Mexico Barbaro 2 (2017) User Reviews

Like the first movie

[olcayozfirat · 6/10 · 30 April 2022]

The second part of the Mexican origin horror film made in 2017 and consisting of 8 short stories. Again, 8 different directors came together to tell the country's most cruel and strange traditions and legends. The movie still contains a lot of brutality and sexuality. The eight chapters that make up México barbaro 2 are:

1- Paidos Phobos, Diego Cohen 2- Potzonalli, Fernando Urdapilleta 3- Bolas de fuego, Christian Cueva and Ricardo Farias 4- Exodontia, Lex Ortega 5- Vitriol, Michelle Garza 6- La Leyenda de Juan Soldado, Abraham Sánchez 7- No te duermas, Sergio Tello 8- Ya es hora, Carlos Melendez.

Sequel

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 3 July 2020]

The sequel to 2014's Mexican Barbaros brings together more south of the border filmmakers to create a portmanteau movie that only had one rule: each story had to be about something related to Mexican culture without repeating anything from the first movie.

Tijuana's Abraham Sanchez starts the movie with Juan the Soldier, a story about a soldier who makes a deal with the devil to come back after his death. Sanchez's first movie was a short called Antropofagus that cost $20, so he's my kind of filmmaker.

Diego Cohen made Paidos Phobos, a tale of a mother who is behind a door, hiding, that the main character is afraid to see. Cohen also directed the films La Marca del Demonio and Perididos.

Potzonalli is a fourth-wall-breaking comedy by Fernando Urdapilleta, who also directed Estrellas Solitarias. It's the story of a father getting his just reward for how he treats his family.

Christian Cueva and Ricardo Farias made Fireballs, the story of demons who transform amateur pornography into a murderous evening. This team is called Giant Stories and they've mostly worked on short films.

Michelle Garza's Vitriol is the story that most point out in this collection. Like most of the directors in this movie, she's mainly worked on shorts. I'd love to check out her movie La Rabia de Clara, which is about a woman quarantined with rabies yearning to become part of a pack of wild dogs.

Do Not Sleep is a story of old grandmother's tales by Sergio Tello. It Is Time, by Carlos Melendez, is about bullying, something that the director has explored in other films like Hysteria. And Exodontia, by series boss Lex Ortega, is a frightening tale of the tooth fairy.

While there is no uniting story, the idea of seeing Mexican creatives handling uniquely Mexican themes is the whole reason to see this film. I enjoyed it as much as the original.

Solid Mexican Horror Anthology!

[TodaysHaul317 · 6/10 · 10 February 2024]

Mexico Barbaro II (aKa Mexico Barbaro 2 and México Bárbaro II) is a 2017 horror anthology directed by Diego Cohen (Mark of the Devil), Christian Cueva (Jiron), Ricardo Farias (La Exorcista), Michelle Garza Cervera (Huesera: The Bone Woman), Carlos Meléndez (Hysteria), Lex Ortega (Atroz, World of Death, Human Animals, and Mexico Barbaro), Abraham Sánchez (Devastación), Sergio Tello (Atroz), and Fernando Urdapilleta (Atrapada). It was also written by all of the directors above plus Adrian Garcia Bogliano (My Encounter with Evil) and Alfredo Mendoza (S. O. Z). It was produced by all the original filmmakers plus 22 others. It's follow up to 2014's Mexico Barbaro (aKa Barbarous Mexico)!!!!

In this horror anthology, 9 Mexican directors come together to narrate more traditions and brutal, ruthless and bizarre legends of their country. Mexico Barbaro shows the world the parts of their popular culture, from sweet stories told by their grandmothers, to the dark and disturbing ancestral culinary bloody rites. This horror anthology includes segments: Paidós Phobos, Bolas De Fuego (aKa Fire Balls), Vitriol, Ya Es Hora (aKa Is It Time?), Exodoncia (aKa Extraction), La Leyenda De Juan Soldado (aKa Juan Soldier Legend), No Te Duermas (aKa Don't Sleep), and Potzonalli. Traditions and legends that today continue to cause terror among Mexican people!!!!

Mexico Barbaro II has so much variety when it comes to subjects in the horror sub-genre. This Mexican horror follow up has a little bit of everything for everyone. Each segment is very different from each other and each director has their own unique visual style here in this horror anthology. The only filmmaker I was familiar with before checking out this feature was Lex Ortega because I reviewed his film Atroz a few years ago that was also written by fellow director here Sergio Tello. Like every anthology, Mexico Barbaro II can be hit or miss at times but I honestly enjoyed most of these segments. My personal favorite shorts from this movie was La Leyenda De Juan Soldado, Potzonalli, Bolas De Fuego, Ya Es Hora, and No Te Duermas. The other ones were just okay to me but they were still worth checking out. I would really love to see a full length version of Potzonalli someday, that one was wild and it had top notch fx that was loaded with gore. I loved the story of a family coming together and taking revenge on their abusive father/husband. The cast includes Francisco Barreiro, Humberto Busto, Laura de Ita, Emilio Guerrero, Pedro Joaquín, Aline Marrero, Fermín Martínez, Ramón Medína, Hoze Meléndez, Martha Claudia Moreno, director Lex Ortega, Giancarlo Ruiz, Florencia Ríos, and Pilar Santacruz. This definitely has a different vibe when compared to the original film but I see can why because it has a more modern feel to the stories. This is very fun and beyond entertaining, I love how Mexican horror doesn't hold back. Give this one a shot, RECOMMEND!!!!

