CasaNegra

[drpauligari]

Beginning in late June, new company CasaNegra will be releasing restored and uncut versions of The Curse of the Crying Woman (La Maldicion de la Llorona), The Witch's Mirror (El Espejo de la Bruja), and The Brainiac (El Baron del Terror). Each will be in Spanish with English subs.

[Gregory]

Very exciting news. They boast extremely high standards of quality all over their site, which is a hopeful sign. I just signed up for the newsletter.
Here are descriptions of Brainiac and The Witch's Mirror from the now-OOP Something Weird DVD:

Condemned by the Holy Inquisition, bad baron Vitelius is burned at the stake - but not after vowing revenge on his accusors' descendants. 300 years later, the Baron rides a meteor to earth and transforms into The Brainiac, a monster complete with a pulsating head and a forked, tube-like tongue which he uses to suck the brains out of the skulls of both his enemies and an assortment of vivacious young women. Plus, Helen Hanley ignores warnings about The Witch's Mirror and is murdered by evil hubby Edward, who replaces her with Wife #2, the lovely Deborah. But Helen enjoys revenge in death when her ghost terrifies Deborah into going up in flames. With his new bride now looking like burnt toast, Edward attempts to make her beautiful again with the skin from stolen cadavers. The surgery almost works until he unknowingly gives Debbie his late wife's husband-hating hands... Two wonderfully bizarre, cockeyed cult horrors from Mexico, best summed up by a stunned detective who exclaims, "My eyes see it but all my logic says it cannot be true!"

[Matt]

These are now available:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI8MMA
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI8MM0

Reviews are very positive:

http://www.casanegraentertainment.com/c ... views.html
http://www.tcm.com/movienews/index/?cid=140046

And they've got a few more good ones coming up this year:

http://www.casanegraentertainment.com/c ... _soon.html

[drpauligari]

I picked up The Witch's Mirror when it was released. The transfer seems fine, and the film itself is great fun, although I have a personal preference for The Curse of the Crying Woman. For Mexican horror novices, Curse might be a better start.

One minor quibble I have with the Mirror disc concerns the noise reduction used on the English language soundtrack (the K. Gordon Murray dub), which seems, to me, overused to the point that dialogue sounds as if it is being spoken underwater.

[Matt]

I might have expected it but I'm very pleased to discover that CasaNegra's releases are fully bilingual: menus are available in Spanish or English, the English language commentary is subtitled in Spanish, and even the cover art is reversible--one side English, the other Spanish. Same goes for their website.

Granted, the films themselves are from Mexico, but it's nice to see a DVD company not ignore the 31 million people in the US who speak Spanish at home.

[Matt]

Okay, anyone interested in gothic horror films must buy Curse of the Crying Woman AT ONCE! The film was very cheaply made, but shows such imagination and and inventiveness as to put it on a par with the best of Bava and Corman in his Poe period. Seriously, it's really good. It's as if someone gave the filmmakers a checklist of all the things you need to make a great gothic horror film and they ticked every box. Rubber bats on strings? Check. Fog machine? Check. Zoom lens? Check. Creepy organ? Check. And so forth. Not to mention the regional touches like the 10-minute fistfight for the lucha libre fans.

Plus there is a moment about 10-15 minutes in that is so William Castle awesome that I practically jumped out of my seat with excitement. I had to rewind and watch it again.

Granted, the film is nothing that couldn't have been made at Universal in the 1930s (except for the myth of La Llorona itself), but it takes all the hackneyed clichés and uses them with such conviction that they become novel all over again. I really can't recommend this enough.

[Lino]

I've watched the trailers for both Curse and Mirror and they look very promising. And I agree that there is more than a few Black Sunday references here and there but I also sensed an aura of Ed Wood flying around the vicinities.

Casa Negra is apparently a division of Panik House so it doesn't surprise me that their releases are of the highest quality for even these obscure titles. Looking forward to seeing them in full. My interest is picked.

BTW, all the threads in this section of the forum should be stickied for the sake of scrolling cramps!

[Ashirg]

I watched Witch's Mirror yesterday and recomment it to anyone interested in that kind of cinema. Can't wait to experience Curse of the Crying Woman

[Matt]

...but I also sensed an aura of Ed Wood flying around the vicinities.

You're not totally wrong, but the cheap effects in Curse never seemed laughable to me. I mean, yeah, you can see the strings, but the filmmakers make it work. The acting is also pretty good (both lead actresses worked with Bunuel in Mexico), so that goes a long way toward selling the effects, something Tor Johnson and Vampira could never quite manage.

[Lino]

I don't mind Ed Wood similarities at all. If there is one thing that separates his films from the other grade Z flicks that were being made at the time is that amazingly I just can't seem to take my eyes off the screen when I'm watching one of Wood's films, even though sometimes my mind is dumbfounded by what I'm seeing! So, yeah -- a little Ed Wood doesn't hurt me a bit.

