Watch out for that little girl and her possessed doll in VACATION OF TERROR!
Spanish language would take a chance on this uncharted terri- tory and find the results surpris- ingly accessible—but for the most part, the language/culture barrier was enough to keep those tapes sitting exactly where they were, their potential wasted outside of their specific target audience.
BCI has now provided a much-needed incentive for State- side genre viewers to catch up on just what’s been happening at Churubusco Studios since the days of the K. Gordon Murray imports. Volume One of the HOR- ROR FROM SOUTH OF THE BOR- DER collection (the “Crypt of Terror” header is a BCI appella- tion used for various and sundry horror product) offers optional English subtitles for a series of late ’80s/early ’90s offerings from
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some of the most prolific, multi- generational family names in Mexican filmmaking. Incidentally, the set offers more than it prom- ises—while the box advertises a three-disc set of six films, it ac- tually contains four two-sided discs—throwing in an alternate version of one title and a com- plete seventh feature listed nowhere on the packaging! It should be noted at the out- set that these are not restored, widescreen studio masters; the films are presented exactly as they appeared on Mexican-label VHS. The mono sound, the oc- casionally worn and speckly prints and the slightly soft (but perfectly watchable) image qual- ity are strictly par for the course— and even work to the advantage of the films on occasion, as we shall see.
The set kicks off with the genre debut of Rene Cardona III (grandson of the man who brought you DOCTOR OF DOOM and NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES, and son of the director of SURVIVE! and GUYANA: CRIME OF THE CENTURY—in both cases, along with many, many other offerings). Cardona III re- mains best known for his popu- lar comedy series LA RISA DE VACACIONES (“Funny Vaca- tions”), so why not a scary va- cation while he was at it? Disc One, Side A serves up 1988’s Vacaciones de Terror, freshly subtitled as VACATION OF TER- ROR. Julio Alemán is the eccen- tric Fernando (whose children don’t share his passion for sheep- eye tacos), who delights in his un- expected inheritance of a late aunt’s “vacation home” and
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