There is a rich history of Mexican cinema that spans many different styles. When compared to other horror genres, Mexican films stand out due to the innovative way in which they combine indigenous myths, traditional folklore, and modern filmmaking techniques to create a cinematic world that is both varied and horrifying. Films like El Fantasma del Convento and Dos Monjes by writer-director Juan Bustillo Oro helped launch Mexico’s horror film industry in the 1930s.
It took a lot of work for Bustillo Oro to get his films shown in theaters before the 1950s because of the predominance of melodramas and Westerns at the time. Despite this, the success of his movies skyrocketed after U.S. producer K. Gordon Murray popularized Mexican horror films abroad. About thirty horror pictures were among the almost seventy Mexican films that Murray purchased and marketed in the United States. This marked the beginning of the international success of Mexican horror films.
Despite being eclipsed by their North American and European counterparts, Mexican horror films deserve international notice for their distinct plots, atmospheres, and approaches to the horror genre. Here, we look at the top fourteen Mexican horror movies that have significantly contributed to the genre.
14. Curse of the Aztec Mummy (1957)
This series presents many horror tropes that can still be found in Mexican horror movies today. Curse of the Aztec Mummy is the second in the franchise. The story follows Dr. Eduardo Almada as he attempts to save his lover, Flor, from her kidnapper.
Known as the first luchador horror film, Curse of the Aztec Mummy introduced the luchador horror subgenre made famous by real-life luchador-turned-actor El Santo. With many silly fights, this movie is less scary and more good fun. This is especially true for “The Angel,” who almost always loses his fights and probably wears his mask only to avoid being recognized later.
You can view the entire movie for free on YouTube.
13. El Vampiro (1957)
Fernando Méndez’s Mexican horror classic and cult film holds a lot of significance. Not only was it a remarkable black-and-white production, but it established the vampire genre in México, showed a vampire with fangs for the first time, and was intentionally funny.
During the journey to her family’s hacienda in Sierra Negra, Marta hears disturbing stories about vampires infesting the town. This eventually leads her to suspect her aunt and the mysterious neighbor next door.
While Ramón Obón draws upon several elements from Bram Stoker’s classic novel for the screenplay, he also introduces some inspired elements, greatly aided by Rosalo Solano’s cinematography, Gustavo César Carrión’s haunting score, and Méndez’s strong direction.
The film is available to stream and watch on Pluto TV, Tubi, and YouTube.
12. Tigers Are Not Afraid (Vuelven, 2017)
Despite being positioned as a horror flick, this film is much more. It reveals the horrors of a land without laws, where orphans fend for themselves, and it has beautiful fantasy intertwined within. Five children try to survive the horrific violence and ghosts created by the drug war every day in this dark fairy tale.
The movie seamlessly blends the creatively limited use of CGI by Lopez and his cinematographer Juan Jose Saravia to bring the kids’ supportive plush toys to life with the horrors of Mexico’s drug cartels, portrayed in long corridor tracking shots while staying next to the kids in the back alleys of the cartel territory.
As Estrella and her teacher lay on the floor avoiding gunfire during the drug war, and the teacher passes over chalk pieces that will grant her three wishes, the screenplay by Lopez refreshingly does not sugarcoat the orphans’ dialogue. The story shows pieces of their daily life as they live on the streets, fighting to avoid being killed by cartel gang members every day.
For those who think that horror can’t combine realism and fantasy to create a metaphor for beauty, Tigers Are Not Afraid is a great and necessary addition to the genre.
The film is available to stream on AMC+ and to rent or buy on Prime Video.
11. Huesera: The Bone Woman (Huesera, 2022)
As Valeria’s biggest desire and goal, becoming a mother is one of her top priorities. After receiving the shocking news that she is indeed pregnant, everything around her turns into an unwanted negative energy that forces Valeria to dig deep into her past and discover her true self and desires.
If you’re looking for a standard horror movie about haunted houses, this may not be for you. As her debut feature film, Michelle Garza Cervera delivers an atmospheric, slow-burn drama that explores the complex issues surrounding motherhood and the social expectations and pressures young women face in today’s modern society.
This director’s first feature, Huesera: The Bone Woman, unfolds through the prism of horror elements and Mexican mythology. It’s an excellent and highly recommended debut, but it shouldn’t be considered your typical horror film by any means.
Huesera: The Bone Woman is available to stream on AMC+ and to rent or buy on Prime Video.
