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Saturday, July 11, 2020

The Black Pit Of Dr. M (1959)

Starring Gaston Santos, Rafael Bertrand, Mapita Cortes, Carlos Ancira, Carolina Barret
Directed by Fernando Mendez
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A doctor at a sanitarium obtains a promise from a dying friend to show him the way to enter the land of the dead and return, but he has no idea how this will occur.

Another fine Mexican horror film from Mendez, this effort has some fine photography and a memorable music score, and a rather unique premise and story.  The setting of the spooky sanitarium also allows for some menacing developments, with a homicidal patient who flies into rages when not comforted by the soothing melody of a musical box.  Cortes, introduced in the story as the estranged daughter of the dying man who promised Bertrand the secrets of the afterlife, is very beautiful and provides the center of a love triangle when Bertrand becomes obsessed with her, and Santos also pursues her, both having mutually dreamed of the other.  Also, key to the film is Ancira's orderly at the sanitarium, whose actions also weave into the themes of doomed fates in the narrative.  This is a first-class production all the way, with Mendez committed to delivering a grim tale of the supernatural, with no hint of comic relief.

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