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Black Pit of Dr. M (The) AKA Misterios de ultratumba (1959)
R1 - America - Panik House Entertainment / CasaNegra Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Jari Kovalainen (26th November 2006). |
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The Film
 Partly underrated Mexican horror films have finally found the platform that they deserve, as the US “CasaNegra Entertainment” does their best to bring them to DVD from the proper source and in their original language. I have personally never been an expert when it comes to horror and fantasy from Mexico, but via “CasaNegra” I have discovered their high quality; interesting story lines, capable actors and especially the very visual and haunting atmosphere. Director Fernando Méndez is now well presented in the “CasaNegra”-catalog, since along with “The Vampire Collection” double feature (“The Vampire AKA El Vampiro (1957)” and “The Vampire's Coffin AKA El Ataúd del Vampiro (1958)”), they´ve also released “The Black Pit of Dr. M AKA Misterios de ultratumba (1959)”, a solid and horrifying tale of the desperate search for the answer to the ultimate question; what lies on the other side, and can you cross that line? The opening scene sets up the basic story; Dr. Jacinto Aldama (Antonio Raxel) is dying, and his friend and colleague Dr. Mazali Rafael Bertrand (this film has several similar looking “Doctors” with moustaches) is right next to him. Instead of saying his last farewells, Mazali is reminding his dying friend about the sacred promise that they have made; whoever dies first must help the other one to learn the secrets of the “after life”. With these secrets the other one could enter into death, and back to life again. The goal is to defeat death itself. With the help from another Doctor - this time Gonzalez (Luis Aragón) the connection to the dead Dr. Aldama is arranged, and Dr. Mazali will hear some very puzzling “answers”; the line between life and death can be crossed, but there´s a heavy price to pay. Mazali is too curious and obsessed to hear these warnings, and he wants to go through to the other side. The “port” to the after life is open in three months from the present time, and some series of events will guide him to that moment. The terrible game is on. The bigger piece of the puzzle is set into motion when the ghost of Dr. Aldama also appears to his daughter Patricia (Mapita Cortés). She has never met her father before, but delivers the secret key to Dr. Mazali, following Dr. Aldama´s instructions. This will unite Mazali and Patricia, and Dr. Mazali is bound to fall in love with the beautiful woman. To make things complicated in the emotional front, also the young Dr. Eduardo Jimenez (Gastón Santos) falls in love with Patricia. So far the film has kept its very interesting and gothic atmosphere, and is heading to be a winner. The mood slightly changes when the story goes deeper into the world of the insane asylum, the daily job of Dr. Mazali. A very violent female patient breaks free and is causing general havoc. In the process a lethal acid partly destroys the face of Elmer (Carlos Ancira), one of the senior wardens. This will turn the normal Elmer into a vengeful murderer, who will have to have his revenge towards the woman who destroyed his face. Slowly, but steadily, these events have a very grave meaning for Dr. Mazali also and the day when the door to the after life is open is getting near. Mazali will learn, that death has secrets that are best left untold to the world of the living… “The Black Pit of Dr. M” (not sure where the “pit” in the title refers to) is visually a striking film, with lights and shadows creating the (black & white) gothic mood in the heels of the classic horror-films from America. You can many times almost touch the gloomy atmosphere that the film produces, and near the end there are a few scenes that don´t shy away from the best of them. Actors are also top notch, especially Carlos Ancira in the role of “Elmer” who steels the show near the end, and the lead actor Rafael Bertrand is very convincing all the way through. Gastón Santos on the other hand is not necessarily the best choice for playing the “hero”, but he blends in. The “asylum”-scenes are of course essential for the story, but they also steer the film away from the supernatural mood that is already set up during the first part of the film. The film will be steered back near the end and it all makes sense, but I felt that the scenes with the female patient were unnecessarily long and perhaps a bit unconvincing (several men can´t control one woman?). In the end the final results of the story wasn´t exactly what I thought (I probably was too fascinated by the “after life” set up in the opening scene, when the film took some minor sub-routes along the way), but I still have to respect how the story unfolds and the ending scenes are clever, sad, and horrifying at the same time. The ultimate strength of the film is that it touches issues that have some connections to reality (e.g. people wonder about the after life), and even when the film is of course just cinematic entertainment, those issues gives some added spookiness to the story. The film also keeps its serious tone all the way through, like it should be after the opening scene and setting up the story, and rarely falls near the “exploitation”. “The Black Pit of Dr. M” is a stylish, gloomy and quality horror from Mexico, and it´s not to be missed by the horror-fans.
