Satanic Hispanics is a horror anthology film directed by Mike Mendez (“Traveler”), Demian Rugna (“Tambien Lo Vi”), Ed Sanchez (“El Vampiro”), Gigi Saul Guerrero (“Nahuales”), and Alejandro Brugués (“Hammer of Zanzibar”).
Story
The films centers on a character named “The Traveler” who is taken into custody by police. The Traveler leads us through four different stories involving the occult in the following order: “Tambien Lo Vi”, “El Vampiro”, “Nahuales”, and “Hammer of Zanzibar”. “Tambien Lo Vi” centers on a man who sees something strange in his house; this was my favorite story in the film, and I thought it was really creepy. “El Vampiro” is a comedic take on the myth of the vampire. “Nahuales” focuses on the Nahual culture and a creepy witch. Lastly, “Hammer of Zanzibar” is a comedic demon-fighting story.
Visuals
The film had a lot of iconic and creepy elements. The standout shorts for me, based on visuals alone, would have to be Rugna’s and Guerrero’s. Rugna’s has a scene that immediately took me by surprise and stuck with me. I also really loved the ending of “Traveler”, which included a really awesome shooting sequence with the introduction of an iconic-looking Saint of Death (Santa Muerte).
Acting
I think every actor in the film did a great job. In particular, the witch in “Nahuales” definitely brought a lot of fear and strength to their role. In the overarching “Traveler” story, I thought that the two detectives were really funny, and I loved their interactions with The Traveler.
Overall
Satanic Hispanics is a must-watch for the Halloween season. Although, I definitely enjoyed the creepier shorts over the comedic ones, I think they were all great. Also, some of the stories were a little hard to follow and suffered from some pacing issues. There is bound to be something that everyone can enjoy from this film.
