In the second installment of the Mexico Barbaro anthologies, a series of short stories interconnect in a the world of Mexican fear. This second anthology is more connected through story and style through each of the filmmakers collaborating with the others. The different shorts within the anthology include 8 visions from 9 directors.
“La Leyenda de Juan Soldado”, the opener, is directed by Abraham Sánchez who co-wrote it with Alfredo Mendoza. This classic tale of old school revenge is based on the legend of a soldier who’s tomb is visited by many yearly. The highlights of this short are the performances and the special effects by Jaqueline Andrade, Ariel León Castro, and Kevin Rebledo with fabricator Arturo Cardenas who created a devil/monster worthy of its own film. The cast and this being are shot with cinematography by Alejandro Mantalvo giving the short an Old West look and feel.
The short “Paidós Phobos”, written and directed by Diego Cohen (who also did the cinematography and music), approaches a much more personal type of horror which may rattle some to the core. To some viewers, parts of the story will be reminiscent of the Woman in White legend. This one is a bit more brutal than the others and it is so to really set-up the reasoning behind the unspeakable horror. The actress playing Maria in this short, named Pilar Fernandez, gives a fantastic and poignant performances. This short hits hard on an emotional horror level.
In “Potzonalli”, a family that has had more than enough of the familial horrors imposed by the father takes things into their own hands while planning a surprise for him and others. This short by writer/director Fernando Urdapilleta is possibly the goriest and grossest of the bunch on a few levels. The facial appliances on two of the cast as well as the pièce de résistance effects-wise are well-done by Juan Francisco Mendez and Gala Phenia. The cast here is strong, with a great and maniacal performance by Laura de Ita as the matriarch for this dysfunctional family. This family may be demented but their plan is enjoyable to watch for gorehounds.
“Bolas de Fuego” is a borderline porn-y short that is definitely made to shock but won’t shock many due to its tone. In it, 2 young men hire women from an agency to shoot a porn film at home which leads to lust and blood loss. This short written and directed by Christian Cueva and Ricardo Fabias is on the humoristic side of things while having a few points to make about the state of the world and how porn is marketed in an often considered soulless industry. Or maybe it’s just meant to be fun.
In the short “No Te Duermas”, writer/director Sergio Tello tackles the effects of stories told by adults on a child’s mind and sleep. Here as a son attempts to have a good night sleep while keeping to everything his grandma told him, his father reminds him that these are only stories and he shouldn’t worry so much. However, are they really only stories? The acting from the father and son duo is on point here and the short’s surprise is fantastic and just a little ridiculous which works for the context here.
In director Michelle Garza’s short “Vitriol”, which she also wrote, a model takes drastic measures to not be just another pretty face anymore. This short shows horror from an unusual point of view, a model’s, as it pertain’s to how women are expected to be, to standards of beauty, and to the male gaze even. This short digs deep while giving strong images for its content. As it does so, its cinematography by Aura Gonzáles pays attention to the lead, giving views of her that are not always straight on or even showing her face. This creates a careful series of images that show how the model sees herself versus how she sees the world and how it sees her. “Vitriol’ is a strong short on the different views or gazes on a woman, a person, and on expectations.
In the more comically gruesome short “Ya Es Hora” written by Adrián Garcia Bogliano and Carlos Meléndez and directed by Meléndez, bullying victims do a ritual to the devil to get payback on their bullies. Little do they know, this payback takes a gruesome and bloody turn. The teen girls involved on the victim side give performances that are relatable with a touch of funny wit while the ones on the bully side give performances on the annoying, aggravating side which makes their comeuppance that much more satisfying. This is one fun, gory, gross, short.
The closing short of Mexico Barbaro II is “Exodoncia” written and directed by Lex Ortega, the man behind getting this sequel anthology together. His short is a very strong one, a good closer for the group presented here. It tells of a drug addict and how far she will go for a little bit of money to feed her habit. No more shall be said about this to not spoil the bloody surprise. That being said, the special effects by Alfredo Olguín are great, with a good amount of blood being used. The horror of this short starts off realistic and gritty and moves towards what may be described as a bad trip, creating one of the strongest shorts of the bunch and a great note to end on.
Where the first Mexico Barbaro was wildly uneven, this second outing takes the time and steps needed to have a more even quality to its shooting style, sound, effects, and scripts between the different shorts which was done by having filmmakers work with each other throughout production and using some of the same behind the camera crew, this avoiding the mishmash feeling of the first film. This go-round feels more like an anthology than just a collection of shorts half-hazardly put together. This attention to details and quality leads to a film that is easier and more agreeable to watch. If a third installment was to happen and the quality keeps going up, it should be a stellar entry in the series.