The Book of Stone (1969) User Reviews (17)

This one´s real creepy

[pifas · 7/10 · 14 June 2002]

I swear this has to be the scariest movie I´ve ever seen in my entire life, and I´ve seen plenty, but the whole aura that is involved in the facts that surrounds the goth horror in El libro de piedra (The stone book), it´s real frightening. Maybe I should say that I watched the movie on TV when I was nine or ten, and of course left me full of chills the whole evening; and in days after. I couldn´t look at the curtains in my room at night, or to a rear view mirror. If you can see the movie sometime, you´ll understand what I'm talkin' about. The fact is that I catched again the film like four years ago; I haven't seen it in a long time, and it happened the same: I was so thrilled about the experience, that I got scared again like the very first time, and maybe even more because I was chillin' on anticipation for what I knew it was coming. And I was already on my late 20's.

Director´s Taboada, as far as I know, it´s better known outside México for some of his horror movies. Hasta el viento tiene miedo (Even the wind's scared 1968) and Más negro que la noche (Blacker than the night 75-76), are some of his finest efforts in the horror ground. And I´ve seen those two -on tv also-, but it's El libro... the greatest of them all. Of course there are some flaws in the screenplay, in the acting and in direction matters, but on the other hand, it has some of the very best tricks to create fear without the effects that has been used and abused nowadays. This movie has the magic of the psychological tease that has inspired some of Guillermo del Toro works -just see the liquid footprints on El espinazo del diablo- and all around the ghost seeking revenge theme.

Another high point of El libro... i'ts that the ending it's not your cliché finale. It's so powerful and unexpected, that instead of getting a feel of relief -you may know what I mean-, it leaves you more than shocked and horrified. Taboada was a master on this matters, and if you're ever able to check his other works, you may enjoy it as well. The first half of Hasta el viento tiene miedo it's brilliant too, and Más negro... it's good just as reference. But if you can, try another mexican horror movies like Ladrón de cadáveres (Thief of corpses), and El escapulario.

Compelling story about a troubled little girl and her 'friend'

[Milo-Jeeder · 8/10 · 17 May 2007]

Pursuing the massive success and of "Hasta el viento tiene miedo", horror director Carlos Enrique Taboada achieves an equally engaging horror story with 'El Libro de Piedra'. In this case, Taboada works with Marga Lopez and Norma Lazareno again, but playing completely different roles. Mrs. Lopez is not a strict school headmistress and she becomes a sweet and delicate governess. On the other hand, Norma Lazareno is not a naughty student anymore and she becomes a reluctant stepmother, who hopelessly tries to win her stepdaughter affection. Offering a sinister story that deals with a troubled little girl, this film contains a nice amount of beautiful shots and landscapes, that in some cases, surpases the dialogs and the characters.

In 'El Libro de Piedra', a sweet governess named Julia Septién, is hired by a wealthy man to take care of his young daughter, named Silvia. As soon as the governess arrives to the mansion, she finds out that Silvia is mentally troubled. However, Julia demonstrates her courage and willingness to help the child, and she decides to stay to take care of her. Mrs. Septién manages to win Silvia's affection and the bond between the two of them grows stronger each day. However, the relationship between Silvia and her stepmother, Mariana, becomes extremely hostile and Mrs. Septién, hopelessly tries to fix this. Silvia, on the other hand, finds her affection on a statue of a boy named 'Hugo', as she calls him. It first, Julia seems amused by the idea of the imaginary friend, but as the days go by, she realizes that there is nothing amusing whatsoever. Silvia's obsession with Hugo becomes disturbing to everyone and Julia starts to fear that the child might be involved in black magic and the hostility between her and her family, is not exactly a good sign.

Coping with a few unnoticeable editing mistakes, this Gothic horror masterpiece, manages to be entertaining the whole time. I like to think of it as a dark Gothic drama, with some mellow winks here and there and a final scene that erases all the mellowness with a sudden slap. Most Gothic lovers are going to appreciate "El libro de piedra" for the beauty and yet simplicity of the imagery and the situations. The interface between Mrs. Septién, the governess and little Silvia, is perhaps one of the most appealing characteristics of this film, in which a little girl is basically measured as a monster by everyone. A girl who is feared by everyone at a tender age and yet, there's someone who manages to reach her heart, creating a loving bond and realizing that little Silvia is a sweet girl deep down, no matter how hard it is to see that. "El libro de piedra" causes ambiguous reactions, because in the end, it is not very clear whether if Silvia is pure evil or if she is merely a saddened and helpless soul who ends up devoting herself to a dark supernatural strength in order to find some company

A profoundly eerie film

[gee-15 · 8/10 · 25 October 2009]

"The Book of Stone" opens with the introduction of a governess, Julia, who has been hired to care for a young girl, Sylvia, by the girl's rather distant father and comparatively young stepmother. The young girl has been isolated for some time, both physically and emotionally. In response, she has invented an imaginary playmate named Hugo based on the statue in the garden. The statue is of a young boy with a wide empty smile holding a large book. As the movie progresses and Julia becomes more familiar with Sylvia, how imaginary this playmate is comes into question.

