While discussing international outrageous genre films, most of the talk is about films from Europe and Asia. Often, we overlook the movies from right over the Southern border. Mexico has produced quite a few films that pushed the boundaries of how freaky a horror film can get. These are the types of films that when you’re told about them at a bar; your immediate response is this film can’t really exist. Infernal Rapist (El Violador Infernal) is one of those films that you will swear can’t possibly exist. This is a movie that’s 10 times as extreme as what I can describe here. The title really describes the film of a criminal who makes a deal with the devil to get back to evil.
While strapped in the electric chair, El Gato (Guns for San Sebastian‘s Noé Murayama) is visited by a Satanic spirit in the form of a woman (Ana Luisa Peluffo) dressed up in a variation of Cher’s “Turn Back Time” sheer outfit. She makes him an offer to save his life if he promises to keep giving her victims. The only major catch is that after he violates and kills them, he must carve “666” on their corpses. She will make him rich and give him the finest party favors in order to lure in the unwitting. Seeing how El Gato is already a serial killer, you have to wonder what’s the catch? El Gato isn’t thinking about the catch and accepts her offer. After he’s electrocuted, his body vanishes. Where did it go? To the apartment of what turns out to be his first victim. The cops find the body and have the initial feeling that this could be the work of El Gato. Except everyone knows that El Gato was electrocuted. El Gato picks his next pack of victims at a beauty salon where the staff doesn’t mind doing extra work if the price is right. They are all excited when a new rich customer shows up needing grooming habits and party pals. Little do they know it’s El Gato and maybe they’ll be sacrificed next. After a healthy tip, he’ll shove in the rest of the blade.
This movie is a Law and Order SVU episode done by David Lynch. Nothing is held back on the screen as El Gato goes into a kill frenzy when his dates go off the rails. He also gets superpowers from the Satanic spirit like laser eyes. El Gato is unstoppable and yet the movie is barely lasts 80 minutes, so something does stop him. There is a bizarre element within the grotesque when El Gato realizes he has to make sure to follow the rules of the Satanic spirit. You can almost feel for the guy when he realizes he’s no longer an independent self-starter. He has to answer to a boss. But then you remember that he’s a horrific monster and he’s still doing monstrous stuff to the employees of the beauty salon. He can’t be that sympathetic even if his life has turned into a nightmare. The film is a mixture of horrific visuals and rather comic asides. The investigating detective office is just littered with random guns. There’s a drive-in swinger club where patrons get served drinks and charcuterie platters in their cars while they get frisky in the front seats. How did this not become a big trend in 1988? How did this Mexican movie not gain even more traction when it came out? Was it just too extreme for cult crowds or did I not peruse the shelves hard enough at Dave’s Videodrome in Carrboro? If you want a film that you swear can’t be real, this a perfect place to start.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The scan is taken from a 4K transfer of the original 35mm camera negative. The resolution upgrade let you get an eyeful of the extreme moments. The audio is DTS-HD MA of the Spanish language track. The evil noises kick in with El Gato pulls out the knife. The movie is subtitled in English.
Interview with actor Juan Moro (4:23) has him talk about how the director gave an acting course before every scene. He made 10 films with Damian Acosta. He talks about what happened when he forgot his character had a limp.
Interview with Fidel Abrego (5:07) has the actor discuss what it took to be able to watch his work on screen. He’s been acting for 45 years.
Interview with Arturo Mason (6:16) has him talk about playing the first victim. He gets into the strange things that happened when they were trying to capture the intense scene. Was this a cursed movie?
Audio Essay by author & critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (18:18) has her say that you shouldn’t feel guilty about liking trash films. How can you watch this film without being moralistic or laughing off the movie. She goes into the shocking depictions in the film.
Vinegar Syndrome presents Infernal Rapist. Directed by Damián Acosta Esparza. Screenplay by Ulises Pérez Aguirre. Starring Noé Murayama, Princesa Lea, Ana Luisa Peluffo, Marisol Cervantes, Manuel ‘Flaco’ Ibáñez and Fidel Abrego. Rating: Unrated. Running Time: 84 minutes. Release Date: February 28, 2023.
