Friday, April 20, 2012

Praying, Sinning, Robbing, Raping, Shooting, & Stabbing.

A lot of things happen in a big city. Some good, some bad. Mostly bad though. In the city in 38 Especial (aka ".38 Special"), a gang of thugs rob people in a phony taxi bus! Drug traffickers are battling cops on a daily basis! Then there's a psychopath going around raping & killing women because they're 'sinners'.

Meet Raul ( played by director Miguel Marte aka Angel Sancho). He's perverted, religious and he lives with his mom who whips him & herself! Why? Because they 'sin' so fucking much and they need to be fucking punished for it! When Raul acquires ID's of local women—he goes to their homes and stabs them all brutally to death. He also rapes them because it is the only way to 'cleanse their sinning souls'. A couple of badass cops search for Raul and along the way they go around gun-battling local drug traffickers. What a stressful, awful city this is. Is it Los Angeles? No, but it might as well be. 

38 Especial is ridiculously amazing. It is an action movie and a horror-thriller as well. The fact that we see exaggerated gun battles and gruesome bloody stabbings in one Mexican trash movie truly amazes me. The characters in 38 Especial are all very intriguing in their own right. The cops are a couple of badasses and one of them being played by Fernando Almada—who’s always a badass (duh). Julio César Rasec is also another badass in the movie and here he plays a good guy for once—a rarity for him since he’s leaned more towards playing antagonists. Then of course the killer Raul is an intriguingly sleazy & a crazy ass-looking dude and so much that it’s actually kind of believable. I also like the fact that he looks exactly like Curtis from Bloody Birthday

Miguel Marte here proves he can do it all at once. Miguel Marte directed, starred, produced & even composed the movie’s music. And of course with the help of his fellow filmmaking family members & friends. Incredible, isn’t it?

I truly love 38 Especial. It's trashy, bloody, and oodles of fun. A must watch for sure. Look for it!


Friday, April 6, 2012

Quien Tiene La Mente Criminal?

*Original review posted on 4/6/2012*
*Revised on 2/7/2022*

Andres (Jorge Luke) and Gabriela (Maritza Olivares) have just gotten married. After having a quirky little wedding while wearing acid-washed jeans––the newlyweds move into a house in sunny San Antonio Del Mar, Baja California. The house is gorgeous but it is also terrifying there since a crazy guy named "Tomas" (David Homb) vaguely lives under the home and every single day he stalks Gabriela from a far because he's "in love" with her. Right when Andres & Gabriela settle into their new home––promiscuous women are found brutally murdered near the beach. Who could be committing these terrible murders? Could it be philandering Andres? Gabriela's hot blonde friend Mercedes (Kelly Sullivan)? The horny plumber "Chuy"? Tomas?

Mente Criminal (also known as “Mente Asesina”) is a fun little Mexican slasher oddity with deceiving romance & steamy sexual themes. My only complaint about the movie is the fact that the killer's identity is pretty much revealed within the first 10-15 minutes. These little hints we get (bad childhood flashbacks) pretty much say that this certain person is the killer and most definitely not crazy Tomas. Speaking of Tomas, I feel so bad for the guy. He's not right in the head, he can't talk good and he's "in love" with someone he can never have. Poor, poor Tomas! Even though there isn't a whole lot of blood in this slasher movie––some of the kills are still fairly gruesome sounding & looking! One person is hit hard on the head with a hammer and the others get their throats slit & stabbed in the gut. And like with any other slasher movie, Mente Criminal of course features plenty of female nudity and it's great stuff, too. The ever so gorgreous Maritza Olivares goes topless and we're also treated to nice shots of her legs & ass (oh, yes!).  And I cannot forget to mention that the actress that plays Gabriela's blonde friend gets fully nude in a sex scene and all eyes are popping out at the moment it happens. Truly.

Like obscure/oddity slashers? Like Jorge Luke? Like Maritza Olivares? Like seeing crazy-looking dudes tragically in love? Then Mente Criminal is the movie to see.