21st Century Horror: Central & South America (tapekebab's Top 10)
Disclaimer: This is just my personal Top 10, not necessarily the best films from this region. I also include horror and horror-related titles, so if you see any movies on the list that you don’t think are technically horror movies, let’s not argue about it.
If you have any recommendations for movies from this region, please let me know in the comments!
For this list, I considered films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.
I also wanna check out films from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Uruguay if I can track them down.
Mexico has its own category; check out my other lists.
Honorable mention: Ciro Guerra’s film “Embrace of the Serpent” (Colombia, 2015) is an excellently introspective Amazon odyssey that’s not horror per se, but there’s a sense of pervasive eeriness that infests it, and the middle third of the movie could stand on its own as a weird, dark folk horror short film.
If you have any recommendations for movies from this region, please let me know in the comments!
For this list, I considered films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.
I also wanna check out films from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Uruguay if I can track them down.
Mexico has its own category; check out my other lists.
Honorable mention: Ciro Guerra’s film “Embrace of the Serpent” (Colombia, 2015) is an excellently introspective Amazon odyssey that’s not horror per se, but there’s a sense of pervasive eeriness that infests it, and the middle third of the movie could stand on its own as a weird, dark folk horror short film.
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- DirectorsMarco DutraJuliana RojasStarsIsabél ZuaaMarjorie EstianoMiguel LoboClara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of São Paulo, is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana as the nanny for her unborn child. The two women develop a strong bond, but a fateful night changes their plans.(Marco Dutra & Juliana Rojas, 2017, Brazil) - 9/10
Many werewolf movies are kinda the same, but I can't say that about this Brazilian lesbian werewolf horror-musical. What "Let the Right One In" did for vampires, this does for werewolves: it takes a standard horror theme and makes it beautiful and moving. - DirectorMarco DutraStarsLeonardo SbaragliaCarolina DieckmannChino DarínShattered after the brutal assault by two rapists in her house, a young mother of two decides to keep her ordeal secret from her unsuspecting husband.(Marco Dutra, 2016, Brazil) - 7/10
If 2017's "Good Manners" was Marco Dutra's brilliant exercise in magical realism, then this is a spin on the classic Brazilian novel "Dom Casmurro," in which jealousy and paranoia lead to ruin. No fun to be had here - just a solemn and excellent psychological thriller. - DirectorAaron BurnsStarsDaniela RamírezCristo MonttAida JabolinDiana hires Luz to take care of her autistic son but soon suspects the nanny has sinister intentions.(Aaron Burns, 2016, Chile) - 7/10
A couple plot points don't entirely make sense, and the husband is such a dickhead caricature that it's a bit unbelievable, but I found this incredibly tense, and it kept me guessing all along. Don't watch this if you're thinking about starting a family anytime soon. - DirectorsRodrigo GaspariniDante VescioStarsPedro CaetanoMariana CortinesDrop DashiThree teenagers go visit a friend at his old farmhouse for the weekend. What they didn't expect was to be stuck in the middle of a centenary war between good and evil.(Rodrigo Gasparini & Dante Vescio, 2015, Brazil) - 7/10
A unique lil folk horror excursion from Brazil that uses the melding of European Christian traditions with more arcane Afro-Brazilian lore as both horror material and racial commentary without being too heavy-handed. It's not perfect, but it's something different. - DirectorDaniel de la VegaStarsJulieta CardinaliEleonora WexlerRafael FerroVirginia will do the impossible in order to rescue her daughter, who has been abducted. After a lethal accident, she is given the the chance to live one day more. On her path, she will find out that there are worse fates than death.(Daniel de la Vega, 2016, Argentina) - 7/10
If you need your horror movies to make some kind of logical sense, this probably ain't your movie. If you just wanna see some blood 'n' guts-covered grindhouse mayhem, you gotta check this shit out. Another wild ride from the minds of the Bogliano bros. - DirectorDemián RugnaStarsMaximiliano GhioneNorberto GonzaloElvira OnettoWhen strange events occur in a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, a doctor specializing in the paranormal, her colleague, and an ex police officer decide to investigate further.(Demián Rugna, 2017, Argentina) - 6/10
I see your haunted house movie and raise you… a haunted neighborhood movie! For real though, even if it's not the most original haunting movie, this Argentinian frightfest is darn good 'n' scary - good luck getting the dead kid at the dinner table out of your head. - DirectorAlejandro HidalgoStarsRuddy RodríguezGuillermo GarciaRosmel BustamanteAfter being wrongly imprisoned for the mysterious, supernatural death of her husband and son, Dulce returns back to her old home to unravel the mystery that has haunted her for so long.(Alejandro Hidalgo, 2013, Venezuela) - 6/10
Not so much scary as fuckin' depressing, but this sleeper hit from Venezuela is a fresh entry in the overcrowded haunted house subgenre (the house itself is darn cool too), with a handful of twists that are just clever enough to be surprising but not too far-fetched. - DirectorRicardo VelardeStarsRamón GarcíaManuel GoldStephanie OrúeThe mysterious death of a mountain shepherd awakens greed and superstition in a remote Peruvian village.(Ricardo Velarde, 2016, Peru) - 6/10
A clever and dark parable set in a remote Andean village in Peru that plays with conflicts between the modern and the traditional, the urban and the rural, the mestizos and the Quechuas, and the laws of man and the laws of fate. A fine debut for Ricardo Velarde. - DirectorAdrian Garcia BoglianoStarsPancho MochiVictoria WitemburgNicolás MarottaA young man in search of his missing ex-girlfriend. An unconditional friend willing to do anything to discover the truth. An investigation culminating in an old house. Inside, two brutal killers await them.(Adrian Garcia Bogliano, 2010, Argentina) - 6/10
Eccentric lil Argentine b-movie from Spain's current grindhouse cinema king Adrián García Bogliano. This flick imparts two important lessons: never trust a linguistic prescriptivist, and you never know when being able to read l33tspeak will save your life. - DirectorJorge AlgoraStarsMaribel VerdúDaniel FreireCésar BordónPolice try to hunt down a serial killer in 1912 Buenos Aires.(Jorge Algora, 2007, Argentina) - 6/10
As a serial killer thriller, this is solid, but I've got one quibble: it's based on the true story of "el Petiso Orejudo" (translated in the film as "Little Big Ears"), who terrorized Buenos Aires in the 1910's, but there's a supernatural angle that's barely explained.