I don't know that I would classify the film as "scary" but it is certainly unsettling. One particular scene occurs in broad daylight. The governess, attempting to get at Sylvia who has climbed to the top of an old church, does not see the shadow of a young boy who appears to be considering her as she struggles up on the roof. Later, she loses a valued necklace in the lake. Sylvia says that "Hugo" will get it. Late that night, her door opens and someone comes in. When she turns on the light, there is the necklace. Both scenes give you that little leap in the throat that we look for in such films.

The film isn't perfect though. Some of the acting is a bit wooden and the dialog is a bit clunky in places. What makes the film good is the plot which bit by bit heightens the menace surrounding Sylvia and the others in the house. And what made the film work for me is that all of the characters were very sympathetic. Sylvia is not an evil child and Julia, the governess, genuinely cares for her. Sylvia's father loves his daughter but also finds her irritating and baffling and treats her rather brusquely at times. The stepmother (who really gets the worst of things) does not dislike Sylvia but becomes angry with her when she believes that Sylvia is behind the events terrifying her. All the reactions are understandable though not justifiable.

Too many films make their characters (and victims) so unlikeable that you can't wait until they get offed. The Book of Stone wisely makes us like them and then when bad things happen to them, it makes the horror that much deeper. And as others have mentioned, the very end of the film packs a punch that lingers after the film has ended.

Atmospheric Horror that revolves around a Creepy statue,Great Film!

[rogelioduron · 29 January 2003]

After years of looking for this film that is recognized as a forgotten gem of mexican oldstyle horror cinema i found it in a place where i least expected it, now it´s part of my vast collection of hard to find horror and cult films.

This classic film tells the story about a little girl Silvya (Lucy Buj) that because of her behaviour is required to be nursed by a special teacher Julia (Marga López) at home,This teacher is experienced in the field and starts looking after the child´s behavior and her friendship with Hugo,a statue of a little boy with a book that dates 10,000 years old and supposedly talks to her and make her do things, Her wealthy father Eugenio Rubalcaba (Joaquin Cordero) is very disturbed about his daughters way´s and his new wife Mariana (Norma Lazareno) is trying to cope with her step daugters ideas but fears of the statue.

All this characters play their parts well and the atmosphere in this movie is so thick that you can cut it with a knife, locations are well used and the fright factor is there all the time, This is a timeless piece of art that should be taken seriously now a days for next wave horror movie creators. It´s a must see.

Creepy!

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 30 June 2020]

Known as The Book of Stone up here in the U.S., this film was directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada, who also wrote the Nostradamus movies and directed Blacker than the Night and Poison for the Fairies.

Julia (Marga Lopez, Even the Wind Is Afraid) has been hired to be the governess for Silvia, a rich young girl who cannot connect with her father (Joaquin Cordero, Dr. Satan), who only cares about his new wife (Norma Lazarenko, Survive!) Silvia claims that she has only one friend, Hugo, who everyone else sees as a stone statue in the middle of the courtyard. But when Hugo starts doing her bidding, she may be more correct than anyone could believe.

While a Mexican film, this feels like a Gothic along the lines of The Turn of the Screw or The Innocents. This film is considered one of the classics of Mexican horror cinema and for good reason. It has a thick atmosphere fraught with tension that it delivers on. It was also remade in 2009, in case you feel like hunting that down.

A very scary movie

[Miguel-12 · 9/10 · 27 February 2001]

I saw this movie when I was 9 years old. To this day I don't understand how they allowed children into the movie theatre in Mexico to watch this type of movie. I still remember bits and pieces of it and they all come together to recreate the nightmares I had after watching this movie. Without giving away the ending, the movie is about a rich man who moves into a huge old mansion in the middle of the country with his new young wife and the daughter he had with his first wife. Along with them comes a woman who plays the role of nanny and governess for the young girl. In the enormous backyard, which is mostly covered with weeds and bordered by the woods, the young girls discovers a grave guarded over by the statue of an angel that holds open a huge stone book in his arms. Sometime in the first part of the movie, the young girls confesses to her nanny that she has found a secret playmate, a young boy, but nobody pays attention to her until very mysterious things start to happen and tragedy strikes the new household. I only wish that someday the Mexican Institute of Film would help recover and releases to the general public this and other gems of the Mexican cinema.