[Matt]

I wasn't as impressed with The Witch's Mirror as with Crying Woman, but I did admire how it shifted from haunted house movie to grave robbing movie to The Hands of Orlac with nary a blink of the eye. I guess I like my haunted house movies very orthodox and Crying Woman gave me precisely that. Witch's Mirror had some very fine surrealist touches (lots of severed head/hand imagery) not to mention a very classy bewigged skull, but I just didn't find it as compelling. I still plan to buy the upcoming releases from this label, though.

[dadaistnun]

Tim Lucas reviews The Black Pit of Dr. M on his blog.

[Ashirg]

The Brainiac reviewed

[Gregory]

It's odd, DDD lists a $15 release of Brainiac coming in January. I'm not sure who would be releasing it so soon after Casa Negra.
By the way, right now DDD has the first four Casa Negra releases for $10.62 each as part of a horror promotion, which seems a pretty decent price.

[Ashirg]

Being released by Brain Damage Films. Don't expect any improvements

[Matt]

It's odd, DDD lists a $15 release of Brainiac coming in January. I'm not sure who would be releasing it so soon after Casa Negra.
By the way, right now DDD has the first four Casa Negra releases for $10.62 each as part of a horror promotion, which seems a pretty decent price.

The sale actually appears to include all current and forthcoming CasaNegra releases. Seriously, every single one of you with a spare $10 should pick up Curse of the Crying Woman.

[Gordon]

These excellent Casa Negra releases have all been restored by Screen Time Images. These Mexi-horror films deserve DVD releases:

Ladrón de cadáveres (1957, Fernando Méndez)

La Nave de los monstruos (The Ship of Monsters) (1960, Rogelio A. González)

El Esqueleto de la señora Morales (Skeleton of Mrs. Morales) (1960, Rogelio A. González)

La Casa del terror (House of Terror) (1960, Gilberto Martínez Solares)

Hasta el viento tiene miedo (1968, Carlos Enrique Taboada)

El Libro de piedra (The Book of Stone) (1969, Carlos Enrique Taboada)

Las Momias de Guanajuato (The Mummies of Guanajuato) (1972, Federico Curiel)

Más negro que la noche (Blacker Than the Night) (1975, Carlos Enrique Taboada)

[Gregory]

Being released by Brain Damage Films. Don't expect any improvements

No improvements, certainly, but if the transfer is good it could turn out to be a nice bargain.

The sale actually appears to include all current and forthcoming CasaNegra releases.

They have The Vampire Collection? I searched for it about five different ways.

[drpauligari]

The Vampire Collection

[Lino]

Review for The Vampire Collection.

[Lino]

Coming Soon:

The Man and the Monster (1958, Mexico)

FIlm Info
1958
85 Mins.
B&W
Not Rated
1:33 Aspect Ratio


Technical Info
Region 1-NTSC
Spanish Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Optional English Subtitles


Release Info
Item #CN0099
MSRP: $19.95


Credits
cast Enrique Rambal • Abel Salazar • Marta Roth • Deelia Guilmáin • Laura Baledón • José Chávez • Maricarmen Vela • Carlos Suárez
screenplay by Raúl Centeno
directed by Rafael Baledón


El Hombre y el Monstruo
“One of the very best offerings from the weird world of Mexican horror and worthy of wider recognition."
– The Spinning Image

Gothic horror, fun special effects and an inventive re-thinking of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story converge in The Man and The Monster, one of the most chilling and exciting classics in the annals of Mexico's supernatural thrillers. Enrique Rambal portrays Samuel, a pianist so ambitious that he sells his soul to Satan in exchange for musical greatness. Every time Samuel plays the composition that wins him fame, fortune and adulation, he turns into a hideous beast with a lust for murder. To avoid transforming into a ferocious killer, all Samuel need do is refuse to play his signature song. But is he willing to sacrifice his own status as the world's most acclaimed pianist?

The Man and the Monster is a one-of-a-kind blend of mature psychological terror and typical ‘50s creature-feature trappings. CasaNegra is proud to present this film in the finest form ever available anywhere.

Special Features:

* Original Uncut Version
* Completely Re-Mastered Picture & Sound from Newly Restored Vault Elements
* Bilingual Menus in English & Spanish
* Essay:
* Cast Biographies
* Original Theatrical Release Radio Spot
* Poster and Stills Gallery

[Lino]

Ok, not related to Casa Negra but in the realm of Mexican Horror: can anyone point me to the best introduction to the wild and wonderful world of the El Santo movies? There are so many of them that I'm at loss as to the best ones around. Anyone?

[Lino]

Well, no El Santo fans around here?

[Cold Bishop]

Santo en el Hach Diabolic, or so I've heard.

[Lino]

Ok, back to Casa Negra. DVDTalk reviews The Vampire Collection.