Video
“CasaNegra Entertainment” (part of the “Panik House Entertainment”) presents the film from the “vault elements” and the aspect ratio is 4:3. The results are very nice, doing full justice to the beautiful black & white cinematography. Some minor film artifacts and blemishes are unavoidable due to the source material, but all in all the transfer is clean and boasting fairly strong black levels. Some softness is present, though. “Single layer” disc is coded “R1”, and runs 81:14 minutes (NTSC). There are also “music video” credits included after the film, so the disc runs actually 82:11 minutes. 18 chapters are included.
Audio
The sole audio track is the original Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, and optional English subtitles are included. Before the film there´s a disclaimer of the original magnetic sound recording, which results “occasional brassy highlights in the orchestration of the score”. There are indeed some mild “humming” on the track if you start to listen (and turn the volume up during the more quieter scenes), but in the end it´s something that you don´t really notice when you fall deeper into the story itself. Apart from this and a few scenes with some hiss and crackles, the track is clear and quite satisfactory for the film of this age. Apparently the English dub is now lost, so it´s not included here. It would´ve been interesting to hear, even when the Spanish track is clearly the way to go with this film.
Extras
First, you can choose between the English or Spanish menu. Via this choice you can also read the extras (text based) in English or Spanish. The main extra is the Audio commentary with IVTV founder Frank Coleman, and it also includes optional Spanish subtitles. This is a second commentary from Coleman that I´ve heard and his style may not be everybody´s cup of tea. He´s very laid back and provides a more “fan commentary” narration than serious study of the Mexican horror film history, but he gives some information along the way, mainly about the style and the cast & crew these films often had - as well as the “lost” English dub. The main “problem” is (for me, that is) that Coleman likes to give lengthy lists of film titles from various actors and crew members, which quite frankly makes you a bit sleepy soon. These “filmographies” work on the written material, but not very well on the audio commentary where the same films are mentioned several times all over again. Things get better when he talks about e.g. actor Gastón Santos and tells more about his background, but often he relies on these on-going filmographies. Further more, Coleman has some enthusiasm, but many times he´s mainly telling the viewer “how cool” some scene is, which is of course something that we see ourselves. Still, you have some good time with this and it´s definitely not a “bad commentary”. I just wish that next time he would cut down those film titles, and tell more about the real background instead. “Photo Essay: Mexican Monsters Invade the U.S.” -text notes includes 10 pages, written by Rob Craig. It´s “A Tribute To K. Gordon Murray”, the man who distributed many of these Mexican horror-film to the US (apparently not this one, though) and who also did the English dubbing for them. Some photos and filmography are also included. Well written and informative cast & crew biographies and filmographies are also included, written by film historian David Wilt (who maintains e.g. “The Mexican Film Resource Page” on the internet): -“Essay on Fernando Méndez” (15 pages) -“Gastón Santos biography” (10 pages) “The Black Pit of Dr. M” music video by “21st Century Art” starts with an almost 9-minute intro by its member Frank Coleman where he explains the origins of the group and this project (it was recorded live in the studio and mostly by improvising). It could be debated why this is included, since “inspired music videos” hardly ever work as an extra, but fortunately the music is okay and not some death metal seen on the other horror-DVDs (no 'fence, metal-fans!). The whole video (with the introduction) runs 25:31 minutes, and includes scenes from the film (with added effects and such). “Rare Artifact: The Original 1961 English continuity script is another proof that the English dub once existed, and based on the page numbers it includes 27 pages. Original Mexican theatrical trailer runs 3:11 minutes, and is full of spoilers of course. There are no subtitles. Poster and stills gallery includes 8 “posters and promotional art” and 12 “production stills”. Reversible cover is in English or Spanish, and case also includes Loteria game card.
Overall
Another highly recommended Mexican horror-film, which should please all the fans that are seeking more “serious” gothic horror in the heels of Universal-horror and Edgar Allan Poe. Extras are a bit mixed back, but the transfer and audio are very good. For more info, please visit the homepage of CasaNegra Entertainment.
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