The 10 Best Latin American Horror Movies

Go ahead, gringo, cross the border and enter a world of terror!

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Complex Original

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Beneath all unsuspecting and narrow-minded genre heads’ noses, there’s a young horror filmmaker from Argentina who’s slowly building quite the reputation for himself: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and ghouls, please cyber-meet Adrián García Bogliano. Earlier this year, we caught our first glimpse of the 32-year-old writer and director’s agreeably daft sensibilities with the DVD release of Cold Sweat, a zany variation on the whole “torture porn” subgenre that’s as kinetically paced as it's sordidly imagined. It’s the kind of what-the-fuck picture that immediately makes one want to investigate the previously unknown creator’s filmography, and the good news is that we’re now able to see what else Bogliano is working with, cinematically speaking.

Opening in extremely limited release, via IFC Midnight, Bogliano’s much slower and, if the press notes are to be believed, Roman Polanski-esque shocker Penumbra taps into the always fertile terror ground of the occult. The film’s heroine (played by Cristina Brondo, the owner of a glorious pair of twos) rents out an apartment to a strange older man, who, as it turns out, dabbles in Satanic rituals whenever there’s a solar eclipse, and, unfortunately for our new breast friend Brondo, there’s one on the horizon.

Bogliano has already staked his claim as one of Latin America’s most gifted new filmmakers, and he’s already made a film worthy of inclusion on our following list of The 10 Best Latin American Horror Movies. Sadly, Miss Brondo doesn’t star in any of them—believe us, we tried to find one with her name in the credits just so we could include it here. No dice.

Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)

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10. Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo (1968)

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9. Jennifer's Shadow (2004)

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8. Cold Sweat (2012)

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7. We Are What We Are (2011)

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6. Tintorera (1978)

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5. The Devil's Backbone (2001)

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4. The Witch's Mirror (1962)

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3. This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967)

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2. Cronos (1993)

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1. Alucarda (1978)

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