The First Fantasy Characters of the Mexican Cinema: from Ghosts to Vampires

María Dolores Cabrera Carreón

doi:10.5565/rev/brumal.300

Abstract

This article explores the kind of fantasy characters of Mexican film between 1933 and 1969. The appearance of these characters is related to two periods of Mexican film industry: the thirties, an epoch of cinematic experimentation and the search of new aesthetics; and then later the fifties and sixties, the decline of the Golden Age of the Mexican cinema and the search for new genres, stories, characters and filmic resources which contributed to the emergence of the horror and science fiction in Mexican film. This review focuses on the description of the fantasy figures and the analysis of how these figures from European literature and cinema were adapted to a Mexican context. Likewise, the main part of this study is dedicated to the classification and analysis of the figure of the vampire, the vampire films and their contribution to the development of the Mexican horror and science fiction films.

Highlights

María Dolores Cabrera Carreón fantasy and horror films made between 1933 and 1972. The appearance of these characters is related to two periods in the Mexican film industry: the thirties, an time of artistic influence and political construction of the Mexican state which favored cinematic experimentation and the search for a new aesthetics; and later the fifties and sixties, the decline of the Golden Age of the Mexican cinema, an period of financial and thematic crisis which led to the search for new genres, stories, characters and filmic resources which, in turn, contributed to the emergence of horror and science fiction in Mexican film (De la Vega Alfaro 1999)
This review focuses on the description of the fantasy figures which emerged within these genres and the analysis of the adaptation of such figures that came from European literature and cinema, Mexican legends, and American film, as well as the important contribution of the filmmaker Fernando Méndez and his films to the establishment of the horror genre within Mexican cinema
The main part of this study is dedicated to the classification and analysis of the figure of the vampire—the main fantastic character of the Mexican horror cinema—and of vampire films and their contribution to the development of Mexican horror and science fiction films

Summary

Revista de Investigación sobre lo Fantástico Research Journal on the Fantastic

Este artículo explora los tipos de personajes fantásticos que aparecen en 107 películas fantásticas y de horror mexicanas realizadas entre 1933 y 1972. Esta revisión se enfoca en la descripción de las figuras fantásticas que surgieron dentro de estos géneros y en el análisis de la adaptación de tales figuras provenientes de la literatura y el cine europeos, de leyendas mexicanas y del cine estadounidense, así como en la aportación del cineasta Fernando Méndez y sus películas en el establecimiento del género de horror en el cine mexicano. La parte principal de este estudio está dedicada a la clasificación y el análisis de la figura del vampiro —el principal personaje fantástico del cine mexicano de horror y ciencia ficción—, así como de las películas de vampiros y su contribución al desarrollo del cine mexicano de horror y ciencia ficción. Palabras clave: fantástico, vampiro, científico loco, cine mexicano, cine de horror

Los personajes fantásticos del cine de horror mexicano

Desarrollo del cine mexicano de vampiros y la figura del vampiro

Vampiro vaquero