El libro de piedra (1969)

... aka: Book of Stone, The
... aka: Stone Book, The

Directed by:
Carlos Enrique Taboada

Clearly inspired by Henry James' The Turn of the Screw (and no doubt the definitive 1961 film version of that story, THE INNOCENTS), you'll notice several similarities between the two right away: the new governess, the haunted or possibly mentally disturbed child, the huge remote mansion filled with whispers and secrets, the lush nearby garden, etc. Unlike the disturbed, overly emotional character of Miss Giddens in Turn (who very well may be imagining the "haunting"), the protagonist here is a kind, very sane woman who is imagining nothing. Something supernatural is definitely afoot and, because she lost a child of her own years earlier, she feels compelled to do everything she can to help the troubled child she's been hired to care for. The lady in question is Julia Septién (Marga López), who - as the film begins - shows up at the home of re-married, very wealthy widower Eugenio Ruvalcaba (Joaquín Cordero). He immediately tells her that his young daughter Sylvia (Lucy Buj) isn't just a normal girl. In fact, he believes she may be mentally ill. Ever since the family has moved to this new home, Sylvia has spent much of her time in hiding and even more time with her (presumed) imaginary friend Hugo. She finds amusement in doing cruel and perverse things and even has the strange ability to predict things before they happen. And every once in awhile, someone dies.

A tough nut to crack, Sylvia is initially rude to the governess, tells her she doesn't like her and that she's not welcome there, but through patience, kindness and an open mind, Julia is eventually able to win over the young girl's trust and affections. She learns that Sylvia pays frequent visits to the garden, where the stone statue of a little boy holding a book - her "friend" Hugo - rests. The statue - which is five centuries old and was brought to Central America from Austria decades earlier - houses the spirit of a young boy who's been dead for many years and the book he's holding is a book of (black) magic spells. We learn that the boy was the child of a witch who may one day return to life. Somehow, evil little Hugo has managed to take possession of lonely Sylvia, coercing her into helping him do evil things... or doing them herself.

Sylvia makes a six-pointed star out of salt to resurrect a dead lizard and, early on, leads the governess to an abandoned church, with intentions of making her fall to her death from the top. Julia isn't the only target, though. A former governess was scared away from the home in horror and a dog belonging to the father's painter friend Carlos (Aldo Monti) is killed after it scares the girl. Sylvia's young stepmother Mariana (Norma Lazareno) wants nothing more than to find a way to connect to the closed-off Sylvia, but Sylvia hates her so much that she decides to make her suffer with help from a voodoo doll. Eugenio and Carlos eventually go to an occult expert for advice, but can they or Julia save the bewitched young girl before it's too late?

This ghost tale is well-regarded by many in its home country and it's easy to see why. The performances are good, it's faintly eerie at times, paces itself out about right by revealing layers of the interesting story a little bit at a time, makes good use of the lush outdoor surroundings and a few of the supernatural scenes, with visions of the little boy's ghost seen several times reflected in mirrors, are well-done. It's a good film, no doubt, but overall it lacks the artistry and depth that makes something like the similar and aforementioned The Innocents an *excellent* film. Still, it's well worth your time if you can find a copy (it's never been released in America, though an English-subbed copy is out there if you look for it) and would make an ideal introduction to the genre for a child.

Director / writer Taboada also made the well-regarded HASTA EL VIENTO TIENE MIEDO ("Even the Wind is Afraid") (1968), DRIFTER IN THE RAIN (1968), BLACKER THAN THE NIGHT (1975) and POISON FOR THE FAIRIES (1984). El libro de piedra was remade in 2009 by director Julio Cesar Estrada.

★★★

Vagabundo en la lluvia (1968)

... aka: Drifter in the Rain
... aka: Vagabond in the Rain
... aka: Wanderer in the Rain

Directed by:
Carlos Enrique Taboada

Although not well-known here in America, director Carlos Enrique Taboada (who passed away in 1997) was fairly well-regarded in his home country. His reputation there as a horror master seemed to lie primarily on his two best-known works; 1968's HASTA EL VIENTO TIENE MIEDO ("Even the Wind is Afraid") and 1969's EL LIBRO DE PIEDA ("The Book of Stone"), though he'd also make BLACKER THAN THE NIGHT (1975), POISON FOR THE FAIRIES (1984) and other genre films. While both Hasta and Libro dealt with ghosts / the supernatural and were popular enough to eventually prompt remakes (in 2007 and 2009, respectively), Vagabundo ("Drifter in the Rain" or "Wanderer in the Rain") is a low-key psycho-drama / thriller that may be the least-watched of all the director's genre films. It's a small-scale effort centering around just a few principal characters and set primarily in just one location; very much like something that has been adapted from the stage to the screen. The good news is that the film does a reasonable job fleshing out its characters and, while not really overtly horrifying, contains several effectively creepy moments and some suspense. The bad news is that it's not particularly original and it's difficult to find.

