El extraño hijo del Sheriff (1986) User Reviews

Peculiar but unique Mexican horror/western hybrid

[Coventry · 7/10 · 29 October 2022]

There are horror movies that are not at all good, but for some incomprehensible reason they are world famous and extremely popular. Good for them, I guess. But the opposite exists as well. There are some horror pearls out there that are quite good, but for equally incomprehensible reasons, nobody has ever heard of them, and you must really seek intensively if you want to see them. The Mexican oddity "The Sheriff's Strange Son" sits in this category, sadly.

I honestly can't fathom why this gem is completely unknown. Bad marketing, maybe? Or maybe - and most likely - audiences (and especially American audiences) simply weren't interested anymore in westerns during the early 80s, regardless of featuring horror elements or not. It certainly isn't a bona-fide masterpiece, but what I can guarantee is this: it's a compelling and thoroughly uncanny tale full of original ideas and genuine suspense!

"The Sheriff's Strange Son" features plot elements to make all horror fan mouths' water! A little village struck by a plague, the predicament of the Antichrist's birth during a lunar eclipse, Siamese twins locked up in their room for seven years by their father/Sheriff, unorthodox surgeries, executions at the gallows, ... There are enough ideas for a couple of movies, in fact. I don't even know why it's a western, since the story also easily could have worked in a present-day setting as well, but it definitely adds a unique flair to the film. The kid playing both Fred and Eric is creepy, especially when he claims - via the body of Fred - to be Eric; - the weaker but nevertheless vengeful brother who died when his selfish father instructed the doctor to surgically separate the conjoint spine. Great ending, too!

PS: I discovered "The Sheriff's Strange Son" via "Evil Seeds", a book put together and edited by Vanessa Morgan, and a must-have in case you are even slightly fascinated by horror movies featuring evil children!

Good Western, Okay Horror

[alexog · 6/10 · 5 May 2009]

The Strange Son of the Sheriff is probably one of Almada's better made movies. The setting is worthy of any of Leone's films.

The themes of any western are here, man versus something beyond himself. Either natural or supernatural. The film uses well the setting of the western to show the struggle of man to civilized what cannot be civilized. The script is also quite decent with well develop characters that are layered, at least the main characters. Sometimes it screams the motives of the characters but their acting allows them to show more nuance at many times.

As a horror, the film suffers from the past of time. The cheese special effects are detrimental. Sure, I got freak out as a child but I have seen the movie a couple of times after that and the charm is gone. Frankly, in the horror aspect, less is more. The scene where the face of the child is reflected on the wall is ludicrous. Compare to the scene where the sheriff's best friend runs to hug the kid, only to find out he is hugging the ghost of the dead kid.

Probably what sets this movie apart from the crap, is the questions that arise from it without knowing. It is clear that some aspects of the movie were made for the prudish Latino audience. Sorry for the term, we had and still have some cultural ideas. The dead kid is bad because he cannot just die. After his father kill him and throw him like an animal in a hole, what did they expected? It was only natural for the innocent child to become a demon. The doctor's mistake was to trust science more than God, really? for real!?

The doctors actions, although clear and honest to the naked eye, also leave many questions and he is guilty of a terrible action, even if feeling guilty about it. The sheriff's moral core, at first strong and unshakable, clearly quite ambiguous. The father of the murderer using justice to quench his thirst for blood. The unedited ending, quite shocking and clearly amoral.

Once the flimsy cultural values are taken away, we have a movie without redemption. The characters are only jokes of an attempt to civilization and the natural and supernatural plot against any form of justice. If only the creators had the strength to make the film as it should, undiluted by society's sense of right or wrong, this movie could have ended a masterpiece of its time. But it is not, so it only gets a 6.

Strangeness!

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 30 June 2020]

The Sheriff's Strange Son is the translation of this film's title and it lives up to those words.

On the night that Sheriff Frederick Jackson's wife goes into labor, the doctor is nowhere to be found, as he's tending to the numerous victims of the plague that is decimating the denizens of the small town of Santa Rosa. The wife - not so coincidentally named Mary - dies as she gives birth to a set of conjoined twins named Fred and Erick.

There's also the matter of some prophecy that the plague and the twins being joined as they are signals the birth of the Antichrist. But the lawman is too busy blaming the doctor for his wife dying and the fact that he has to raise these kids all by himself.

Years later, as the boys near puberty, Jackson kidnaps the doctor and forces him to split the boys at gunpoint. Despite the protests of the old surgeon, the surgery happens and Erick pays the price, ending up buried in an unmarked grave.

Things would have worked out great for Jackson except Fred won't stop telling people how his father killed him, as he believes that he's really the dead one. Jackson was a pretty crappy cop - go figure - so he's finally caught for a murder that he covered up. On the day of the hanging, the ghost of Erick appears with glowing eyes and demands that only he can kill his father. That job complete, he decides to go after his brother too.

