Reviews: Barbarous Mexico (2014) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Anthology
Subgenres: Mexican
This in-depth review of Barbarous Mexico (2014) explores its story, characters, and scares in detail, offering insights for every horror fan.
Mexico Barbaro (2014) is a Spanish horror anthology known as Barbarous Mexico (2014) and is comprised of 8 disturbing segments directed by eight directors from Mexico. The eight segments are all separated and are not connected in any way, so I will briefly describe each below. I cannot get over how beautiful the cover art is. I would not recommend viewers under 18 to see this film because it contains explicit full-on male and female nudity, horrifying r**e that was savage, a demon o**lly r**ing the victim, graphic s**ual content, extreme graphic violence, and a child being the victim of cannibalism. The anthology was hard for me to watch without looking away too many times. With all said, I am amazed at how far anthology films have come because I remember when anthology films were one of the worst things to watch, but now there is hope (Trick ‘r Treat) of it being something great.
Segment 1 - Tzompantli
Written, produced, and directed by Laurette Flores Bornn (Bautizo (2012 - short))
Tzompantli revolves around innocent people vanishing or going missing with no clues left behind. However, rumors spread about where those missing victims might be. A man turned out to be a brave soldier who did not mind if he ended up being killed for informing a detective of where the missing people were being held. The man told the detective a frightening story that would scare most, and what the detective saw in a garage was mind-boggling and disturbing. Tzompantli is undoubtedly a creepy story with a twist that most will not be able to predict. I did not know that Tzompantli has a meaning, and I encourage all fans who watch this short to googling what Tzompantli means after watching short. You might ruin your experience if you discover Tzompantli’s meaning before watching the segment.
Segment 2 - Jaral de Berrios
Directed and co-written by Edgar Nito (Masacre en San Jose (2015), Y volvere… (2010))
Jaral de Berrios is by far my favorite segment. It is about two thieves/bandits finding shelter in an abandoned, deserted old mansion after one gets severely injured and has no choice but to enter the mansion/building. The wounded thief regrets entering the abandoned building because he claims it is cursed, and it does not help that his fellow friends do not believe him. It did not take long to see this supernatural/ghost segment come to life as they encounter dangerous situations that end brutally. This segment contains graphic s**ual images, haunting eerie visuals, and thrills that will keep you sitting on the edge of your seat.
Segment 3 - Drena
Directed and written by Aaron Soto (Hueso (Short) (2005), 33 1/2 (Short) (2004), 2001 Before the Cradle (Short)( 2001), Omega Shell (Short) ( 2001))
Drena treated us with a bit of comedy relief with some offensive material and goofiness after the first two segments were dark and had a lot of tension. Drena revolves around finding a dead body with a cigarette/joint in its fingers while lying in a ditch. The girl did something gross: her taking the corpse joint to smoke later at home. We all know nothing comes out good from that, and shortly while smoking the joint, a little creature comes out of her wall and demands her to give it her sister’s menstrual blood. This little creature is crazy and tells her that if he does not get the blood in 12 hours, it will take/suck her soul through/out of her an*s - yay - some pretty nasty thing that is not even the most unpleasant part of the segment. Watch and enjoy.
Segment 4 - La Cosa mas Preciada (The Most Precious Thing)
Written and directed by Isaac Ezban (The Incident (2014), The Similars (2015), Cosas fees (2010), Subway to Hell (2007) )
La Cosa mas Preciado revolves around a young couple who rented a cabin for one night to be s**ually intimate for the first time. We all can guess what happens. Next, an older man who keeps/works on the grounds warns them that they should not be there in the cabin. The older man was persistent in his words when he told them they should not be there in the cabin when it gets dark, and they should leave as soon as possible but will they heed his warning? They brush off the old man and think he is crazy after he tells them not to go anything outside or "they" will steal it. The couple quickly regrets not listening to the older man as they encounter nasty deadly situations such as the girl being gang r**ed by chupacabras. It was not an accessible segment to watch with an underlying message of the girl got she deserves for lying to her parent about where she will be that night.
Segment 5 - Lo que importa es lo de adentro
Director, writer, and executive producer Lex Ortega (Atrocious (2012), Atrocious (2015))
Lo Que Importa es lo de Adentro revolves around a mother and her two children getting ready in the morning while the little girl repeats "Boogey" (boogeymen) repeatedly while pointing at a man standing outside their home. The mother thinks of her son as a little boy who cannot do any wrong, while she thinks differently of her daughter. The mysterious man, a homeless killer, makes faces at the little girl while being friendly to the mother and brother while they walk past him. Things get strange soon after the little boy does not return home from playing outside, and it is not an excellent outcome but a nasty gut-wrenching one that will make your skin crawl. I have to say it; the older man is a killer that kills children so that he can take their organs for medical scientists. Watching the graphic dissection of a young child was painful.
Segment 6 - Munecas
Writer and director Jorge Michel Grau (We Are What We Are (2010), The ABCs of Death (2012), We Are What We Are (2013))
Munecas revolves around a woman who is assumed to escape from a deadly situation and is in hiding from whoever is after her. We see that she was beaten because her body is bloody and tired. The scared but brave female will do anything to save her life, including brutally fighting a man twice her size. I was in disbelief after seeing the twist and seeing what she was running from. Segment 7 - Siete
Segment 7 - Siete veces siete
Directed by Ulises Guzman (Corazones de terciopelo (1992)) does not have much experience in the directing field, and he gave us the best segment.
Siete veces site is one crazy adventure that keeps getting crazier even if you think it impossible. Just watch and see what I am talking about. The segments start with a guy stealing a corpse from a morgue and loading it onto his truck. As if stealing a corpse was not bad enough, he took it to a secluded pond with no one around for several miles. This segment contains all the crazy things, including naked females with spider legs, a burning man on a horse, a reanimated corpse, and other bizarre things. I was not too crazy with all of the flashbacks and present-day action. This segment was undoubtedly the most intense, tension-filled, brutal, and mind-boggling surreal revenge story.
Segment 8 - Dia de los Muertos
Director and writer Gigi Saul Guerrero (Dead Crossing (2011), El Gigante (2014), Madre De Dios (2015))
Dia de Los Muertos was narrated by a female who tells us that she learned from her mother how to be strong amongst others and things. It did not take long to see the females working as dancers at a nightclub. The females did something different on this particular night: they added face paint and decoration relating to The Day of the Dead. The females are treated like trash by the males, although they try their best to be as lovely as they can to the men who are their clients. Will the females accept what the males are doing to them, or will they rebel?
Mexico Barbaro succeeds in many areas, and one is giving its audience a variety of segments that are all different. Hence, we are not bored of seeing the same story, and it does not get confusing. There was extreme gore and extreme violence, and it is a real horror anthology with gut-wrenching situations throughout the film. Most films would not cross a particular line, but the directors in this anthology crossed that line and did not look back, or so it appears. Who would think of peeing on open flames?
Similar films like Barbarous Mexico can be found in horror anthologies sub-genre(s), check them out for more movies like Barbarous Mexico.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Barbarous Mexico Rating Scores
- Our Score: 7/10
- Overall Score: 5.77/10
- IMDB: 4.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 5.5/10
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