A night in the country for three women — and one man — from wildly different social spheres and levels of monetary respect turns dark and deadly in this 1968 film from Carlos Enrique Taboada, who wrote and directed so many of the greatest classics in Mexican horror. I’ll give you Poison for the Fairies, Even the Wind Is Afraid and Darker Than Night as examples.
Angela (Christa Linder, Night of 1000 Cats) is young, gorgeous, rich and happily married. As she speeds toward her opulent home, she doesn’t realize that Monica (Ana Luise Peluffo, Intrepidos Punks) is drunkenly passed out in the back seat. She’s well-off as well, but bitter and hurt by life. Then there’s the young girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Raquel (Norma Lazareno, Even the Wind Is Afraid, The Book of Stone).
This evening would be tense between these women if it wasn’t for another wrinkle: a homeless man (Rodolfo de Anda, who directed El Macho Bionico) who is ready to rail against humanity in the form of these three different women, as he is trapped outside as a very real storm begins to rage.
This is a movie unafraid to tick off the boxes of exploitation, starting with two partygoers who arrive in full Nazi regalia and including Peluffo getting nude, as she was one of the first Mexican actresses to do so in mainstream films.
I’d compare this film to the Umberto Lenzi-directed Carroll Baker films. It has that same slow burn that I love so much and the end of this movie feels like the end of the world — as the rest of the world moves on — for those who survive.
You can watch this on YouTube.