Mimic (1997)

"Mimic" was Guillermo del Toro's first American film and only his second full-length production. His work as a director in the horror genre takes a few steps forward from his outstanding debut "Cronos". The film feels like a summer blockbuster, that it was made for the masses, which is made appearant by the casting choices and hefty budget for the time. While most people rate the movie highly, it failed to cover it's costs while in the box office. Luckily this fact did not harm del Toro's future as a director as he followed this film with "The Devil's Backbone" in 2001 and "Blade 2" in 2002.


The cockroaches of New York City are carrying and spreading a diesease that target and kills young children. The CDC is unable to find a cure or develop a vaccine to neturalize the diesease. They decide to approach the matter from a different angle, and with the help of Entomologist Susan Tyler, they introduce a bio-engineered breed of insect named the Judas Breed to kill off the cockroaches. The experiment is a success and the cockroach population drops to a new low. The Judas Breed were designed to die off within six months and were unable to reproduce. But.....
Fast forward three years and Susan is once again called into duty after two kids sell her a "weird bug" they found in the subway tunnels. To Susan's surprise, it's a large baby Judas. Before she is able to fully disect the spescisem, her office is broken into and steals the dead insect. Susan and her husband Peter go to the subway and break in to the area where the boys had found the bug, only to be turned away by a subway police officer named Leonard. A young austistic child named Chuy and his father Manny become involved after Chuy sees "the man with the funny shoes" enter an old church where a murder supposedly took place. All the main characters end up in the subway tunnels for their own reasons and end up attracting the attention of the Judas Breed, now called Mimic for their abiltiy to look like humans with long coats. These human sized, praying mantis-termite hybrids are quickly reproducing and present a real threat to the world at large. It's up to Susan and the others to find the nest and end the Judas program once and for all.

a Mimic

Susan and her husband Peter

A solider class Mimic

Norman Reedus is thrilled to be in his first movie

Mama (2013)

“Mama” was the first theatrical release that I saw in 2013 and it was an instant classic. It’s a ghost story, its PG-13, it’s more about suspense and thrills than violence and gore, and it’s nearly perfect. The script could have been cleaned up and streamlined because it does have some confusing moments, but nothing that hampers the overall enjoyment of this film. There are some playful and fun moments as well but this is primarily a ghost story that delivers its fair share of scares. This film is another project that Guillermo del Toro served as executive producer, and it was with his name and backing that this film was able to reach a massive audience and become a financial success.

Jeffrey has a mental breakdown and kills his business partner and his wife before kidnapping his young daughters and taking them to an isolated cabin with the intent on killing them and finally himself. Before he can kill Victoria and her little sister Lilly, Jeffrey is killed by the unseen “Mama”, who then takes care of the girls for the next five years. When the girls are finally found, they are reunited with their uncle Lucas, who takes them in to live with him and his punk rocker girlfriend Annabel. The small family moves into a house owned by Dr. Dreyfus and his clinic so they can be studied during the girl’s rehabilitation. But “Mama” has followed Victoria and Lilly to the house as well and has no intention of losing what she believes is hers.

Favorite moment – I love the scene when Lilly is playing with Mama in her bedroom and Victoria appears and stops Annabel just before she was about to enter the room.

Lilly and Victoria

Lucas and Annabel trying to protect Lilly and Victoria from Mama

Mama!

The Orphanage (2007)

In 2007 Guillermo Del Toro co-produced the movie “The Orphanage”, a film that continues the theme of children dealing with death or about the death of a child. This is a difficult movie to recommend because I found the first half slowly paced and not very interesting but I admit that the second half picks up and the story wraps up with an acceptable twist.

The film begins with Laura running around and playing with her fellow orphans. She is adopted and as next seen as an adult moving into the house that was once the orphanage. Laura and her husband plan to take care of 5 to 6 special needs children along with their own adopted son, Simon. Simon has imaginary friends, so his parents don’t find it odd when he meets a new “friend” names Thomas. One day, an agent from child services comes to the house with files about Simon. Laura sends the agent on her way when she starts talking about how Simon was adopted and how she can offer special treatments for his HIV; Laura later finds out that the there is no such woman working for the child services department.  Laura is shocked when Simon reveals the secret that he was adopted and explains that Thomas told him.

Simon soon goes missing after a fight with Laura about Thomas. Months go by and the police are unable to find any clues to where he might be. One day Laura and her husband see the woman who was pretending to be a child services agent but before they can talk to her, she is killed by a truck. The police go to her home and find old pictures and 8mm films. They discover and tell Laura that the old woman used to work at the orphanage. Laura doesn’t remember her or her son, a disfigured boy named Thomas. After more time passes, Laura grows desperate and seeks the help of a medium. This person explores the house and finds that it is haunted by the ghosts of five children who are begging for help because they have been poisoned. While everyone is willing and wanting to move on, Laura refuses and digs deeper into the mystery, following clues and finding more dark secrets.

Favorite moment – the ending.

El Espinazo Del Diablo - aka - The Devil's Backbone (2001)

I was honestly surprised that I enjoyed watching “The Devil’s Backbone” now than when I first saw it several years ago. It’s not nearly as gut-wrenching as “Pan’s Labyrinth” is but it is still a powerful movie about children having to deal with their new realities as the result of the Spanish Civil War. It is a ghost story and although you see the ghost quite often, he is not the main focus of the movie. The story is about the living and how to live during the time of war.

"The Devil's Backbone" is an engrossing ghost story that takes place in a far off school that has become a refuge for orphaned children of parents that have been killed or are still fighting in the Spanish Civil War. It begins when Carlos is brought to the school, unaware that his father has died. He becomes friends with two of the other boys there but immediately attracts the attention of the resident bully, Jaime. Carlos causes trouble, or takes the blame of various acts, as he tries to settle in. At night, he begins to hear things, see shadows, and finally discovers that the school is haunted by a ghost named Santi and eventually learns that Jaime knows how Santi died. 

The movie is also about Jacinto, a former orphan who grew up at the school and his attempts to steal gold ingots that are hidden there and are meant to fund the Republicans efforts in the war. He uses the school’s principal Carmen, preying on her weakness for affection while making false promises to the school’s young teacher Conchita. His selfish acts, as well as the approaching enemy forces, sets of a violent series of events that will affect the school forever.

Favorite moment – When Carlos first walks into the school yard and sees that undetonated bomb in the courtyard. It is a quiet and foreboding image but brings a smile to his innocent face. From this scene you realize that as violent or horrible as the situation might be, it’s filtered through the eyes of the innocent children in the school.