Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: South America!

Historia de lo Oculto is the first movie by director and writer Cristian Ponce. It is supposed to be the final episode of the 1980s Argentine television news program 60 Minutos Antes de la Medianoche (60 Minutes Before Midnight) and the story of how a conspiracy connects the government to a mysterious corporation that practices black magic.

In fact, the show has already been canceled after trying to expose President Belasco’s economic policies, corruption and ties to the occult. For the last time, host Alfredo (Germán Baudino) brings together Senator Matías Linares (Hernán Altamirano). Sociologist Daniel Aguilar (Luciano Guglielmino) and Adrián Marcato (Germán Baudino), the vice president and co-founder of Kingdom Corporate, Argentina’s largest corporation. Oh yeah — he’s also a warlock. Two of the three have had their names appear in a notebook found at a ritual murder. The rest of the show’s journalists — Lucio (Iván Ezquerré). Maria (Nadia Lozano), Jorge (Agustín Recondo), and Abel (Casper Uncal) are hiding, waiting for word from Natalia (Lucia Arreche) on when it will be safe to leave and when the rally against Belasco will begin.

But while they wait, they have been sent four doses of hallucinogenic tannis root by Von Merkens labs, Belasco’s competition and the only company that would sponsor the show. Do I need to remind you to never take tannis root? Or be part of a ritual that will expose conspiracies?

The truth? Marcato was cast out of his coven and made a deal with the journalists to expose Belasco in return for an artifact he needs. But when everyone wakes up from a ritual that has them see demonic creatures, Lucio’s missing, Abel’s dead and a crazed Maria claims that he was a warlock who was trying to kill them. And for some reason, when people ask how many children others have, answers don’t match up due to alternate realities. And oh yeah, Kingdom Corporate is a coven of warlocks who made a deal with beings from another world and used that power to take over Argentina.

Obviously, Marcato and tannis root comes from Rosemary’s Baby, while this film also has a modern cell phone as an occult icon and 1987 Argentine politics being explored. It’s really dense, and I say that in a significant way. Nothing ever truly happens, despite setting it up, but it works hard to get there.

You can watch this on Tubi.