Mexico Barbaro II

[mixalakaxam · 9/10 · 18 October 2017]

"Juan Soldier Legend" starts the anthology off with a bang as a soldier accused of some heinous wrongdoing is shot down in a stretch of desert that may be a direct link to hell. The commanding officer and his underlings present for the execution may not be done with the man after all. Rather, the man may not be done with them. This film is snappy and efficiently paced to great effect. No shot is wasted. It packs a lot into its tiny run time. It features some cool creature design, a despicable character, and a dreadful finale.

"Paidos Phobos" is about a woman living in apparent fear of whatever she has locked up in the upstairs bedroom. The voice on the other side of the door refers to her as mommy, but if she's just a kid, why is mom so afraid of her? The answer comes in an expository dream sequence. But what is mom to do now? This segment builds a lot of intrigue and tension, but the payoff is a bit of a letdown. Especially, considering it is written/directed by a man. It's not bad, it's just might dip too near to triteness to truly honor its subject matter. (i'm thinking more and more that male writers/directors should avoid certain topics altogether. just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.)

"Potzonalli" focuses on a mother and her 3 children who prepare a meal as they wait for dad to come home. It doesn't go well for dad who is abusive. This segment is built on an objectively skin-crawling premise – a monstrous patriarch. When the guy shows up, the audience sees him for what he is. A pig. When he gets his comeuppance, we should be cheering. And we are to some degree, but our feelings of vengeful triumph are somewhat dampened by the really weird dynamic among the victims of the man. It's a fun segment, but it may go off the rails for some viewers. Especially those annoyed by 4th wall breakage.

"Fire Balls" is a found footage supernatural horror comedy (ish) short about a couple of dudes who hire a couple of women to have a sexual encounter with them while they record the encounters. It quickly becomes apparent that the women are in control. And they're not quite what they seem. This one was a little too goofy for my tastes. The amateurish editing and effects were appropriate to the kids-with-a-camera setup, but it took me out of the story too much. And the story wasn't much to start with.

"Vitriol" features a morose woman drifting through her apartment in a way that hints at some intense fear of what's beyond her walls. She takes some drastic steps to change her appearance and invites a man over for an intense interaction over a glass of wine. This was the strongest segment of the lot. Tension is built wordlessly for much of the film to great effect. The woman portrays her trauma perfectly. When she undergoes her self-inflicted metamorphosis, we feel deep sympathy for her. And the finale puts pieces in place that further cement our sympathies. Amazingly effective for a short film!

"Don't sleep" centers on a kid who's recently departed grandmother gave him grave warnings about every little thing. "Don't go to sleep thirsty", "a spider will crawl in your nose if you don't clean your room", and so on. His dad assures him that grandma was a liar, but maybe she wasn't. This one reminded me most of the original Mexico Barbaro in that it seems to focus on legends or folklore. I liked that it was relocatable in the way grandma's words stuck with the kid even if she only meant them as a way to keep the kid hydrated and his room cleaned and whatnot. It has some creepy imagery and great high contrast photography.

"It is time" is about a couple of girls who have been shunned by the local "mean girl" and her minions. The girls decide to take revenge by summoning a… demon? Maybe they just place a hex. Either way, it does'NT work out so well for the shiners. This is a fun little gross-out tale of revenge. It is about time mean girls got blown up! Or maybe that's a bit much. Maybe that's the lesson of the story – be careful what you wish for. But, honestly, it's hard to tell. Sure, one of the excuses is definitely aware that if their efforts prove fruitful, then they've gone too far. But viewers never really get an idea of what the consequences are for them after they kill a bunch of middle-school girls. Oh well. Kids are awful to each other. What's a few supernaturally murdered kids anyway?

"Extraction" is about addiction. In particular, it's about a woman's heroin addiction and the horrific ways that it is destroying her humanity – both physically and mentally. The physical deterioration goes beyond what is typical for an addict. And it's self-inflicted. It's pretty gruesome. This one features some gut-wrenching self-harm. Nightmarish really. There's some kind of fishnet stockings and gas mask wearing hallucination (or demon maybe) goading the woman into terrible self-harm that will not be for everyone. Once again, the creature design is extremely low budget, but this one is rough even among the other segments of the anthology. But that's certainly not a deal-breaker. If Hostel is torture porn, then this one is self-torture porn. Body horror by way of an infinitely bleak after-school special.

