El hombre y el monstruo

A friend of mine found this DVD at a flea market, and thought the cover looked pretty cool. He popped it in while I was there, and we prepared for a gorefest. What we didn't prepare for was a 50's mexican horror about someone selling their soul. Not bad, actually, except the dubbing sounds silly sometimes, and the monster is more laughable than frightening.

However, this film gets props as having the funniest methods of having a cat jump out of a womens arms. Three times throughout the movie, a woman is holding a cat, and instead of just letting it down, the filmmakers decided to tie some fishing line to the thing, and yank it out of her arms. The funniest thing had to be the noises that came from the cat. That alone made this movie more than worth it. If you can ever find it cheap, it's worth a good laugh.

Man and the Monster, The (1958)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mexican film about a concert pianist who sells his soul to Satan in exchange for him to become a great musician. The only downside is that he also turns into a hairy, murderous monster. I was somewhat letdown by this film but overall it was a pretty good movie but it takes way too long for the story to get started and the monster isn't used nearly enough. The screenplay does allow time for the relationship between the man and his mother to grow and this here is actually the best thing about the movie. I'm not sure if this film was meant to be a version of Jekyll and Hyde because it does share some of the same ideas even though the monster appears to be more of a werewolf with a rat's face. The monster make up is cheap but effective. Original title: Hombre y el monstruo, El.

El Hombre y el Monstruo, known to English audiences as The Man and the Monster is a great little horror flick. Raphael Baledon was responsible for a few great horror films during this period and this is one of them although the makeup used on the monster is often criticized because of a lack luster job they did on it. All I can say is, if you can get passed the corny mask it's a very well made horror movie. See the monster for what he is and get into the whole faustian story of the film. I think it's very well directed, edited and photographed. THe Man and the Monster is very brooding, serious and morbid and contains all the great elements that Mexi-horror had to offer at this period. Enrique Rambal is a joy and gives a fantastic performance as the isolated, desperate and jaded man willing to sell his soul to the devil for a shot at greatness. If you like classic horror then El Hombre y el Monstruo is a perfect film for one of those evenings when your in the mood for something different.

"The Man and the Monster" (El Hombre y el Monstruo) was an Abel Salazar production from the prolific pen of his younger brother Alfredo, an ambitious exercise in musical proficiency that began shooting for director Rafael Baledon on June 23, 1958 (not released in Mexico for over a year). The producer once again takes the heroic lead role, his Dick Sandro coming upon the corpse of a female motorist who made the fatal mistake of crashing in front of 'Enchanted Ranch,' the home of Maestro Samuel Manning (Enrique Rambal) during a ritualistic nighttime recital watched over by his mother Cornelia (Ofelia Guilmain). The police blow off any suggestion of foul play, Manning carefully grooming young Laura (Martha Roth) as his new protégé, claiming to be unable to play piano anymore despite her assurances that his talent remains intact. The reason for his understandable reluctance is explained by the halfway point: watching his rival Alexandra (also played by Roth) earning accolades for her performance of an unpublished concerto, the envious Manning rashly calls upon Lucifer himself to make a Faustian deal in exchange for his soul, becoming the world's most accomplished pianist at the cost of his humanity, for every time he tinkles the ivories he transforms into a Mr. Hyde-like werewolf with bushy eyebrows and prominent proboscis (makeup by Armando Meyer). Once Dick discovers Alexandra's long missing corpse in a locked closet by the Maestro's piano, he starts to piece the mystery together but must rely on a brave Laura to unmask the monster that her benefactor has become during the climactic concerto. The most unbelievable aspect of the story is Laura's willingness to go on after being attacked multiple times by the Maestro/Monster, unaware that the devil made him do it! Gustavo Cesar Carrion deserves much of the film's success for his excellent musical score, several pieces of Tchaikovsky most familiar to anyone who has seen Edgar G. Ulmer's "The Black Cat." Perhaps the most heinous crime committed is the temptation to play for an aspiring child prodigy (Ana Laura Baledon), whose murder fortunately takes place off screen, lap dissolves similar to Universal's Wolf Man to effect each transformation from various difficult angles. Enrique Rambal's Maestro is no match for Lon Chaney's Larry Talbot, (both have no knowledge of what their bestial selves were up to during the night), though it appears that the powers of darkness set up Manning at poor Alexandra's expense (more deserving of audience empathy is his long suffering mother, initially cold and imperious). This was a rare horror title for lovely Martha Roth, who had previously worked opposite Chaney himself in 1954's "The Black Pirates," shot on location in El Salvador, where he was cast against type as a sympathetic priest.

"The Man and the Monster" is another supreme Mexican horror accomplishment from the vintage late 50's/early 60's era. It's not as brilliant as "The Black Pit of Dr. M" or as petrifying as "The Curse of the Crying Woman", but nonetheless this movie benefices from a compelling storyline as well as from terrific scenery and devoted acting performances. Reminiscent of the legendary "Faust" as well as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" tales, the script revolves on a middle-aged pianist who sold his soul to the devil (extendedly explained during a fabulously macabre flashback) in order to become the greatest musician in the world. Of course, since all deals with Lucifer soon turn out to be fishy, Samuel quickly discovers his success comes at a high price. Whenever his finest composition of music is played, Samuel transforms into an aggressive werewolf-like monster that can only be tamed by his domineering mother. They conceal corpses in their house and attempt to break the curse by training a gifted female acolyte on the piano, but journalist Ricardo Souto comes close to uncovering the horrific secrets. The continuously uncanny atmosphere of "The Man and the Monster" is simply irresistible to avid fans of Gothic horror cinema and, even though many people criticize the make-up effects, I personally thought the monstrous effects were rather acceptable, especially considering the film's year of release. Several sequences are beautifully choreographed and almost artsy, like for example when Samuel literally begs his mother to play the piano and she eventually silently consents by handing him the key to the front door. "The Man and the Monster" is a beautiful, enchanting and immensely atmospheric period piece. Perhaps not intended for the nowadays horror-audiences, but undeniably a masterful film.