This is the first film of Fernando Duran Rojas I've seen, but it won't be the last.

Better than any American "scary movie"

[exoticopecado · 9/10 · 31 May 2006]

When I watched this movie the first time, I didn't sleep for a week, I was 15, not very young, but enough to felt terrified by a diabolical siameses and a "towny" father, the Sheriff, which believed that the Devil was inside his sons and decided to open them "a la brava", in a little cabana where the doctor had to perform the surgery with no surgical tools but a knife. Mario Almada makes you feel impotence when he tries to convince the Sheriff (Erick del Castillo) to desist; but the ignorance of the Mexican town people is stronger. So, one of the kids die, but he comes back as a diabolical phantom to take back his death. The end is very awful but has a message: Never underestimate a different person.

Creepy Mexi Horror-Western. The Mexican "Basket Case"!

[insomniac_rod · 8/10 · 24 November 2007]

Filmed in Durango and supported big time by the government of the state, "El Extraño Hijo del Sheriff" is the Mexican "Basket Case" version but with a few differences that I will explain later.

"El Extraño..." has a very interesting plot that deals with medicine, science, religion, and of course, evil.

The movie deals with the town's sheriff's twins that were born with an abnormal physical feature : they were born glued. So the sheriff decides to tie with chains his twins in the house attic. Years after, he decides that it's time to get his sons separated. He hires the town's doctor and through a graphic but not grotesque scene, they get separated only by a scalpel. A hell of an effective doctor!

In consequence, one of the twins tragically dies. The other one stays alive and lives a normal life... until his brother comes from the dead and seeks revenge against his father, the doctor, and anyone else who comes into the way.

Local town's people hear about the murder of the other twin and decide to make a trial against the father who gets the death penalty condemn. The day of his execution, Erick (the believed dead twin) makes a demonic appearance that scares the hell out of people and by himself kills his father (he was hung up). People is convinced that the other twin never died and that he's roaming on earth with diabolical purposes.

Then the movie gets somehow dull as some scenes do not get anywhere but we get lousy dialogs and inept scenes involving the dead twin making apparitions and threatening the people that were involved in his surgery.

The doctor who is haunted by the event, decides to apply science and through hypnosis he spells the evil twin out of the good twin's body and soul. But he made a mistake, and suddenly in a super cheesy scene, he spells the good one. So the evil one takes the soul of the woman who took care of them and tells his brother that finally they will be together... again.

Cheesy ending sure.

The movie has good acting; specially by Erick del Castillo and Mario Almada. The twins (Only played by a boy!) deliver good performances but I didn't buy the "evil" inside one of them.

The direction is not that bad because at some points, it looks like the movie was inspired by "The Evil Dead" (specially in the scene where the surgery is taking place and a demon wind enters the cabin and beats the sheriff and the doctor). Also, the execution scene and the "exorcism" sequence look really creepy with evil sounds in the background and a ghostly atmosphere.

This is a Western with Supernatural/Horror elements. I recommend it for fans of Mexican Horror and demonic possession movies.

Not that bad!

Separated At Death...

[azathothpwiggins · 16 January 2023]

In EL EXTRANO HIJO DEL SHERIFF (aka: THE STRANGE SON OF THE SHERIFF), the town sheriff's wife gives birth. Unfortunately, this occurs during a plague, and a lunar eclipse, resulting in untold horror.

This is an oddly effective, supernatural horror-western from Mexico. It's also a decent "evil kid" movie. While the body count is low, and the paranormal pyrotechnics are kept to a minimum, the bleak atmosphere and desolate locations make for a dread-filled experience.

The real shocks are saved for the big finale, especially the closing moments when an unexpected twist happens that further darkens the proceedings.

A decent chiller worthy of a late night viewing...

A Haunting Spanish Horror Movie

[FloatingOpera7 · 10/10 · 26 October 2006]

El Extrano Hijo Del Sheriff or The Sheriff's Strange Son (1982): Starring Eric Del Castillo, Mario Almada, Rosa Gloria Chagoyan, Alfredo Gutierrez, Roberto Canedo, Alfredo Wally Barron, Alicia Encinas, Julian Abitia, Ramon Menendez, Blanca Lidia Munoz.....Director Fernando Duran Rojas, Screenplay Fernando Duran Rojas.

