People are voting emotionally.

Boring

Am I Missing Something?

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A man on a white horse rides into town looking for the woman that carved a statue. She is dead. The doctor has one too. Dead woman is said to be haunting the swamp, yet at the same time she is kept dead by jamming a knife into a perfectly good clock.Yes, we do get to see the dead woman. Boring film.

The most famous of the 1950s/1960s horror flicks came from the US, but Mexico also made a number of them. One example is "El grito de la muerte" ("The Living Coffin" in English). Fernando Méndez's movie has the feeling of the average Vincent Price movie while incorporating the story of La Llorona (the weeping woman). Like the average Vincent Price movie, "The Living Coffin" makes no pretense about what kind of a movie it is. It looks like the sort of movie that they probably had fun making. I suspect that many people in Mexico likely think that the makers tried too hard to make the sort of movie that the United States would have made - as opposed to a movie focusing on issues affecting most Mexicans - but isn't it OK to occasionally make a movie whose sole purpose is to entertain? All in all, a fun movie.

"The Living Coffin" (1958) is, I would imagine, a fine example of that most curious of subgenres: the Mexican cowboy/horror movie. Reuniting director Fernando Mendez, actor Gaston Santos and cinematographer Victor Herrera after that same year's "The Black Pit of Dr. M," the film is, I regret to say, a far lesser achievement. Whereas "Dr. M" is a beautifully shot B&W masterpiece, this picture is--though surprisingly filmed in color--a much more pedestrian affair. In it, lawman Gaston, his bumbling compadre Coyote Loco, and Rayito, the smartest horse you'll ever encounter this side of Trigger, Silver and Mr. Ed, come to the aid of a hacienda in which corpses are being stolen from their tomb and the legendary Crying Woman is heard to wail at night. What horror elements there are chiefly consist of eerie close-ups of the Crying Woman's attractive but corroded face as she flits through the darkened corridors, but the picture also features a nifty bar fight, a good quicksand sequence, a few shoot-outs and some lame comedy (but certainly not enough to torpedo the film). Santos himself, sans mustache and in color, is practically unrecognizable from the role he essayed in "Dr. M," and Herrera's talents are much more obvious in that earlier picture. Still, "The Living Coffin" makes for a reasonably entertaining 70 minutes, and might even be appropriate to watch with the kiddies, especially when the film's "Scooby Doo" aspects come into play. However, viewers interested in seeing a real Mexican masterpiece dealing with the Crying Woman of legend should check out 1963's, uh, "The Curse of the Crying Woman," a film that I just love. And oh...this Casa Negra DVD looks just fine, as always, but what's the deal with the microprint on the essay extras? You'll need one of those 102" TV screens to read these, I'm afraid!

This is a weird amalgam of Gothic horror elements with the Western genre, also interesting for being shot in color. The 71-minute film emerges to be a generally likable curiosity that, with an engaging (even complex) plot, evokes affectionate memories of American 'B' serials from the previous decade – though, ultimately, it's marred by a lethargic pace and, when finally exposed, a trio of uninteresting villains.Gaston Santos, a famous bullfighter, plays the hero; he's flanked by his resourceful steed and a chubby, perennially sleepy sidekick (initially amusing, he soon becomes overbearing – especially when his antics are accompanied by incongruous 'comic' sound effects!). Unfortunately, too, the star is engaged throughout in some extremely fake fistfights! The main 'ghost' of the narrative actually ties the film with a long-running horror series revolving around a legendary character known as "La Llorona" (The Crying Woman); I've only watched one such film, the fine Mexi-horror THE CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN (1961) – which, incidentally, has also been released on DVD by Casanegra.The typical atmosphere of the horror films originating from Mexico – steeped in family secrets, shadows and superstition (by way of Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie) – is further boosted in this case by the muted but pleasant color scheme. Finally, I much prefer the original title of this film – EL GRITO DE LA MUERTE, which roughly translates to SCREAM OF DEATH – to its American moniker, the rather meaningless THE LIVING COFFIN (which is actually a reference to its being armored with an alarm system in case of body snatching, or in the event the coffin's occupant has been buried alive!).The most substantial extra on the disc is a very interesting essay by David Wilt about this characteristically Mexican hybrid genre (incidentally, the potential camp entertainment promised by the wealth of titles mentioned here – the absolute majority of which have yet to see the light of day on any digital format – is proof once again that this particular cinematic well is far from exhausted!). However, given its considerable length, the inordinately tiny font used (also for the accompanying cast biographies) is a real strain on the eyes!; besides, the audio for the main feature is a bit low.