Grito de la muerte, El (1959)

Director:

Fernando Méndez

Writer:

Ramón Obón (story)

Release Date:

3 December 1959 (Mexico)

Genre:

Horror | Western

Plot:

A cowboy and his sidekick meet a ranching family that is haunted by spirits and vampires. |

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Vampire

Cast

Gastón Santos	...	Gastón
María Duval	...	María Elena García
Pedro de Aguillón	...	Coyote Loco
Carlos Ancira	...	Felipe
Carolina Barret	...	Clotilde
Antonio Raxel	...	Doctor (as Antonio S. Raxel)
Hortensia Santoveña	...	Doña María
Quintín Bulnes	...	Indio
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Guillermo Álvarez Bianchi	...	Don Emiliano (uncredited)
José Chávez	...	Lencho (uncredited)
José Dupeyrón	...	Asesino de Lencho (uncredited)
Eugenia Galindo	...	Clemencia (uncredited)
Hernán Vera	...	Cantinero (uncredited)

Directed by
Fernando Méndez

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ramón Obón		story and adaptation

Produced by
Alfredo Ripstein hijo	....	producer (as Alfredo Ripstein Jr.)
César Santos	....	producer (as Cesar Santos Galindo)

Original Music by
Gustavo César Carrión		(as Gustavo C. Carrion)

Cinematography by
Víctor Herrera

Film Editing by
Charles L. Kimball

Production Design by
Gunther Gerszo

Costume Design by
Consuelo Múgica
Francisco Preciado

Makeup Department
Evangelina Garibay	....	makeup artist (as Angelina Garibay)
Agripina Lozada	....	hair stylist (as Pina Lozada)

Production Management
Jorge Cardeña	....	production chief
Armando Solís	....	assistant production chief
Carlos Ventimilla	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Américo Fernández	....	assistant director

Sound Department
James L. Fields	....	sound supervisor
Javier Mateos	....	dialogue recordist
Raúl Portillo	....	sound editor (as Raul Portillo G.)

Special Effects by
Jorge Benavides	....	special effects (as 'Benavides')

Camera and Electrical Department
Regina Cárdenas	....	lighting technician (as Regino Cardenas)
Lupe García	....	camera operator (as Guadalupe Garcia)

Music Department
Galdino R. Samperio	....	music recordist (as Galdino Samperio 'Crucy')

Other crew
Javier Carreño	....	script supervisor
Nicolás Rueda hijo	....	titles (as Nicolás Rueda Jr.)
'Chema' Hernandez	....	head wrangler (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Alameda Films
• Young America Productions Inc.

Distributors

• Alameda Films (1959) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• CasaNegra Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Saturn Productions Inc. (video)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Trans-International Films (1965) (USA) (dubbed)

Also Known As:

Scream of Death (USA) (promotional title)
The Living Coffin (USA)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Alameda Films

Disappointing

Living Coffin, The (1959)

** (out of 4)

Mexican film that mixes the Western and Horror genres while at the same time connects the main villain to The Crying Woman character of various other Mexican films. Two cowboys show up to help some ranchers rid their curse, which appears to be the work of the ghost The Crying Woman. I was shocked to see how fast this 71-minute film flew by. A lot of these Mexican movies move rather slowly but that wasn't the case here. The look of The Crying Woman is very cheap but effective and the performances aren't as bad as you'd think and in fact they manage to be pretty good. The horror elements work very nicely but the Western stuff never really takes off too well. The ending is also a major disappointment and comes over very badly but overall this isn't too bad of a film but I'd recommend starting with a different Mexican film. Original title: Grito de la muerte, El.