From 1982, this Spanish film (Spanish language, Spanish actors), a product of Mexican cinema, is of special interest to foreign horror film fans. If you speak Spanish and love older films, this one may also be to your liking. Actor Mario Almada began his career with successful Western films in Mexican cinema through the early to mid 60's. In the 70's and 80's, he became well-known for his graphic, violent exploitation films dealing with crime such as murder, drug traffic, the Mafia and so forth. He made movies that were not for the faint of heart and were usually targeting a male demographic. Eric Del Castillo followed in his footsteps doing the same type of film and had begun his film career as a Western film star. This film is set in the Old West in Mexico. It's a cross between "The Omen" and a Western. Del Castillo plays the town sheriff Frederic whose wife dies giving birth on a particularly dark and stormy, full-moon night. The son is kept hidden for years for there is a dark secret the Sheriff is keeping from the rest of the town. Turns out his late wife gave birth to conjoined twins, considered a frightening anomaly in the 19th century and the more superstitious people believed them to be born of the Devil. Fred and Eric are chained and imprisoned in the Sheriff's home. Because the Sheriff hopes his sons can still live a normal life, he forces the town doctor to separate them in an unprofessional operation. One son, Eric dies. Fred remains alive but claims he can still communicate with the dead brother. Before long, the dead brother seeks revenge on the doctor and his own father. The town is clearly a stand-in for society and the conjoined twins represent anyone who is different. This film is a winner even if outdated in its effects and mood.

An outstanding, deftly written, well made horror-western that deserves much more recognition

[I_Ailurophile · 9/10 · 1 November 2023]

Whenever a film blends genres, especially those that are less commonly paired, the chief question is always how effective the blend is. Both facets must be significant on their own power, but also combine into a form that's meaningful. As 'El extraño hijo del sheriff' begins the period western setting is very firmly established, not to mention the obdurate disposition of the principal character of the sheriff. The horror aspect doesn't begin to come into play until we're set to enter the second act, yet for as unexpectedly swift as the pacing is, and smooth, it feels like the picture has scarcely begun as the story picks up more. As the length advances I don't think there's any disputing the title's success as a horror-western, and in fact I think this Mexican flick is surely stronger overall than no few kindred works from more renowned film industries. To my delight, this readily proves to be an enjoyable, absorbing, satisfying piece that holds up marvelously well, and even better than I could have hoped!

The feature falls on the "fun-scary" side of the spectrum in terms of its horror a little more than that which evokes earnest feelings and visceral reactions. Even so there are some wonderfully creepy moments and notions of supernatural occurrences in this ghost story, deftly woven among threads of a more plainly dramatic western saga. To that point, I have to hand it to screenwriters Bárbara Gil and Eric del Castillo, because the plot here very much feels like something that may have been borne from a real-life folk legend passed down through oral tradition. For as cohesive as the writing is, bolstering the latter sense, it feels hard to even break down the screenplay into its component parts; all I can say is that the narrative is terrifically smart and compelling, twisting notes of tragedy and misfortune together with the sinister vibes of a malevolent, vengeful spirit. Through to the very end this is splendidly well-written, keeping us locked in to see the saga unfold - and I'm very happy to say that the ending is a total blast, bringing the movie to a deliciously dark closing that somewhat reminds me of some of my favorite horror endings.

I don't know whether it was a happenstance manifestation of the equipment available to the production, or a conscious choice on the part of cinematographer Agustín Lara Alvarado, producer Armando Duarte, director Fernando Durán Rojas, or someone else. One way or another, it's noteworthy that 'El extraño hijo del sheriff' bears the visual aesthetics of not just a western (replete with fine filming locations, sets, and costume design), but a western hearkening from the 60s, rather than the 80s. I dare say that appearance only helps to further cement the western ambience as the tale shifts from one flavor to the next, and increasingly toward horror as the minutes quickly tick by. While instances of post-production additions are notably outdated, otherwise effects and stunts here look swell; Rafael Carrión's original music isn't a major linchpin of the proceedings, but it's superb and tasteful nevertheless as it adds to the building atmosphere. The entire cast is fantastic, demonstrating admirable and wholehearted acting skills to bring the story to life, and beyond Gil and del Castillo's screenplay I must commend director Rojas for so shrewdly bringing the material to bear. Through his vision, and with the aid of all others contributing, the feature capably navigates complementary swirls of western desolation and hardship, the suggested dramatic notes of trial and tribulation, and the harsh gravity of the more ominous genre airs.

The end result of all this excellence, all the skill and intelligence, is a horror-western that grabs us nearly from the start and whips us along for the ride. It bears repeating that these ninety-odd minutes rather gallop, not in a fashion that's overbearing but just so effortlessly that in our enchantment as viewers it's all over before we know it. Even at that the plot develops at its own pace, adding in dollops of the two primary facets bit by bit until we arrive at the perfect mixture of both. As a matter of personal preference this won't appeal to all comers, yet for anyone who is receptive to the style, this small slice of Mexican cinema is so outstanding and rewarding as a viewing experience that I'd have no qualms whatsoever in recommending it to just about anyone. I'd stop just shy of saying it's an absolute must-see, but 'El extraño hijo del sheriff' is a tremendously smart, well made flick that's sorely underappreciated, and as far as I'm concerned it deserves much more recognition. If you have the chance to watch, this is not to be missed!