A powerful witch, Sara(Isabela Corona)who devotes her entire being to Satan, has the unique ability of seeing the fate of others through a mirror. In the opening narration, it is explained that a veritable few have this gift of seeing not only the future but other supernatural things. Sara vows vengeance towards the husband, Eduardo(Armando Calvo), who poisons her god daughter, Elena(Dina de Marco). You see, Eduardo has a lover, Deborah(Rosa Arenas)and wishes to remove Elena from his life for good. What he doesn't suspect is his housekeeper, who has earned his trust and loyalty, being a witch who wishes to make his life miserable..Sara! In secret, Sara plots patiently, contacting, through the mirror, the soul of Elena as they plot their revenge. The other target is obviously Deborah, even more so when she becomes the new woman of the house wishing for Elena's entire memory(..including the favorite flowers of Elena's)erased so that she doesn't stand reminded of her adulteries. But, Elena doesn't want her memory erased and spooky happenings plague Deborah as Eduardo is away. When Eduardo, suffering from the guilt of the murder, begins seeing what Deborah has experienced, that's when the real ghoulish music from director Chano Ureta is woven. We see Elena's ghost appear from the mirror, flowers Deborah had replaced Elena's with wither and burn, the house piano playing Elena's favorite tune by itself, the flame blazing the wood in the fireplace goes out unexpectedly, there's an ominous loud groan, & the front door exploding open with furious wind and leaves intruding. Wishing to put an end to the hocus pocus, Eduardo slings a kerosene lamp at the mirror of Elena's room as both he and Deborah see her spirit coming towards them. What Eduardo doesn't expect is that his wife's body will instantly set on fire horribly scarring her.
Then, the film takes on an even more twisted path. Eduardo becomes quite mad as he uses the skin from dead stolen corpses thanks to his paid assistant, Gustavo(Carlos Nieto)experimenting on a way to repair Deborah's face so that she can embrace her beauty once again(..clearly inspired by Franju's Eyes Without a Face). We know he's on a crazed journey with no return when, in the flick's darkest moment, Eduardo amputates the lovely hands of a woman who was buried alive after having been presumed dead when in actuality she had a case of catalepsy. Yet, what he doesn't see coming is a classic case of the ole "switcheroo"..Sara cremates the amputated hands and replaces them with the hands of Elena!! So, Deborah has the hands of Elena which sets in motion the revenge Sara sought with many prayers to her lord Lucifer.
This is my favorite of the few Casa Negra releases I've seen. It's definitely warped, with quite a few tacky, but inspired, special effects(..due to a low budget, director Ureta had his hands tied, but does what he can). The story itself keeps reinventing itself..certainly has a "kitchen sink" screenplay, that's for sure. I didn't particularly mind this myself since it all leads to Sara and Elena getting their revenge while Deborah and Eduardo suffer for the crimes they committed. What I found very fascinating, and thought it was successful, was that we side with the Satanic witch, because Eduardo is the one who commits the true ghoulish acts not to mention that Deborah is selfish and self-centered. I think my favorite scene exposes Deborah for who she really is. We see Eduardo grafting skin to Deborah's face and await the final result..whether it's a success or failure. Deborah finds out about how Eduardo secures the skin applied to her face and the hands that replaced her charred ones. She is quite upset..that is until she sees that Eduardo's work was a success then all is forgiven. One might make a statement, and deservedly so, that all the characters in this flick are so corrupt there is no one to root for. The ones being tormented committed terrible acts to Elena, who is the true victim. Even so, Sara is a witch who worships Satan and behind the horrors that occur in the act of seeking retribution for a murder she couldn't stop. But, I think that is actually beneficial that the film doesn't choose sides exactly, although the film clearly backs Sara and her nefarious way(..you can lie to me if you wish, but sure you were rooting for the witch). Heck, the audacity to this, making the witch the heroine I mean, deserves mention. This is quite a nasty piece of work, but loaded with atmospheric flourish and a stew of demented ideas(I must admit, though, it's certainly a patchwork of borrowed ideas).
Then, the film takes on an even more twisted path. Eduardo becomes quite mad as he uses the skin from dead stolen corpses thanks to his paid assistant, Gustavo(Carlos Nieto)experimenting on a way to repair Deborah's face so that she can embrace her beauty once again(..clearly inspired by Franju's Eyes Without a Face). We know he's on a crazed journey with no return when, in the flick's darkest moment, Eduardo amputates the lovely hands of a woman who was buried alive after having been presumed dead when in actuality she had a case of catalepsy. Yet, what he doesn't see coming is a classic case of the ole "switcheroo"..Sara cremates the amputated hands and replaces them with the hands of Elena!! So, Deborah has the hands of Elena which sets in motion the revenge Sara sought with many prayers to her lord Lucifer.
This is my favorite of the few Casa Negra releases I've seen. It's definitely warped, with quite a few tacky, but inspired, special effects(..due to a low budget, director Ureta had his hands tied, but does what he can). The story itself keeps reinventing itself..certainly has a "kitchen sink" screenplay, that's for sure. I didn't particularly mind this myself since it all leads to Sara and Elena getting their revenge while Deborah and Eduardo suffer for the crimes they committed. What I found very fascinating, and thought it was successful, was that we side with the Satanic witch, because Eduardo is the one who commits the true ghoulish acts not to mention that Deborah is selfish and self-centered. I think my favorite scene exposes Deborah for who she really is. We see Eduardo grafting skin to Deborah's face and await the final result..whether it's a success or failure. Deborah finds out about how Eduardo secures the skin applied to her face and the hands that replaced her charred ones. She is quite upset..that is until she sees that Eduardo's work was a success then all is forgiven. One might make a statement, and deservedly so, that all the characters in this flick are so corrupt there is no one to root for. The ones being tormented committed terrible acts to Elena, who is the true victim. Even so, Sara is a witch who worships Satan and behind the horrors that occur in the act of seeking retribution for a murder she couldn't stop. But, I think that is actually beneficial that the film doesn't choose sides exactly, although the film clearly backs Sara and her nefarious way(..you can lie to me if you wish, but sure you were rooting for the witch). Heck, the audacity to this, making the witch the heroine I mean, deserves mention. This is quite a nasty piece of work, but loaded with atmospheric flourish and a stew of demented ideas(I must admit, though, it's certainly a patchwork of borrowed ideas).