Mas Negro Que La Noche

[kybearfuzz]

While my love of horror movies is well known, lately I have been getting into watching foreign horror movies, beyond the English speaking ones from Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland. The problem with watching a horror movie in a foreign language is that I do have to really concentrate because of the subtitles. Often, I save these sorts of movies for when I'm not working on a comic.

A couple of weeks back, during the snowpacolypse, I rented the 2014 remake of "Mas Negro Que La Noche" (Darker than Night) from a Redbox. This is a Mexican horror movie in Spanish with English subtitles. The story involves a young woman who inherits her aunt's home after she passes away. In addition to the manor and the money, she also inherits the aunt's beloved black cat Becker, whom she must care for as the only stipulation of her inheritance. She moves into the manor with her three girlfriends and throws a large housewarming party of sorts. When Becker ends up dead, the spirit of her aunt isn't too happy and bad things begin to happen. The movie is fun, with the deceased aunt's ghost often just floating around in the distance background subtly. The acting is good, and there is at least one hot mustachioed guy to admire. I enjoyed it enough to buy the DVD.

On a lark, I decided to watch the original 1975 version on YouTube last night. The movie was without subtitles, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. I knew a large chunk of the story already and I was surprised how much of dialogue I was able to pick up. The story does deviate a bit regarding the death of Becker and what the girls are doing with their free time. Especially creepy is when the ghostly aunt stalks one of the young ladies in the library where she is working alone. The ending is also much simpler than the remake. What I found enjoyable, along with the usual scares, was the fashions, the attitudes, and the "dancing" of the mid-1970s. Hopefully one day they'll release a DVD of the movie with subtitles, which isn't available according to Amazon.com.

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Comments

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Where would these horror movies be without irresponsibility? :)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Well, something has to set things in motion. If Becker the cat had lived, my guess is that the young ladies would have too. And then there would be no movie... :)

[barak.livejournal.com]

Did you see the trailer for "It Follows"? Totally creepy.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I hadn't until you posted the link! Wow, I want to see that! :)

[barak.livejournal.com]

I do too... and I'm still creeped out from the trailer!

Heard about it this morning in a interview where it was called the perfect monster movie...

[man-of-snows.livejournal.com]

This sounds like a good movie to watch I will have to check it out. I love haunted house films what are your top 5 picks for smart haunted house movies.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... top five?

If we expand the definition of "haunted house," here are five good movies:

• "The Orphanage" (2007) is A Spanish horror flick about a woman whose son goes missing in their new home, a former orphanage they are fixing up.



• "Grave Encounters" (2011) is about a reality show being filmed in a supposed haunted asylum/hospital. It has some wonderfully genuine scares and eeriness.



• "The Legend of Hell House" (1973) is an older horror flick from the 1970s but it definitely has some good scares in it.



• "The Amityville Horror" (1979) -- I always felt this movie was very novel in its scares. While it might not be as polished as modern horror flicks, the creepiness certainly can top a lot of recent scary movies.



• "The Shining" (1980) -- The atmosphere and setting for this movie puts it in my favorites. A slow build of spooks and madness is chilling and entertaining.