13 January 2024

Review: México Bárbaro II

Blu-ray: México Bárbaro II (2017)

Our 1st review from our new partnership with Unearthed Films, and if this is any indication of their output, then I’m very much looking forward to reviewing many more throughout 2024 and beyond.

México Bárbaro II is a horror anthology featuring the stories from a collection Mexican directors, each giving their own twist on traditional tales and legends, all with a healthy splattering of blood and guts.

Like any anthology movie the quality varies between each story, but none of the stories had me uninterested in what was happening…more than can be said for some anthology movies I watched.

Though limited on budget, the featured filmmakers give a creative twist on the narrative they are telling, with particular highlights for me being tales of family cannibalism, demon torture, slumber party mayhem and the mistaken identity of a child rapist.

From the above little snippets of the stories you can already tell that this isn’t something that would play in your local multiplex, and cinema goers who only watch the latest blockbusters there may well not enjoy this. But they’re not the target audience for this movie, it’s aimed at cinephiles and horror enthusiasts who seek out the obscure and unusual, no matter what the budget or which country it comes from. If you (as I do) fall into that demographic, then México Bárbaro II has a lot to offer you.

The varied production values, special effects and acting all added to the charm for me, and being more at the indie end of the filmmaking spectrum, it gave scope for more creative chances to be taken…and more weird and wonderful visual thrills to be poured onto the screen.

México Bárbaro II is a horror anthology that throws you into the dark underbelly of Mexican folklore and then throws a bucket of decaying human organs all over you. If that sounds like your sort of thing, then make sure to pick this up ASAP.