EL BESO DE ULTRATUMBA (1963)
aka THE KISS FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE
Article 2006 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-11-2006
Posting Date: 2-8-2007
Directed by Carlos Toussaint
Featuring Armando Acosta, Buillermo Alvarez Bianchi, Antonio Bravo

A newly married couple discover that they are broke when the bride’s father dies in debt. They are forced to sell their belongings and move into a creepy, dilapidated house. Strange people start showing up…

I don’t know if this Mexican horror movie ever made it to the States; I know the only copy I was able to find is in unsubtitled Spanish. I suspect fans of Mexican horror might be a little disappointed by this one; quite frankly, it takes a while before the plot gets going, and most of the early scenes involve long conversations between characters. It does appear to be well-acted, though, and as the movie progresses, I began to recognize it for what it was – another variant on the “Gaslight” scenario. I may not be quite right on this; I’m never really sure whether the reason the husband acts the way he does is due to bad intentions or just lazy neglect. Nevertheless, it does appear to fit the template, and it seems to be a pretty good take on the plot as well. The patient viewer will be rewarded with the last fifteen minutes of the movie, when the tables turn in a major way, and the last scene is a real knockout. Despite the slow beginning and the language barrier, I found this to be a truly satisfying Mexican horror thriller.