The Final Cut: As with most anthologies, Mexico Barbaro II hits some high notes and some off- pitch notes. The ratio isn't as good as it was with the original installment, but it's good enough for me to root for another one. Definitely worth checking out for "Vitriol" alone.

Stellar and enjoyable follow-up anthology effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 9/10 · 15 October 2017]

Eight stories centered around Mexican culture.

The Good Stor(ies): La Leyenda De Juan Soldado-Traveling through the desert, a prisoner claims his innocence to his captors who leave him for dead. Once they learn of this incident, they quickly find themselves targeted by a malevolent force. This was quite fun if overall familiar segment. The revenge is too cliché and utilized far too frequently, but there's a ton to like. The sequence in Hell is utterly chilling with the Satanic figures around him and the horned one himself with a fantastic make-up job. The actual revenge itself is a brief interlude but the historical connection plays out rather nicely in the epilogue since that's the point for the segment.

Potzonalli-Preparing a special occasion, a family tries to go through the meal preparations for their abusive father while tormented by his past actions. Sensing their opportunity, the family goes through their revenge to make him pay for his transgressions. This turned out to be the highlight of the whole affair. The clever twist, where the apparent joy of the celebration gives way to an utterly phenomenal act of revenge gets carried out in gory detail. Managing to tie into what he did to each one, with each family member suffering their own abuse which lets the carve him up in their own revenge, gives this a sense of fun with some stellar effects work. Overall, this one is a lot of fun.

Bolas de Fuego-Trying to move their lives forward, friends go through the rigors of a porn-video audition involving a local agency. When it dawns on them that their counterparts are not who they said to be, the shoot turns into a far more deadly experience. This was quite the odd entry which has a lot to like. The concept of the shoot being broadcast live is a novel one which gives this a far sleazier experience once their true identities are given. This has some fun with the two girls who turn the tables on the guys which allows this one plenty of fine makeup effects. What makes it so weird is the constant pop-ups all over the screen and makes it confusing as to what their purpose was, leaving this with a somewhat odd experience.

No Te Duermas-Troubled by strange dreams, a young boy disturbs his parents with a ritual before bedtime. As he falls further into his beliefs, everything attempted to satiate him only drives his antics even further. This one was another strong effort here. The strong core story, with the young child's strict adherence to the ritual that he plays out every night due to the warning continually playing out in his head, give this a rather chilling premise as the different stories told to help him only end up hurting him. Balanced by the overt supernatural flashes that continually appear which add a far darker quality than expected and a rather chilling twist, there's plenty to like with this one.

Ya Es Hora-Upset over a classmate, a group of young girls embark on an occult ritual targeted at destroying her. As they leave their targets deformed, they realize too late what's going on. This was a somewhat enjoyable offering that seems a little predictable but still has a lot to like. The fact that this is based on the two locations, as the demonic ritual occurs on the rooftop while the gross-out body horror antics are occurring at the slumber party, gives this a frantic energy that goes nicely alongside the utterly phenomenal make-up effects used to showcase each of the gruesome torments. What really hurts this one is the predictable manner of their actions and a few dodgy special effects against the more realistic ones elsewhere, but it's still enjoyable.

The Bad Stor(ies): Paidós Phobos-Living in a huge mansion, a young woman becomes tormented by the life she could've lead but is instead forced to care for her ailing child. Taking it upon herself to live for once, she finds a connection to a supernatural guardian. Frankly, this is the hardest one to gauge as this is the weirdest entry. The vivid hallucinations, revolving around raging music and being abused, are not that horrific a concept since the shortened running time doesn't give why it's a torturous tactic. The other scenes with the doll pretending to drown it while visualizing it as a young child are dark in theory but we don't get anything here as the lack of dialog makes it rather confusing. Another stylish and engaging effort, but has a lot of flaws.

Vitriol-Obsessed with her looks, a lonely young woman tries whatever she can to improve her appearance. Finally convincing herself to try, she finds a dangerous quality that puts others around her at risk. This was easily the weakest segment. The central plot isn't creepy making the segment boring, nothing makes sense and there's no reasoning for anything that happens, leaving this a complete mystery. We get nothing about her obsession of the figure she admires or why this is supposed to be a scary situation so the running time is bland. This one really didn't need to be here despite more stylish camera-work and a slick appeal.

Exodoncia-Determined to start over, a troubled young woman uses her drug-use to calm her demented fantasies. As the urges take her over, it drives her into ever more deadly forms to get her fix. This was a rather enjoyable if odd choice to end this. The religious imagery, from the demon adorned with paraphernalia that accompanies a masturbation fantasy, starts this one in grisly fashion. The central torture scene is grisly and exceptionally brutal, but the problem is that there's no real direction as the dialog makes it impossible to follow along and doesn't really give this much of a point beyond the brutality.

Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Language, Extreme Graphic Violence, Nudity, a strong sex scene, Rape and drug use.