Caperucita y Pulgarcito contra los monstruos (1962)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Roberto Rodríguez

Writers:

Fernando Morales Ortiz (original story) and
Adolfo Torres Portillo (original story) ...

Release Date:

2 February 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Horror | Musical

Plot Keywords:

Crystal Ball | Fairy | Magic | Slapstick | Spell

Cast

María Gracia	...	Caperucita Roja (Little Red Riding Hood)
Cesáreo Quezadas 'Pulgarcito'	...	Pulgarcito (Tom Thumb) (as Cesáreo Quesadas)
José Elías Moreno	...	El Ogro
Manuel 'Loco' Valdés	...	El Lobo
Santanón	...	El Zorrillo (as El Enano Santanón)
Ofelia Guilmáin	...	La Reina Bruja
Armando Gutiérrez
Miguel Inclán hijo		(as Miguel Inclán Jr.)
Alfredo de Soto
Elvira Lodi
Magda Donato
Quintín Bulnes	...	El Vampiro
Elba Eugenia Migoni
Manuel Vergara 'Manver'		(as Manuel Vergara 'Mamber')
Humberto Dupeyrón

Also Known As:

Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Thumb vs. the Monsters (International: English title)
Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters (USA) (dubbed version)
Tom Thumb and Little Red Riding Hood (USA)

Runtime:

USA:82 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity)

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Películas Rodríguez

Movie Connections:

Follows Caperucita y sus tres amigos (1961)

Soundtrack:

Este es un día maravilloso

The Greatest Scary Fairy Tale of All Time!

For me, this is the holy grail of weirdo kiddie movies, the ultimate wicked fairy tale, a morbid, bizarre case of Grand Guignol for kiddies in the most odd permutation of genres ever concocted. This rarely-seen feature lies truly beyond description. Those zany folks at Churubusco-Azteca took two of their favorite cinema categories, the wacky fairy tale and the gothic horror movie, and spliced them together willy-nilly to make a ludicrous, entirely diabolical thrill-ride for youngsters. The film starts off menacingly, as a clearly nervous narrator speaks of the evil forces that rule the world. In case that doesn't sufficiently spook the wee ones, we are then subjected to a compendium of monsters (my favorite is Carrot-Head, the monster carrot) including ogres, vampires, robots, witches, skeletons, dragons and Siamese beasts, as well as a catalog of atrocities too numerous and unbelievable too mention, until Little Red Riding Hood and her soul-mate, Tom Thumb, with the aid of fairy tale perennials Stinky the Skunk and the Ferocious Wolf, conquer the evil witch and her band of grotesque ghouls. After this traumatizing descent into hell, the film ends on a high note as our heroes waltz through the wicked forest warbling the excruciating tune, "Just Give a Little Whistle." Imagine seeing this as a kid in 1965 shopping mall America; expecting an innocuous fairy tale, you witnessed instead a disabling nightmare fable! As if the original Mexican film wasn't dark and wacky enough, K Gordon Murray's consciously creepy dubbing must have made the US version downright hair-raising to the malleable young mind. To me, this film is as excessive and unique an experience as BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS or the SOUTH PARK movie. And here's the beauty part; you can still get the original Spanish-language video of this rare gem, under the title CAPERUCITA Y PULGARCITO, from Amazon.com! Now that's a happy ending!