Stone boys are a girl's best friend

[Coventry · 7/10 · 18 October 2022]

Can I make a bit of gratuitous and shameless promotion? "Evil Seeds", put together and edited by Vanessa Morgan, is a must-have book in case you are even slightly fascinated by horror movies featuring evil children! The obvious titles are included, (like "Children of the Corn"), the guilty pleasures ("The Children of Ravensbeck"), and the less-obvious foreign masterpieces ("Who Can Kill a Child?"). But the book also contains essays on several films that are completely obscure and unknown, but worth seeking out, like the Mexican sleeper gem "The Book of Stone".

Many reviewers around here state it's one of the scariest and most unsettling movies they've ever seen. I wouldn't go so far, but it's definitely a great example of a slow (better make that VERY slow-) brooding and 200% atmosphere-driven tale, with the emphasis on meticulous character development and plot accuracy, and not nearly on fake-scares, ghostly apparitions, or special effects. Writer/director Carlos Enrique Taboada found for sure inspiration in the legendary story of "The Tale of the Screw", and for the ambience he rivals Jack Clayton's "The Innocents" (also an adaptation of that same tale). The tale of a young child and her unusual friendship with a boy named Hugo, and her good-hearted governess attempting to get through to her is elegant and mature, but you must be in a certain mood/mindset to watch it. It's not exactly a very cheerful or relaxing thriller.

Hugo.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 10/10 · 15 December 2012]

Getting near the end of the IMDb Horror board's 2012 "Horror Challenge",I began to think about what films I would like to end the challenge on.Taking a look at some titles the a friend had kindly sent me,I was thrilled to discover,that I had been sent an uncut version of an exciting sounding Mexican Horror,that I had originally heard about in connection to a horribly cut "Elvira" DVD version of the film.Being thrilled about seeing the movie the way the it had originally intended to be seen,I decided that it was time to open the book of stone.

The plot:

Arriving to her employer's isolated,enclosed villa,Julia Septiem is greeted by her new boss Eugenio Ruvalcaba.Deciding to get any uncomfortable matters out of the way,Ruvalcaba decides to double check that Julia knows what her job could involve,due to Eugenio having recently decided not to send his daughter Silvia to school,thanks to her recently having shown some strange behaviour.

Catching him by surprise,Septiem tells Ruvalcaba that she is all set to handle any trouble that comes her way.

Looking around the villa's huge garden,Jullia quickly finds Silvia,who tells her that she is currently playing games with an imaginary friend called Hugo.Initially thinking that Silvia has created Hugo,due to her dad having recently got re- married to a woman called Marianna,Septiem quickly finds out that Silvia's "imaginary" friend Hugo,is not actually imaginary at all,but is in fact a statue,that has over looked the villa with a chilling smile for the last few hundred years.

View on the film

Confiding 90% of the film's running time to the closed in,isolated mansion,writer/director Carlos Enrique Taboada uses the fleeting moments that the movie gets away from its "restricted" zone,to brilliantly punish any of the character's who leave his haunting,Gothic villa behind,and attempt to enter the "modern world".

Keeping a divide between the Gothic and the "Modern" world,Taboada uses the character's attempts to break the villa's enclosed atmosphere,by pulling the Hugo statue out of their world,as a way to deliver a deliciously sharp,scorpion tail twist ending,that can proudly sit side by side with the best,most bleak twist endings of Rod Sterling's The Twilight Zone.

Smarting using Julia Septiem's (played by the wonderful Marga Lopez) arrival to Ruvalcaba (played by a stern Joaquin Cordero) and Marianna's (played by a gorgeous Norma Lazareno) villa as an intelligent way to display Julia's chilling discoveries around the villa to be from the same point of view as the audience.

Bravely staying away from taking the easy route out of making the film be a Haunted House movie,Taboada instead slowly builds up an unsettling,misty atmosphere to the film,with Catlos fantastic directing initially making Silvia's (perfectly played by Lucy Buj) friendship with "imaginearey friend" Hugo ,to be one on the outside view of Septiem and the audience , that originally looks like it is putting a smile on the lonely face of Silvia,but as Taboada delicately peels the shine off ,to revel the decayed root buried deep in the villa's foundation,that terrifyingly transform's Silvia's smile from one that's displays pure,Innocent joy,to be a smile that's cracking apart from the menacing smirk,hiding underneath.

Not as great as I expected.

