México Bárbaro (a.k.a. Barbarous Mexico) is a 2014 Mexican

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

composed of eight shorts, each by a different Mexican horror film director. It premiered at the

Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

on October 8, 2014. In 2015, it was released on DVD and VOD in the U.S. and in 2016 on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

around the world. The film was sold to six countries during the Le Marché du Film at

Festival de Cannes The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

2015, including MPI/Dark Sky Films. The film is part of the new Cine de Terror Mexicano movement.

Plot

The film is divided into eight chapters by eight different directors, each relating to a different Mexican

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

. The directors were then given free rein in choosing a subgenre to create a story involving the legend. The varieties of the myths and legends range from real "

nota roja ''Nota roja'' (lit. “red note” or “red news”) is a journalism genre popular in Mexico. While similar to more general sensationalist or yellow journalism, the ''nota roja'' focuses almost exclusively on stories related to physical violence r ...

" ("red note" news genre) to fantasy folk tales. Five of the directors - Lex Ortega,

Isaac Ezban Isaac Ezban (born 15 April 1986) is a Mexican people, Mexican film director, writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the films ''The Incident (2014 film), The Incident'', ''The Similars'', and ''Parallel''. Life and career Isaac wa ...

, Aaron Soto, Ulisses Guzman and Jorge Michel Grau - were established members of the Mexican film industry, while the other three - Laurette Flores, Edgar Nito and

Gigi Saul Guerrero Gigi Saul Guerrero (born February 27, 1990) is a Mexican-Canadian filmmaker and actress. She gained recognition for creating and directing the 2017 horror web series, ''La Quinceañera''. In 2019, she directed episodes of ''The Purge'' and the a ...

- were relative newcomers.

Chapters

# Tzompantli by Laurette Flores - Story about the rituals of drug dealers that mirrors practices originated with the Aztecs. # Jaral de Berrios by Edgar Nito - Two criminals take refuge in the ruins of Hacienda del Jaral de Berrios in San Felipe. The legends of its curse come true. # Drena ("Drain") by Aaron Soto - A young teenage girl smokes a spliff found on a dead body and has a vision she must drain blood from her sister's vagina. # La cosa más preciada ("That Precious Thing") by

- A young couple plans a romantic night in the woods only to be interrupted by the local trolls. # Lo que importa es lo de adentro ("What's Important is Inside") by Lex Ortega. - Laura, a girl with special needs is terrified by her apartment building's custodian. She calls him the

boogeyman The Bogeyman (; also spelled boogeyman, bogyman, bogieman, boogie monster, boogieman, or boogie woogie) is a type of mythic creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions var ...

, one of the few words she can articulate. Her family ignores her distress even when the boogeyman hits close to home. # Muñecas ("Dolls") by Jorge Michel Grau - A woman escapes her butcher captor, only to be recaptured in the most unlikely of places. # Siete veces siete ("Seven times Seven") by Ulises Gùzman - A man appears to be trying to dispose of a body but then performs a ritual to bring him back to life first, so the deceased can atone. # Día de los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") by

GiGi Saul Guerrero Gigi Saul Guerrero (born February 27, 1990) is a Mexican-Canadian filmmaker and actress. She gained recognition for creating and directing the 2017 horror web series, ''La Quinceañera''. In 2019, she directed episodes of ''The Purge'' and the a ...

- Strippers take revenge on the most aptly named Mexican holiday.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 60% of critics gave the film a positive review.

References

External links

* * Horror films from Mexico on Wikipedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:México Bárbaro 2014 horror films 2014 films Horror anthology films Mexican horror films Films about Mexican drug cartels 2010s Mexican films Films about Bogeymen