Robert Rodriguez wrote, produced and vouched for this...
There's nothing wrong with doing favours for friends, but writer-director Eduardo Rodriguez owes Robert Rodriguez (no relation) big time. The tag `Robert Rodriguez presents' affixed to Curandero (occasionally subtitled Dawn of the Demon) is the primary reason most people will be drawn to Venezuelan-born Eduardo Rodriguez's 2005 film, a slice of South-of-the-border ritualistic black magic adapted (by Rodriguez and Luz Maria Rojas) from an original screenplay by Robert Rodriguez himself. Most will be disappointed.
The story begins as Mexico City detective Magdalena Garcia (Gizeht Galatea) calls upon the services of Carlos Gutierrez (Carlos Gallardo), who has inherited his late father's occupation of curandero, a kind of exorcist who specializes in purifying people and places tainted by black magic. Magdalena begs Carlos to carry out a purification of her police precinct, which the local federales believe to be cursed following a bloody escape by local cult leader and black...
Not bad for what it is; Fulci-esque. 4.3 stars.
This is a low budget b-horror movie (from mexico I suppose based on the location). While it's not high brow stuff for what it is, it's a decent horror/drama movie. There's shades of a lot of older horror movies from the direction and gore similar to the grindhouse genre and lucio fulci's movies. I personally can't stand watching fulci movies (to me the plot drags too much) but this one was somewhat better paced and decently watchable. I guess you could call it a hybrid movie because it takes a lot of the older conventions in this genre and lumps them together; it works in this case and the practical effects are top notch for this budget (there was zero cgi from what I could tell).
Personally, I find a lot of these plots, situations, and actions (in these types of movies) preposterously hilarious and this movie delivers them intentionally or unintentionally. Early on in the movie police officers won't enter their police station because of the bloodbath that took place,...
THAT WAS A GOOD EGG.
Castaneda (Gabriel Pingarrón) is a satanist drug dealer that has Mexico City in an uproar. Potty mouthed detective Magdalena (Gizeht Galatea) goes back to her home town to find Don Carlos, a curandero. What she gets is his son, also named Don Carlos (José Carlos Ruiz). Don Carlos is a bit of a skeptic, but also has visions of demons as he touches items. His twofold nature wasn't utilized to it comic potential.
This twosome follows the trail of the evil Castaneda as they try to figure up what he is up to.
This film was made in 2005. While it has blood and gore, it lacks the killing and mutilation scenes common in the American counterpart. For some strange reason, the film tosses in a guy (Ernesto Yáñez) who is the only person in Mexico who believes in Mithraism. I didn't get his connection.
The film is slow developing and half way into the production you realize it is not getting better. Still, it had some interesting scenes...
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