El espejo de la bruja (1962)

A husband murders his wife, and years later her ghost emerges from a witch's mirror to take her revenge.

Director:

Chano Urueta

Writers:

Alfredo Ruanova (screenplay), Alfredo Ruanova (story),

Stars:

Rosa Arenas, Armando Calvo, Isabela Corona

Cast

Cast overview:
Rosa Arenas	...	Deborah (as Rosita Arenas)
Armando Calvo	...	Eduardo Ramos
Isabela Corona	...	Sara
Dina de Marco	...	Elena
Carlos Nieto	...	Gustavo
Alfredo Wally Barrón	...	Inspector (as Alfredo W. Barrón)

Storyline

A husband murders his wife, and years later her ghost emerges from a witch's mirror to take her revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

witch | ghost | murder | magic mirror

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Witch's Mirror

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinematográfica S.A., Producciones ABSA, Studios Azteca

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Mondo Macabro: Mexican Horror Movies (2002)

User Reviews

One of the best of the Mexi-horror genre

You really never know what to expect from the Mexican Horror movies from the late 50's-early 60's. The rights to most were bought by K Gordon Murray.He dubbed the films generally using the same actors and the same stock music and ham handed re-editing cutting out crucial dialogue/scenes etc. Sometimes the dubbed dialogue is absolutely hysterical (and it shouldn't be).Every once in a while a great film sneaks through.

The Witch's Mirror is much better than most.The story concerns a witch's(Sarah) godchild(Helen) who sees her own murder in a mirror. The killer is her husband (a doctor/scientist) who is having an affair.As much as the witch tries to prevent the murder she is unable to do so.Helen is poisoned leaving him free to marry Deborah.

Sarah uses the powers of black magic to communicate with Helen in the grave. Helen is able to use the mirror to terrorize hubby and his bride.Flowers die instantly in a vase;cold winds blow through the house and the piano plays Helen's favorite songs..by itself.

Blaming the mirror for the haunting the doctor shatters it with a lit oil lamp. Deborah somehow is turned into a screaming fiery torch.She lives but is horribly disfigured.The doctor tries skin grafts from cadavers to restore her beauty.Then he moves on to living women for his needed tissues.Then Helen really gets p----d and her revenge is cruel and ruthless.

While you feel for Helen you also feel for Deborah who actually didn't know that her new hubby was married before.The cruelties inflicted on her are almost unwarranted.The husband deserved more punishment than she did.Then again having his wife's beauty destroyed ruins his life in a mad pursuit to restore her.

The dubbing isn't as inane as often happens in this film. The plot is good and the film moves along nicely with no tedious scenes.There also isn't any of the usual quick edits in the scenes that jar these films so often.

Studio Azteca is really not used to its full advantage as it has been in other films(The Vampire, The Brainiac etc).That's a minor quibble.Gets a big 9+.