Wednesday, March 22, 2023

'Til Death Do Us Part.

Sometime in the 1930’s, a pianist named Orlando (Hugo Stiglitz) has fallen in love with actress Griselda (Luz Maria Jerez) at the theater where she performs. After much admiring from afar, Orlando finally nabs Griselda and they begin a very deep romantic relationship which then leads to their blissful marriage. Orlando is to go to Paris for a music study & just before he is to leave—Orlando wants to spend time with Griselda at his luxurious family mansion where his aunt Eloisa (Rosita Quintana) remains resided. When the couple arrive, Eloisa is not welcoming & not keen with Orlando having a new bride and it is then that Griselda learns that Orlando was married before and that his crazy wedding dress-wearing mother “disappeared” after a fire broke out where she resided near the mansion. All this madness & drama leads to something far more sinister and that is that someone or something wearing the mother’s wedding dress & holding a single piece of piano wire is stalking Griselda in & out of the mansion. Orlando’s mental state seems to be declining since he begins to have nightmares of his first wife’s death & generally blacking out and this all of course stems from his constant arguing with his aunt Eloisa, whom clearly is not so innocent herself. 


Hasta Que La Muerte Nos Separe ("Til Death Do Us Part") is minimalistic & predicable. My first time viewing had me in some mystery (in the beginning), but right in the middle of the movie I had figured it all out. It was all just too obvious by then. The movie’s minimalism stems from it being set only at the mansion and featuring about 4 characters in the majority of its runtime. It all honestly seems there was more planned for this movie, but with whatever budget they had, they just had to make do with the basics. The very, very basics. They couldn’t go far into something much more dark & perhaps even supernatural. Oh, well. 


Now I’m not gonna completely knock down on Hasta Que La Muerte Nos Separe since the movie is fairly entertaining with its 1930’s gothic tale conceived by writer & director Ramon Obon (the son of the legendary Mexican horror filmmaker of the same name), having an eerie & appealing setting, and having such a vague leading character played by the always awesome Hugo Stiglitz and his weird ass aunt played by the very legendary Rosita Quintana. Hugo Stiglitz here wears the most ridiculous wig ever and it was worn to make his character look like he’s from that time period. I think. Speaking of costumes, I truly admired the tattered wedding dress that the antagonist wears and having them hold a piano wire as a weapon. How splendid! 





























Saturday, March 4, 2023

Deadly White Lines.

It’s been said many times and that is that drugs are bad for you. Drugs will ruin your life and those around you as well. In De Un Blanco Mortal, drugs definitely ruin the main character’s life. Does redemption come for them at least? Nah. 


Susana Prado (Lorena Herrera) is a young gal looking for excitement alongside her friend Nora (Michelle Mayer). At a restaurant, Susana catches the attention of radio station owner Isaac (Hector Bonilla) and he truly feels she has potential on being on air, thus gives her a shot in a radio show and this leads to a fantastic career for Susana. Susana then begins a relationship with Isaac, who’s quite charismatic & wealthy, but he is however involved with some not so great people & he is the one who introduces Susana to what will lead to her downfall in life—Cocaine. The cocaine usage at first seems harmless, but as time goes by & her ego grows—Susana begins to use it more often and relies on it heavily. Her cocaine addiction then leads to her radio career ending, having Isaac’s unwanted son (who’s born addicted to cocaine), then with little to no money, Susana begins to sell herself and acquires a cheaper alternative to cocaine—Crack Cocaine. 


De Un Blanco Mortal is the 3rd & final entry of Benjamin Escamilla Espinosa’s Casos De Alarma film trilogy and Blanco Mortal isn’t so much of a grimy movie as the other 2 are. If anything, this one is a lot more focused on being a serious melodrama & sending out an anti-drug message as well. De Un Blanco Mortal portrays drug addiction as it truly is— it’s sad, it’s vile & very ugly. It doesn’t glorify it at all.


While the movie remains serious, it doesn’t skip out on showing Lorena Herrera off because she is very eye-catching. Lorena dresses scantily through out the movie and is very promiscuous with the men she’s involved with. However, all that does change when the drug addiction takes its turn for the worst and it’s there that we see Susana becoming a sex worker and then rotting away in the streets with nothing to her name. Lorena Herrera here proved what a great actress she can be because she can play eye-candy, but she can also play a tragically-realistic character as well.


All 3 Casos De Alarma movies are hard to find these days and to my knowledge only the first 2 were released on cheapie DVD’s and those too are hard to find now. If found though, do check them out because each movie is unique & intriguing to watch. Just remember though, De Un Blanco Mortal is the not so grimy Casos De Alarma movie, but it’s still worth a watch and for sure will be likened.