Saturday, May 14, 2022

My Ghost & Me.

A writer (Rodolfo de Anda) has purchased a spooky old house as a way to get inspiration for his latest horror novel and it’s quite the prefect place for that considering an actual ghost lurks in the house. After living several different kinds of lives as a human, a ghost (Arturo Martinez) has settled in this particular house and the currency to pay to live there is to scare people. As you can imagine, it has not been going well for the ghost since the house has been long abandoned and no one dares to enter it, but not because it's scary, but because it is uninteresting to the locals nearby. Once the writer & his family moves in, the ghost tries to scare the family, but fails to do so and the one person he’s for sure to scarea young boy named Carlitos (Cesar Velasco), ultimately becomes his friend instead. After Carlitos manages to help the ghost scare a couple of robbers out of the house—the ghost can now remain inside the house for a while longer and this brings the ghost & Carlitos much closer than ever. Conflicts ensue however when a priest blesses the home and the ghost’s presence is affected. This also affects Carlitos internally and it’s up to his parents to bring back the ghost to make their son feel better again. 


Mi Fantasma y Yo ("My Ghost & Me") is quite the little epic considering all the big names involved in the movie—in front of the camera & behind the scenes. The movie stars legendary actor/director/producer Arturo Martinez as the ghost and 2 of his sons, Ricardo & Arturo Jr were very much involved in the production of the movie. This goes along with Rodolfo de Anda, who’s brother is director Gilberto de Anda. Next to its heavily family-connected productionthe movie stars many familiar names in Mexican cinema and all of them appear in small roles, but very memorable & humorous ones. In particular the scene with Andres Garcia as a buccaneer succumbed by female cannibals and the quirky Wild West scene which has Gilberto De Anda, Carlos East, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Hector Suarez & Manuel Capetillo Jr. 2 legendary comedic actors also appear in memorable roles and that is Mauricio Garces as The Devil and then there’s of course Chabelo with his whiny childish voice coming out unexpectedly despite being a serious psychiatrist. Jorge Reynoso, everyone's favorite action star, stars here as a caveman inventing fire.. Badly. I also can't forget to mention Pedro Infante Jr stars as an Egyptian tomb builder succumbing to his own creation... A Tomb.


With all the connections & big familiar names, does Mi Fantasma y Yo live up to the hype? Of course it does. Mi Fantasma y Yo is a charming, funny flick enjoyable for all. It’s quite obvious this was a movie made specifically for families and it’s fairly interesting considering most Mexican movies coming out during that time were hardly ever family-oriented. Here & there there were maybe some, but a very slim selection and the rest was all stuff for the young adolescent crowd & general mature audiences. So it’s quite the difference to see something like Mi Fantasma y YoHorror buffs intrigued by the movie must be aware that this is not a full-on horror comedy because all you’re going to see is a spooky setting & a ghost whom later takes an appearance of a man. This is not going to be some Monster Squad type stuff at all. 


If you got little kids or just in the mood for something not so serious & violent, then for sure check out Mi Fantasma y Yo. It'll definitely brighten your day and to see all these actors & actresses together in one movie is truly something special as well.