10. Even the Wind is Afraid (Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo, 1968)
Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo (Even the Wind is Afraid), directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada, is an iconic example of Mexican horror. The film is a tribute to Taboada’s storytelling skill and ability to merge ordinary life with the fantastic. It is an excellent blend of psychological horror, suspense, and the supernatural. The events in Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo take place in a girls’ boarding school, which, under Taboada’s skilled handling, becomes a maze of suppressed fears, anxieties, and an intolerable burden of guilt.
Claudia, a former student, haunts the school after she commits suicide due to the severe punishments imposed by the inflexible headmistress Bernarda. Taboada expertly creates tension by piling in a palpable sense of foreboding. The ghostly presence isn’t the only thing keeping students up at night; the boarding school’s strict rules contribute, too. This authoritarian regime instills a terror just as absolute as the fear of the otherworldly, creating a multifaceted horror. In 2007, a new film with the same name hit theaters. The critical response to the remake was poor, but audiences responded positively.
The movie is available to stream on Tubi and to rent or buy on Amazon.
9. Holy Blood (Santa Sangre, 1989)
A standout in the history of Mexican horror films, Santa Sangre (1989) is the work of the eccentric and creative director Alejandro Jodorowsky. To successfully combine dread with its own aesthetic sensibility, Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) stretches the boundaries of the horror genre with its surreal, symbolic, and psychologically driven approach. Fenix is a young man locked away in a mental facility, with a tragic backstory including a deadly love triangle involving his circus performer parents. After a string of killings, Fenix’s armless mother pushes him to become her ‘arms’ so that she can continue her act.
The horror of Santa Sangre comes from its voyage into Fenix’s tormented mind, not merely from the film’s graphic violence. The story hinges around the titular Santa Sangre, a religious sect that worships a girl whose arms were severed, resulting in a pool of “holy blood.” The story revolves around this unsettling dynamic between Fenix and his mother. Jodorowsky uses stark, terrifying images to explore themes of parental tyranny, religious fanaticism, and mental illness. The brutal murders and the unsettling psychological manipulation and control over Fenix contribute to the tragedy.
Santa Sangre is available to stream on AMC+ and Tubi and to rent or buy on Amazon and YouTube.
8. Macario (1960)
Roberto Gavaldón’s Macario is a profound, allegorical masterwork that deviates from the typical fare of horror films thanks to its weaving of fantasy, the supernatural, and the macabre. The film, based on a short story by B. Traven, takes place in colonial Mexico and tells the narrative of a poor peasant named Macario who longs to eat a meal for himself rather than splitting it with his many hungry family members. The film’s climax occurs when Macario is visited by three ghosts representing God, the Devil, and Death, forcing him to confront difficult questions about his existence.
With Macario, Gavaldón highlights the chilling reality of real-life suffering via a riveting depiction of desperation, poverty, and mortality. The bleakness of Macario’s poverty, the severity of his hunger, and his anguish for a good meal are all depicted with such unrefined realism that they give the viewer the creeps. Macario was the first film from Mexico nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1960, it was also shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Fans and critics agree that Macario is up there as one of the best Mexican movies of all time.
This film is currently available to stream on ViX.
7. The Book of Stone (El Libro de Piedra, 1969)
Written and directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada, El Libro de Piedra (The Book of Stone) is a supernatural horror film driven by the story of a young girl named Silvia, who becomes strangely linked to a stone statue of a girl named “Hugo” in an old home. As Silvia interacts with Hugo, whom she insists is not a statue but a real female, the tension builds, taking the audience on a terrifying trip that blurs the barriers between reality and fiction. Fear in El Libro de Piedra stems primarily from the viewer’s confusion about whether Hugo is an invention of Silvia’s mind or an actual supernatural being.
Taboada does an excellent job of instilling a sense of dread and suspense throughout the film, prompting viewers to doubt their perceptions. The picture was favorably received by audiences and reviewers alike, earning a reputation as one of the scariest of its time. The film’s writer/director, Carlos Enrique Taboada, won plaudits for making the audience imagine the psychological horror concepts throughout the film, which made the jump scares and ghostly appearances at the end of the film all the more unsettling.
You can stream The Book of Stone on Plex.
6. Under the Salt (Bajo la Sal, 2008)
Directed by Mario Muñoz, Bajo la Sal (Under the Salt) is a newbie to the realm of Mexican horror films. Still, its compelling story, excellent acting, and moody camerawork leave quite an impact. The film follows Humberto Zurita’s determined police officer, Victor Zepeda, as he investigates a string of brutal killings in a sleepy seaside village that survives on salt production.
Victor must uncover a complex network of lies, corruption, and hidden terror after the bodies of young girls are discovered buried in the salt fields. While many horror movies rely on ghosts and bloodshed, Bajo la Sal injects dread through its unflinching look at real-world evils. The film’s terror resides in what lurks behind the tranquil surface of the coastal community. As a classic horror trope, the stark contrast between the idyllic landscape and the concealed murders shows how appearances may be deceiving.
