Mexican horror movie of the day: The book of stone (El libro de piedra, 1969)
¡Feliz día de Muertos! It's that time of the year again, and once again let's celebrate by remembering a little of one of the classic master's of Mexican Horror. I've talked about Carlos Enrique Taboada before, and his mastery of creating a sense of atmosphere and mystery over startling with loud noises or imagery the viewer doesn't dissapoint with this being one of his finest efforts.
It follows the story of the rich Ruvalcaba family. More importantly, the daughter Silvia. She's been pretty reclusive since her mother died some years ago, and now that her father Eugenio has remarried they moved to a different house. So when her new tutor Julia Septién finds her, she's surprised that the girl has apparently being playing hide and seek with a kid called Hugo.
But when she inquires on the matter, Eugenio informs her that this so called Hugo is nothing but her imaginary friend, imprinted on a stone statue of a boy in the backyard pond. Even moreso, based on what Silvia says Hugo is… not exactly a nice kid. He's rather possessive and even asks for horrible things like making Silvia put herself in danger to get Julia to follow suit.
And then strange things start to happen that make Julia suspect there's something else than just child imagination going on.
The premise is quite straightforward (a child with an imaginary friend that turns out to be something supernaturally evil), but it certainly makes a name for itself with execution, as childhood innocence is juxtaposed with an overbearing sense of malice in the air that hides itself in plain sight. Like other Taboada movies, it's imagery is quaint to the point of not being innapropriate for children. But the sense of tension growing that something horrible is about to happen doesn't let go.
And when it does, it delivers in bizarrely macabre ways like a kid playing games on everyone. For old school horror, definitely a keeper.