Things begin on an amusing note as we see two Nazi's step out of their car and demand to enter a home only to realize the men are just dressed up for a wild costume party. Angela Ayala (Christa Linder) has to cut the festivities short because she's expecting to meet her husband, who's away on business in New York, at their secondary lakeside home (located several miles from the nearest residence) the following day and claims she needs to straighten the place up. Upon arriving, Angela puts on a record, lights the fire, makes herself a drink and then calls up her husband to check in. Something's clearly bothering her and things are only going to get worse after she starts noticing signs that someone has been in her house; food's been eaten, there's a lit cigarette on the floor, a door lock is busted...) She grabs a rifle, heads down into the basement and discovers a bearded vagrant (Rodolfo de Anda) hiding out. Though he claims he just broke in for some food and seems harmless enough, she forces him leave, despite a raging thunderstorm going on outside.

Upon retrieving her luggage out of her car, Angela discovers that a drunken woman named Monica (Ana Luisa Peluffo) had climbed into her car and passed out in the backseat before she'd left the party. The vagrant pops by long enough to help carry her inside. Angela gives him a little money and asks that he be on his way. When Monica awakens, the two women start to get to know each other. Monica is an older, embittered, hard-drinker trapped in a loveless marriage to a wealthy man; possibly the type of woman Angela may become one day if she doesn't watch it. Monica senses that Angela is uneasy because she's having an affair and is awaiting her lover, and she's only partially right. Angela is indeed having an affair, but she's actually awaiting Raquel (Norma Lazareno). Raquel eventually shows up with incriminating photos of Angela's affair demanding money. Meanwhile, the vagrant snaps, kills a cat, trashes the boat house in a rage, flattens Angela's tires, starts lurking around the home, peeks in windows and such.

Despite having some competent moments of terror and suspense, the film is really at its best during character-driven scenes between Angela and Monica, where we get a cautionary 'don't become like me' moral delivered to the younger, more idealistic Angela by the older, experienced and more cynical Monica. The difference between the two women is one of years. Having her marriage threatened by both her own actions and by Raquel only strengthens Angela's feelings of love for her spouse, while in Monica's case (Raquel had already tried to blackmail her for her own affair) it was basically too late.

Star Linder (a real knockout that I'm surprised isn't more famous than she actually is) was born in Germany and went on to represent Austria in the Miss Universe pageant (which she almost won) before embarking on her acting career. She appeared in a couple of American films and TV shows, but worked primarily in Europe and Mexico on such films as the German krimni STRANGLER OF THE TOWER (1963), the sleazy Mexican film NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS (1972) and the horror-western HOT SNAKE (1976). She also appeared alongside Boris Karloff in his final films; THE SINISTER INVASION (1968), and was in the Italian vampire sex comedy YOUNG DRACULA (1975) for director Lucio Fulci. The other actors; Peluffo (THE LIVING HEAD), Lazareno (NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES) and de Anda (FURIOUS ENCOUNTER) were all veterans of the Mexican film industry with a good number of genre films to their credit.

Like most of Taboada's other films, this was never released in America. It's on DVD, though (Spanish-language only) on the Cinema Inc. label.

★★1/2

Más negro que la noche (1975)

...aka: Blacker Than the Night

Directed by:
Carlos Enrique Taboada

Aspiring actress Ofelia (Claudia Islas) is living in a crowded apartment with three other young women; librarian Aurora (Susana Dosamantes), model Marta (Lucía Méndez) and Pilar (Helena Rojo), who's living off alimony checks from her ex-husband Roberto (Pedro Armendáriz Jr.), when she's learns she's just inherited some property after the passing of her stern great aunt Susana (Tamara Garina). The inheritance includes a large country home, which Ofelia and her friends promptly move into. The only stipulation is that she must must care for Susana's beloved pet cat Bequer, who the sinister live-in housekeeper Sofia (Alicia Palacios) refers to as "blacker than the night." Three of the ladies aren't exactly cat people and when Aurora's pet canary is killed, the cat itself mysteriously disappears, only to be found dead in the home's cellar days later. Soon after, each of the ladies begin hearing eerie crying sounds and a female voice calling for the cat, are paid visits by the dead aunt's black-clad, cane-carrying ghost and begin dying in mysterious ways.

Overall, it's a mild, predictable ghost tale; talky, slow-moving and with just a handful of potent horror/ suspense scenes. It's well-made, though, and the cast is appealing. But what makes this one a little more interesting than others of its type is that it seems to look at "modern" young ladies of the time with genuine disdain. All three of Ofelia's friends are - for the most part - rude, uncompassionate, gossipy, flighty, indecisive, oblivious and self-centered. They seem to have no reverence for things of the past, no respect for the simplest of rules and no appreciation for the antiquities contained in their new home (which they refer to as "junk"). They mock the elderly housekeeper and scoff at her warnings; only warming to her when they feel like their asses are on the line. It's an obvious comment on the attitude of the then-new generation of provocatively-attired young women from an aged, conservative, male stance. I could see some being faintly offended by that (granted anyone notices or even cares), but hell, in a world where the cast of The Hills and Paris Hilton are deemed worthy of fame and attention, I have no problem with someone turning their nose up at the increase in what he / she feels is the willfully ignorant, especially in something that's over 30 years old.

Taboada, the most respected of all of Mexico's horror filmmakers, began his career scripting such south-of-the-border genre fare such as the Nostradamus series (1960) and THE WITCH'S MIRROR (1962) before moving on to direct such acclaimed films as HASTA EL VIENTO TIENE MIEDO (1968; "Tonight, Even the Wind is Afraid") and THE BOOK OF STONE (1969).

★★1/2