5. Poison for the Fairies (Veneno para las Hadas, 1984)
The 1984 Mexican horror film Veneno para las Hadas (Poison for the Fairies) by Carlos Enrique Taboada is a rare jewel that expertly probes the borders between a child’s innocence, imagination, and grim realities. Verónica and Flavia, both ten years old, are the story’s protagonists. Verónica, an orphan who lives with her great-aunt and a maid, frequently makes up stories about her witchy abilities because she is captivated by them. She befriends the wealthy but gullible Flavia then uses stories of witches and black magic to control her.
The darkening of their shared fantasy world parallels the development of their bond. Taboada goes deeply into these young girls’ psyches, examining the intersection of their dreams and reality. The viewer is left wondering where the line between fantasy and reality lies as he expertly captures the spirit of childhood terrors and the might of the imagination. The film’s real scare comes from its in-depth psychological examination, not from any otherworldly creatures but from the horrific potential of a child’s imagination.
Poison for the Fairies is available to stream on AMC+ and to rent or buy on Amazon.
4. Cronos (1993)
Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed the Mexican independent horror movie Cronos in 1992. The film stars Federico Luppi and Ron Perlman. Cronos is the debut feature film by del Toro and the first of many collaborations with Luppi and Perlman. The film is an original take on the vampire mythos that blends horror, fantasy, and a dark fairy tale into a moving examination of immortality, desire, and the human condition.
The plot follows antiquarian Jesús Gris as he investigates the mysterious Cronos, a scarab-shaped gadget from the 16th century. When turned on, the Cronos device bestows eternal life and gives the user a vampire’s insatiable craving for blood. At the same time as Jesús is trying to come to terms with the unsettling implications of his newfound immortality, a dying businessman is on his tail, determined to get his hands on the Cronos device. The Cronos device in Cronos offers a fresh take on the classic vampire mythos.
The movie is available to stream on Max and to rent or buy on Prime Video and Amazon.
3. The Similars (Los Parecidos, 2015)
The 2015 film Los Parecidos, directed by Isaac Ezban, takes place in a deserted bus stop on a stormy night in October. The eight strangers spending the night in the station begin to encounter a peculiar phenomenon: they begin to look increasingly alike as the night goes on. The tension, suspicion, and fear increase as their distinct identities become less clear.
The protagonists’ existential anxiety stems from their identity loss and fear of the unknown, converting their predicament into a metaphysical nightmare. A hallmark of the picture is its unique visual style. The film’s bizarre story is emphasized by the use of vivid hues that evoke the technicolor of the 1960s and give the movie a dreamlike air.
This film is currently available to stream on Screambox and to buy on Apple TV.
2. We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay, 2010)
The horror film We Are What We Are (Somos lo que hay) was directed by Jorge Michel Grau and released in 2010. Injecting societal commentary into the horror genre, this standalone sequel to Cronos (1993) follows a family of cannibals living in the center of Mexico City as they struggle to carry on with their horrific ritual after their father’s unexpected death. Grau’s use of the cannibal family as a metaphor for urban society’s class divisions and survival issues is ingenious.
The violence depicted in the film is unrelenting, highlighting the protagonists’ baser, animalistic tendencies as they engage in cannibalistic rites. Yet, the proceedings are given an uncanny feeling of normalcy by intercutting shots of domesticity, showing the characters going about their daily lives, with the more violent ones. This contrast adds to the film’s eerie atmosphere by muddying the distinctions between humans and monsters.
We Are What We Are (Somos lo que hay) is available to stream on AMC+ and Tubi and to rent or buy on Prime Video.
1. Kilometer 31 (Kilómetro 31, 2006)
A disturbing tale of otherworldly powers and familial devotion, Kilómetro 31, directed by Rigoberto Castañeda, is one of Mexican horror films’ most commercially successful films. The main characters of this tale are identical twins named Catalina and Ágata. After a vehicle accident on Kilometer 31 leaves Ágata in a coma, Catalina has paranormal experiences and hears her sister’s cries for help.
Catalina, intent on rescuing her sister, investigates the sinister mystery of Kilometer 31, where she finds a tragic story of forbidden love and the vengeful spirit of La Llorona. The film’s ingenious use of La Llorona, a figure from Mexican folklore, gives it a solid cultural foundation. In Mexican folklore, La Llorona is one of the most well-known creatures; she is the ghost of a lady who drowned her children and is cursed to spend eternity looking for them.
