TWO MONKS aka DOS MONJES (1934)

In a monastery, a rite is being performed to "banish the devil from the house of God." Brother Javier, recently arrived, is sickly and suffering from fits and the monks assume he is possessed by evil spirits. Brother Juan is sent to his cell to perform an exorcism, but when they see each other, there is a spark of recognition, and Javier grabs a huge crucifix and batters Juan with it. Later Javier makes a confession to the head monk, the Prior, leading to the flashback that takes up the rest of the film. As a young man suffering from consumption, Javier would play love songs at the piano for Anita, the lovely young woman who lived next door and sat in her window listening to him. One day, he sees her boyfriend assaulting her; she scratches his face and is then turned out of her house by her parents. Javier and his mother take her in and soon they become quite close. Eventually, Javier's old friend Juan returns from adventuring and vows to help Javier build a career with his music, but for some reason, Juan begins avoiding Javier. After a while, Juan decides to go adventuring again, but the night before he leaves, Javier catches him in a compromising position with Anita. Javier attacks Juan who pulls a gun and fires at Javier, accidentally hitting Anita who dies. Juan leaves and Javier vows revenge. Then the Prior hears Juan's story and discovers a different truth: Juan and Anita had been lovers before she met Javier, and he was leaving to avoid any further involvement with her. Juan's story casts the conflict between the two in a different light. Can there be a reconciliation before Javier succumbs to his consumption?

Juan Bustillo Oro, who directed this, co-wrote PHANTOM OF THE MONASTERY which came out the same year. This is often lumped in with Phantom as a prime example of early Mexican horror films, but this isn't really a horror film, though it often conjures up the look and feel of 30s Hollywood films like DRACULA or THE BLACK CAT, especially in the intense concluding sequence in which Javier has a nightmarish vision of his fellow monks as a small army of grotesque living crucifixes. It's actually a fairly straightforward melodrama with two interesting techniques: the early use of the "Rashomon" story twist featuring multiple character takes on one story, and a visual look inspired by German expressionism, especially THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. Most of the sets are patently artificial, a bit askew, and even a little spooky, especially in the monastery. When we first see Javier playing the piano for Anita, it looks like a stage set with Anita upstage in a window frame and Javier downstage. The acting is also fairly mannered, though Victor Urruchua (Juan) and Carlos Villatoro (Javier) are fine. The artificial staginess of this may put some viewers off, but I quite enjoyed it, and whether or not it's really 'horror,' it would make fine Halloween viewing. [Criterion Channel]