[stavrostsirlis · 6/10 · 5 May 2010]

OK,I went in with high hopes for this one ans I was mildly disappointed with it. First,I have to say that I watched on VHS and the picture/sound were not that good;I don't know even if this film has ever made it to DVD. The story is your typical Gothic supernatural horror,but not as great and eerie as the one that it often gets compared to,which is the British 'The Innocents' from 1961. It involves a little girl which seems to be having a strange relationship with a stone statue situated in the vast garden of her rich parent's suburban house. You know the typical ghost story; is she possessed,is it all in her mind and the viewer's,does the statue really have a life of its own? A couple genuine moments,but nothing that I/you haven't seen hundreds of times before,if you're a big fan of the genre. If you are interested in the director,watch his better film 'Even the Wind Is Scared'. I give this one, a 6 out of 10.

Taboada at his best. Creepy and clever Horror movie.

[insomniac_rod · 10/10 · 16 July 2007]

Extremely creepy and unsettling movie that relies it's Horror on Psychological Thriller, explanations towards an ancient evil curse, black magic, and the supposed appearance of a ghost boy named Hugo.

This movie raises México's status on the genre and provides unforgettable scenes and dialogs that make the plot stronger on the scare factor.

"El Libro de Piedra" is a tale about a young girl named Silvia who has an obsession with a stone statue who she swears is alive and always comes to play with her, but at the same time teaches her black magic and more evil things.

Silvia isn't by any means a mentally illed girl, on the other hand, she's very smart but somehow evil.

The situation worries his father to the point that he hires a private teacher to take care of her education, moral behavior, and attitude. Soon after the new teacher arrives, strange things start to happen as Silvia's obsession with the statue grow to the point that mysterious deaths and situations related to black magic happen in her big impressive Gothic mansion.

The movie is filled with creepy images, a dark atmosphere, ghostly settings and scary images. The atmosphere is created with intrepid camera angles, fog, and an excellent soundtrack. The production values are top class and truly give the movie an unique look.

Carlos Enrique Taboada is a master of Horror and deserves more recognition. This is probably his most scary Horror movie.

The plot behind the Hugo statue is creepy enough and deals with an ancient Austrain city that disappeared after World War II when Germany destroyed it. Hugo, son of an ancient evil Magician is trapped inside the stone statue waiting for his father to re-incarnate. He's evil but he's also good on the level that he's only a boy. Could he be a ghost? Join Slvia in this fantastic tale of Terror and Fantasy that will send shivers up your funny bone. You will scream in Terror when Hugo makes his appearance.

Superb, solid, excellent performances by Marga López, Joaquin Cordero (always an excellent actor), Norma Lazareno (those breasts Mrs. Lazareno! my respects), Aldo Monti, and Lucy Buj as Silvia (a wicked performance).

Direction is simply superb. I can't think of any other movie that relies everything on the Psychological factor. Taboada once again demonstrates why he's the master of Mexican Horror.

Please get a copy of this movie, you won't regret.

Great PIX!!!

[robelor2 · 10/10 · 14 April 2006]

Growing up in Milwaukee in the early 80s meant one Spanish channels for my parents and every Friday night was our family night. Unlike your typical family night our idea of family night meant making popcorn and jumping into bed with mom to watch "Noche de pelicula". During Halloween they showed many scary movies and this one along with "Hasta el viento tiene miedo" are engraved in my mind like GEMS in a pile of dirt. This movie is a MUST SEE! I would put this and the before named movie up their with "The Exorcist" and "The Amityville Horror" just for its raw FEAR. Many new horror movies are based on visual effects to produce fear where these classics use plain atmosphere to create a natural fear.

The discreet terror or the bourgeoisie

[EdgarST · 3/10 · 21 August 2008]

From what I had read about "El libro de piedra", I thought it was a forgotten or neglected masterpiece, but I was very disappointed when the word "Fin" appeared (at last!) on the screen. Though not a long film it seemed an endless exercise on slow tempo, miscasting, and very silly dialogue, from a story that seems to take quite a lot from Jack Clayton's "The Innocents", from a Henry James story. Marga López plays the new governess of Silvia (Lucy Buj), a girl who is under the influence of the spirit of Hugo, an Austrian child, whose statue stands on a pedestal in the forest surrounding the villa of her widower father (Joaquín Cordero, stiffer than Hugo's statue). Silvia refers to Hugo as a secret friend, and her young stepmother (Norma Lazareno, sporting a different hair-do for every scene) is uncertain if the little girl has seen the boy, but everybody else looks the other way: her father believes Silvia is crazy, and the servants think she is evil. To tell the truth, there are few evidences that something wrong is going on (which means that there are almost no supernatural scenes). Then Silvia mentions the magic words "black magic", and actions to solve the mystery are taken by the governess and the girl's godfather (Aldo Monti, as an artist who seems out of a fashion show, and who wears white trousers while painting). During most of the film, López is the unifying element, and —although her acting style may be called "old school"— she plays a character one is willing to follow. In the second half, she receives good support from Monti, who also brings a much-needed sense of humor to the story, while it becomes unnerving to listen to Cordero's frequent and ignorant complaints about his daughter, or to watch Lazareno abusing the child. I am an admirer of Mexican horror films, but I prefer when the acting is over the top, the stories flirt with grand guignol, and the budgets are smaller. Give me "El vampiro", "El espejo de la bruja", or "Misterios de ultratumba", and I will be happier than with these stories of terrified petty bourgeois characters.

