THE BLACK PIT OF DR. M (1959)
aka Misterios de ultratumba
Article 2553 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-1-2008
Posting Date: 8-8-2008
Directed by Fernando Mendez
Featuring Gaston Santos, Rafael Bertrand, Mapita Cortes
Country: Mexico

Two doctors make a pact that whomever dies first will return from the grave and give the other doctor the information on how to overcome death. However, the death of the first doctor brings about a series of events that will doom the other doctor.

I’m so used to having seen Mexican movies without dubbing or subtitles that I neglected to check for subtitling when I first watched this one, and I was rather confused by the story. However, I discovered afterwards that the movie had subtitles, but not wanting to sit through the whole thing again, I caught bits and pieces of it that helped to me to figure out the basic storyline. Whatever you can say about these Mexican horror movies, there’s no doubt that they’re brimming with horror atmosphere, and this one pulls out all the stops, with a ghostly presence inexorably guiding characters to their fates, a lunatic asylum, and a vengeance-driven acid-scarred man added to the mix. This is definitely one I’m going to watch again, and when I do, you can bet I’m going to make sure the subtitles are on for the whole thing.