Vacaciones de terror (1989)

Director:

René Cardona III

Writers:

René Cardona III (story)
Santiago Galindo (story)

Release Date:

11 May 1989 (Mexico)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An evil witch gets burned at the stake, but not before vowing to return and get her revenge. A hundred...

Plot Keywords:

Evil Witch | Demonic Possession | Haunted House | Country Home | Family Vacation

Cast

Pedro Fernández	...	Julio
Julio Alemán	...	Fernando
Gabriela Hassel	...	Paulina
Nuria Bages	...	Lorena
Carlos East
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
René Cardona III		(as Al Coster)
Julima Cardona
Ernesto Casillas
Regina De Seeman
Ernesto East	...	Pedrito
Carlos East Jr.	...	Jaimito
José Manuel Fregoso		(as Manuel Fregoso)
Gianella Hassel Kus	...	Gaby
Andaluz Russell
Roberto Schlosser

Also Known As:

Vacations of Terror (International: English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company:

Casablanca Producciones S.A.

Cheesy and tame but fun Mexican horror flick

Having spent the past two years in Mexico I saw a lot of films like this on TV, and it's nice to see some of them released in America on DVD and with English subtitles (since my Spanish leaves a lot to be desired). Although these movies were mostly made in the 80's and (presumably) released theatrically, they are very low-budget and somewhat tame, and kind of have the feeling of 1970's made-for-TV American horror movies (albeit in Spanish). The name of the director of this one, Rene Cardona III, may sound familiar. That's because he is third-generation Mexican director, the grandson of Rene Cardona, who directed some of the more famous "lucha libre"/ monster movies of the 1960's like "Doctor of Doom" and "Night of the Bloody Apes", and the son of Rene Cardona Jr., who was not the best but was probably the most internationally successful Mexican horror/exploitation director of the 1970's and early 1980's with films like "Alive" and "The Bermuda Triangle" to his credit. Cardona III is not quite such a seething cauldron of talent--he is best known for his endless series of "Risa de Vacaciones" ("Funny Vacations") movies, idiotic sex comedies with precious little sex aside from a lot of overweight Mexican woman in bikinis.

This movie starts out with a witch being burned at the stake (yes, twenty five years later they were still ripping off Mario Bava's "Black Sunday"). Then it cuts to a typical middle-class Mexican family going to the new "casa de campo" (vacation home) that the father has just bought, much to the wife's consternation. And once you see it, you'll probably sympathize with her since it's the rundown ruins of the witch's lair. The family has twin boys and little girl and they also bring along their teenage babysitting niece (who the father seems to have a little thing for), and her goofy boyfriend tags along as well. The trouble begins when the little girl finds a doll of the witch and is possessed by it, and said doll starts telekinetically making short work of the family. (It may seem that Cardona III borrowed the evil doll plot from his own father's "The Bermuda Triangle", but the "muneca maldita" is actually an old Mexican horror standby going all the way back to the creepy classic "Curse of the Doll People") Fortunately for all involved, however, the boyfriend has traded an Indian witch-doctor his Walkman for a protective amulet. This movie is actually REALLY tame--there is little or no violent death, and the teen-babe niece has her clothing telekinetically torn at one point, but (regettably) not stripped off.

Still I kind of enjoyed this. This kind of PG horror is a nice respite from the horror/exploitation depravity I usually indulge in. And if you know enough about Mexican horror movies to have found your way to this site, I imagine you'll probably enjoy it somewhat too.