Superb horror film

[alfonsohinojosa · 19 April 2000]

This might be the best of the few Mexican horror films. The story revolves about a statue of a boy which is found in the forest near the main character´s house. Legend says that the statue is not really what it seems to be. As with most horror films prior to the 70,s, this movie lacks gore or flashy fx but compensates it with solid acting from most part of the cast and a very creepy and uneasy atmosphere that leaves you looking twice over your shoulder or looking more carefully at the shadows in the corners even after repeated viewings.

The Imaginary Friend

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 24 April 2023]

The governess Julia Septién (Marga López) arrives at the real estate of Eugenio Ruvalcaba (Joaquín Cordero) to work with his daughter Silvia (Lucy Buj), who had meningitis when she was very young, and is hired. Eugenio introduces his wife Mariana (Norma Lazareno) and then Julia befriends the girl, who was playing with her friend Hugo. Then she learns from Eugenio and Mariana that Hugo is an imaginary friend. Julia questions Silvia about Hugo, and she learns that the boy is from Eastern Europe that is waiting for his father, a powerful wizard from the Eighteenth Century that will bring him back to life. Soon Silvia's godfather Carlos (Aldo Monti) arrives at home with his dog, but Silvia did not like the dog. Julia finds that Hugo is connected to a creepy statue from Europe in the garden of a boy with a book of stone that was in the real estate when Eugenio bought the property. When weird and macabre things happen in the place, Julia questions whether Hugo is really an imaginary friend or being from the beyond.

"El libro de Piedra", a.k.a "The Book of Stone", is a creepy 1969 Mexican horror movie by the master of horror Carlos Enrique Taboada. The plot is scary and supported by a wonderful black-and-white cinematography. The screenplay is well-written, with explanation for the events, but the conclusion is unexpected and surprising. Looking forward to see other films by Carlos Enrique Taboada. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Livro de Pedra" ("The Book of Stone")

horror movie about a child being led astray

[myriamlenys · 8/10 · 15 October 2019]

A kindly lady is hired as a governess / teacher for a rich and lonely child. The governess soon learns that the girl can hardly pronounce three sentences without going on about her good friend Hugo. However, "Hugo" is but a stone statue situated near a picturesque area within the opulent garden. Does the poor child suffer from mental problems, or is there something else going on ?

A well-made, pleasantly traditional horror movie which achieves an oppressive creepiness without needing a lake of blood. The movie also does very well without expensive effects, let alone effects of the computer-generated variety. The ending both saddens and scares.

I'm sorry to say that I know very little about Mexican (horror) cinema, but this little treat felt decidedly more-ish.

The image quality of the copy I saw was poor ; at times it felt as though I was watching the movie through a very fine kerchief. Do try to find a better version - if such a version still exists...

splendid Gothic horror

[christopher-underwood · 8/10 · 13 April 2023]

A rather splendid Gothic horror that is not particularly scary but there are some really good moments and I loved it. It was especially an unusual film with the statue and the young girl. Lucy Buj the youngster is really good and unfortunately she only made half a dozen films. The director, Carlos Enrique Taboada is liked and I had seen Dark Than Night (1975) and Even the Wind is Afraid (1968) that were both rather creepy. Joaquin Cordero one of the most popular actors of Mexican cinema and made some 200 films of different genre, in this one he is probably not the most liked one of this one and seems that he understands nothing of what is going on. It is his wife, the governess and the young girl that really seem to know what is happening but never at the same time. The governess, as Marga Lopez is rather lovely and I also saw her in Even the Wind.

Okay Spanish gothic

[Red-Barracuda · 5/10 · 15 November 2021]

This late 60's Spanish gothic tale is about a little girl whose friend is a statue in the woods. Needless to say, statue-based horror ensues and events increasingly turn to the pear-shaped variety.