HORROR SHORT FILMS PRESENTED AT THE LATINO FILM FESTIVAL

View video of producers/directors discussing their horror films at the Latino Film Festival:  https://youtu.be/R-yPZqsWsTM

By Matthew Manosh

Photo:  right to left: Blake Vaz, John Estrada, Enrique A. Mendoza, Camilla Demichelis Richard

March 22, 2022 (San Diego) - The Latino Film Festival showcased Un Mundo Extrano - Folk Tales and Speculations on March 20^th, the festival’s closing day.  This showcase was curated by Miguel Rodriguez, the founder and executive producer of Horrible Imaginings, a 13-year-old horror-based festival slated for September 1-4 in Santa Ana, according to Filmfreeway.

Hunger, by director Carlos Melendez, is a film about a well with an insatiable hunger as a  young boy tries to feed it, eventually taking extreme measures. The well can be seen as the boy's own hunger as he is at odds with a chubby kid who eats and eats, while the main protagonist is not seen eating anything until the chubby kid is dragged into the well. Putting one word to this film, it would be survival. When the chubby kid takes all the food from home, the other child goes out and learns how to gather food from a nearby chicken farm, going out of his way to trick the guard dog and eventually killing a chicken in order to fool the chubby kid out to the well.

Photo, right:  Blake Vaz

Wereback, by the Estrada Brothers, is a film following immigrants in a van as they travel to the U.S Mexican border, but one of the immigrants hides a secret. This is a classic werewolf story with a new twist to it. The wereback as described by Jon Estrada is a creature that is half werewolf, half Mexican. The main event for this film is the transformation scene and the slaughter of the other immigrants, which was done with practical effects and clever editing techniques. The film ends with the wereback in human form being shot and killed by a character referred to as MAGA man putting a seeming end to the wereback. With this film, you can tell that the Estrada Brothers took an interest in creating a classic monster for the modern era.

An interesting note about these first two films is that they both include no dialogue, instead using the visuals, sound effects and music score to tell each of their stories.

L.U.N.A. from director Blake Vaz was one of the big independent films coming from the Un Mundo Extrano showcase. The film is inspired by Italian horror films and Giallo films. This influence is felt from the start of the film. It combines technology and the supernatural, taking old horror movie tropes and doing something new with them. The story is about a technician who is sent to help a lesbian couple with a device name L.U.N.A   She gets more then she bargains for when a supernatural force draws them into the basement. The style of the film is what makes it a standout, with the beautiful cinematography and the jump scare of the monster lurking in the basement.

Photo, left:  Enrique A. Mendoza

The Legend of Sombreron from director Enrique A. Mendoza was an interesting horror film following a young girl as she is chased down by Sombreron, a sinister version of death, that plays a cat and mouse game with his victims before they inevitably fall into his clutches. In her run from Sombreron, the girl Susana finds herself meeting people from her life who have already been taken by death. The film keeps you in the viewpoint of the girl, raising the question of  whether this is reality, a dream or something else entirely. The film bookends itself with the tale of Sombreron as told by him. 

The Legend of Sombreron will also be shown at the upcoming Borrego Springs Film Festival this Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Muse, by director Camilla Demichelis Richaud, follows an artist as he completes a masterpiece in an unusual way. This film connects with the feelings of an artist struggling to create art. Eventually he decides to paint his muse, but as he does his muse physically starts to chip away eventually leaving just blocks where she once was. It shows how far this artist would go for his work and puts us in his mind while he paints.

Photo, right:  John Estrada

Strong, from director Jean Lee, is a sci-fi political drama. It follows a young woman as she scavenges for parts to make it to a wormhole and travel to a new planet for a better life. It is a film very much based on the border issues that we currently deal with. During the course of the film, the new planet decides to close the wormhole connecting the two planets in order to keep people out. This causes many to try to illegally make it to the wormhole, which is shown by the young woman and the mother as their ship almost fails to make it. It takes the border issues and puts them on a much grander scale.

Suncatcher, by director Kim Torres, is a new mix of sci-fi, dreams and stories. It follows a young, socially awkward girl as she is contacted by a future cyborg able to show her a past life. The film is very artistically done. It has a modern grunge influence to it, with a little bit of cyberpunk mixed in. When the characters are texting, the texts fill up the screen, taking some influence of how these types of messages are done in video games. It creates a very modern feeling to this story.

Photo, left:  actress:  Sandra from Wereback

Una Vez En Xjan Xwan, by director Alexander Feliciano Mejia, is another film exploring a mysterious supernatural being wearing a sombrero. In this film, our mysterious figure stalks a man as he prepares for a journey to the United States. The figure shows up as a bad omen for the man as he prays, performs rituals and says his goodbyes.