If the current Mexican master of horror had to be named, one of the great candidates would be Isaac Ezban. The filmmaker from Mexico City made his debut on the big screen with The incident (2014) and the lookalikes (2015). In both films, she used science fiction and terrifying overtones to pose metaphors about the passage of time and the fear of losing one’s identity, respectively. Now, Ezban distances himself from science fiction, to conceive The evil eyehis first pure horror film.
The evil eye sneaks in as an interesting and valuable national horror production that will satisfy even the most skeptical of contemporary Mexican genre cinema. The film is not afraid to use the best-known topics of the genre and add Latin American folklore to execute a coming of age where the fantastic and the terrifying intertwine to wrap its protagonists in a supernatural story where family secrets, witchcraft and mythological creatures abound.
The film tells the story of Nala, a 13-year-old city girl, who must travel with her family to her maternal grandmother’s country house. All to try to find a cure for her little sister’s strange illness. There, Nala and her sister discover a sinister legend about witches. And the more Nala learns about these evil beings, the more she becomes convinced that her grandmother Josefa is not what she seems.
To tell the truth, the first minutes of The evil eye they could seem too unlikely and accompanied by an opening sequence very familiar to other films: long shots of wooded roads, while the camera follows the path of a vehicle in a zenithal shot. Not forgetting the scary and mysterious music in the background. Nothing spectacular.
However, something that has characterized Isaac Ezban is his careful creation of atmospheres. That has allowed him, throughout his filmography, to narrate dropper and keep the audience expectant to wrap it in stories whose climax points towards a great revelation (plot twist) and an accelerated assembly. Y The evil eye is no exception. An element that, without fear of being wrong, is reminiscent of the narrative style of Rod Serling in The unknown dimension. And that’s why it works.
The Mexican filmmaker also manages to build an attractive female universe submerged in darkness. On the one hand, we have the debutant actress Paola Miguel, who does a modest acting job. Through her we discover her family secrets that, little by little, drag her into an agony full of nightmares. Evils prosecuted by her grandmother Josefa de ella that put her on the edge of childhood and adulthood to lose her innocence in the most sinister way possible.
And it is the character of the grandmother (whose stereotype has always been sweet and benevolent) who looks like the high point of the film. The answer to such a positive statement is obvious: Ofelia Medina (The legend of the Nahuala). The veteran actress shines, whichever way you look at her, with her leading / antagonistic role. Every pore of her dramatic arc breathes evil. An evil that, in fact, will produce “ñañaras” among the public.
During a chat with Cinema PREMIERE, Isaac Ezban had revealed to us that his intention was to build one of the greatest antagonists in the history of cinema. Although at the moment, the filmmaker might sound too ambitious, perhaps the passage of time will give Ofelia Medina the title of one of the best villains of Mexican horror cinema. “Oh mommy.”
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And what would a horror movie be without the haunted house archetype? Although we already mentioned that The evil eye is governed mostly by atmospheres, the production design also works in its favor. Grandma Josefa’s house is added as a malevolent character where every corner gives off rottenness of evil. An abode where the feeling of security does not exist.
Makeup and special effects also place The evil eye in the realms of the fantastic and supernatural. Thanks to the work of Roberto Ortiz (Apocalypse; Rome; without origin; Karem, possession), the film opens the threshold of the imagination to stalk our eyes with diabolical Latin American witches and mythological creatures (Bacá) capable of bringing abundance and prosperity, but at a very high price.
Secondly, The evil eye it suffers from several flaws: uneven acting, plain dialogue, and heavy blue and yellow filter abuse. However, these setbacks do not diminish the experience of enjoying an authentic Mexican folk horror film.
The evil eye It is an example of the potential that horror movies can have in our country. And that could consolidate Isaac Ezban as a worthy exponent of the genre. Above all because, in addition to being a filmmaker, Ezban is a movie buff who has been inspired by other directors to create his own essence and style on screen.
For this reason and, perhaps, for the most inveterate spectators, they will find in The evil eye some referents of contemporary horror cinema such as The Pan’s Labyrinth Y The Devil’s backboneby Guillermo del Toro; hereditary by Ari Aster; witchby Robert Eggers; The othersby Alejandro Amenabar and sweet dreams mom.
Over there says Jim Jarmusch “Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent.” And that’s something with The evil eyeIsaac Ezban has managed to apply very well.
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Brenda Medell I love watching, talking, writing and dreaming about cinema. My favorite series is called ‘The Twilight Zone’. I am always singing. All day I think about food. And I don’t take off my sunglasses even to sleep.