxurious long hair. Eduardo, under the false pretense of apology, has brought her some warm milk, to help her sleep better. She thanks him, and in a rather odd stare down between the two characters, Elena hesitates as she brings the glass to her lips, pulls away, and brings it back again. Quickly downing the glass of milk, she puts down the empty container, walks up to her husband and asks "Why? I have Always Loved You?" as she collapses dead on the floor.
Learning that her God Daughter is gone, a devastated and angry Sarah beseeches her dark spirits to give her the power to avenge her death.
As time passes, Eduardo eventually brings home a new wife, Deborah; the beautiful woman with whom he had first betrayed his Elena. The new couple find life in the deceased's former household growing more and more unbearable each day. Invisible spectral entities begin to terrorize Deborah and Eduardo. Utilizing some nice special effects which continue throughout the film, the ghostly presence of Elena eventually present's itself to the couple, leading to a moment of sheer terror and madness that inadvertently causes Eduardo to horribly disfigure his beautiful young new wife.
Now wrapped in bandages which make her look like a living Day of the Dead Skeleton, Deborah holes herself up in her room, feeling sorry for her lost beauty. Eduardo promises her he will repair her face with his new procedure. The only issue now is that Eduardo has become mad both from guilt over taking Elena's life, and determination to restore the appearance of Deborah's beautiful hands and face. No moral or law will stop Eduardo from achieving his goal, and he becomes less a doctor than a mad scientist, in the spirit of Frankenstein, Dr.Orloff and Docteur Gˇnessier from Eyes Without a Face.
Thanks to Sarah, Elena's revenge is not complete however, and she will stop at nothing to ensure that both Elena and Eduardo pay for their evil behavior, in the worst ways imaginable.
A highly enjoyable film all around, The Witches Mirror should most definitely garner more attention, in particular with this well done new release package. For it's time, it certainly does not hold back on some seriously disturbing moments of gore and sacrilege. The character development is well done, and although the acting is simple or exaggerated at certain times, it does little to take away from the film as a whole.
This Casa Negra DVD is a lovely transfer. The image is a beautifully balanced black and white picture that shows off brilliantly the cinematography of Jorge Stahl Jr..
His visual aesthetic shares certain similarities with a young Mario Bava. The sound is clear, re-mastered and the subtitles are easy to read. Viewing options are not spared, and though the subtitled option with the original Spanish is recommended, an English Dubbed version is included in this edition. There are also some nice special features, such as audio commentary by Frank Coleman, founder of IVTV, a beautiful CasaNegra Loteria Game Card, an Essay on the Mexican Cult Film Movement, Bios of the Cast and Crew, and Poster and Still Galleries.
FILM/STORY-4/5 BITCH SLAPS
PICTURE-4/5 BITCH SLAPS
AUDIO-4/5 BITCH SLAPS
EXTRAS-3.5/5 BITCH SLAPS
OVERALL DVD-4/5 BITCH SLAPS
© 2007 cinema-nocturna.com
