DVD REVIEW . The Living Coffin

by Chris   ⋅   May 1, 2007   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

Part of the cool thing about running Dreamlogic.net is that I get to see a bunch of films that I probably would never have thought of seeing, or known existed, if they hadn’t been sent my way. The latest such film is The Living Coffin, a 1950’s Mexican Horror-Western, complete with brave cowboys, ghosts, skeleton swamps, gunfights, and fisticuffs. Now, this being the first real Mexican horror film I’ve ever seen, I’m in no way going to pass myself off as an expert. However, I do know fun when I see it.

Put simply, The Living Coffin is a wild-western take on the infamous Llorona, the grieving female ghost of Mexican folklore. The tale concerns a straight arrow Cowboy (Gaston Santos) and his bumbling sidekick, Coyote Loco (Pedro de Aguillo), who, after discovering a mysterious carving of the Llorona, make their way to a hacienda plagued by tales of a ghostly crying woman and dead bodies that just won’t stay dead. The Cowboy, being a logical man, shrugs it off, attributing the events to the work of tricksters. But, when a man is shot in the nearby Skeleton Swamp, long rumored to be haunted, the Cowboy realizes there’s more to this mystery than meets the eye. His investigation will put him on the trail of dastardly bandits, supernatural threats, secret gold, and yes, the possibly undead specter of the Llorona herself.

Being a 1950’s horror-western, The Living Coffin is one of simple scares and earnest heroism. It is an exposition heavy film that relies on atmosphere as much as the presence of its ghosts to manifest its spooky feel, with fleeting shadows, dark and secret passageways, and oppressive bogs bolstering its zombified walkers and wide-eyed textured faces. Likewise its hero possesses a singular resolve to save the day, whether by his fists, his guns, or simply his infallible conscience. Action too is of a simpler nature, incorporating bar-fight acrobatics, heroic horses, and crafty ambushes. But that’s not to say these aren’t exciting. They’re quite fun, and surprisingly thrilling. My favorite sequence of these would have to be the Cowboy’s swamp escape. It’s brief enough that I won’t spoil it here. However, I’ll suffice it to say that it’s quite fun.

The look and feel of The Living Coffin is something akin to later Hammer films, only with a smaller budget, Mexican locales, and more static camerawork. The version we viewed was a sepia toned colorization of the original black and white, relying heavily on browns and reds to evoke the dusty outpost setting. While most colorizations are a little jarring, what with their overuse of pastels and paisleys, this was fairly subdued and inoffensive.

In closing, The Living Coffin is quite the interesting little film, and for myself, a nice introduction to the Mexican horror genre. Like the previously reviewed Blind Woman’s Curse, it is a rare case of a successful genre-bending, working both as a western and a horror film. It may be too languidly paced and too “rudimentary” for today’s MTV weaned audiences, but if you have any modicum of an attention span, and a love of classic sensibilities, The Living Coffin is quite the nice diversion.

The DVD

Brought to you by Casa Negra, Panik House’s Mexican horror division, The Living Coffin is presented in a completely restored, uncut transfer maintaining the film’s original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. There is a bit of shimmer/flicker to be found in various scenes, but I believe this has to do with the original colorization process rather than any problems with the film’s restoration. The film features the original Spanish audio track, with optional (blue!) English subtitles. The track volume is a bit low (I had to turn the receiver up to 18 to really hear what was going on), but it is nonetheless clear.

Included as extras on the disc are a photo gallery, lengthy bios on the film’s stars, and a “photo-essay” on Mexican Horror-Westerns, focusing on their prevalence and success in Mexico, and their near complete absence in the states. It’s definitely an interesting read, but may be a little too dry for the average reader (it reminded me of some of my old film studies texts, with lists upon lists of films). My only qualm with these essays is that the text is rather small, and can be hard to read even on a 32” television.

All in all, Casa Negra’s disc of The Living Coffin surprised me. Its extras may be on the slim side, but given the ones they chose to present and the film’s solid transfer, you can tell these guys love the films they are presenting. If anything, this release has piqued my interest in Mexican horror.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since age six. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.