Directed by Alejandro Brugues, the 2023 horror thriller “Satanic Hispanics” could have been an extraordinary addition to the genre, but unfortunately, due to lack of execution and vision, it mostly fails in all aspects. Even as the film reaches the climax, you feel like you have been bluffed all along with the promising premise. Four horror stories consisting of voodoo, vampires, creatures, and a humorous Constantine are surrounded by a rather funny story about a traveler who is chased by a demonic saint. The film indeed has some moments to be talked about, especially the first story. But it’s just not good enough to be rated even a 6 out of 10. Anything less than that will do.
Spoilers Ahead.
Satanic Hispanics (2023) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:
The film starts with a police squad breaking into a house in El Paso. There, they find numerous dead bodies and one man tied up in a chair. That man is holding a gun in his left hand, and he suddenly points the gun at the police. They shoot at him, and after shooting a couple of times, they realize that someone is behind a certain door who is pulling the chain, resulting in the already dead man pointing the gun at the police. When they open the door, they see a man trying to get out of the room through a window.
Seeing the police, the man tries to cut his hand from the wrist so that he can free himself from the chain and run away. However, the police catch him, and he finds himself in the interrogation room with Detective Arden and Detective Gibbons. The man introduces himself as Juan, aka Johnny, aka the traveler who is chased by someone who is beyond logic. Juan requests the detectives to set himself free because if they do not, there will be consequences beyond their control. Later, he starts narrating stories he has experienced while he was traveling around the world.
Who is Gustavo, and What becomes of Him?
While describing what exactly happened in that room, Juan brings up the topic of Gustavo. He says that Gustavo has the ability to see what normal humans can not see. We are introduced to Gustavo, a lonely man living in a house, performing some rituals that help him see the presence of a ghost. He is asked to participate in a Rubik’s Cube competition in which he is quite good. But in recent times, he has not felt like participating in the competition. His sister Jessy is trying to help him settle in his life. However, Gustavo is too rigid to do anything to improve his present condition. He is only motivated by his talent to bring the dead.
Later that night, Vicente comes to his house to see how Gustavo works his magic to bring back the dead. After a couple of times, Vicente truly sees something and runs away from the house. Later, while chatting with his sister, Gustavo suddenly finds a dead person crawling on his floor. Gustavo breaks two of his fingers while running away from the dead body. Then he finds Vicente knocking at the door. He asks to bring the ghost from the earlier back as it was his mother’s ghost. Gustavo tells him about the dead body downstairs, and surprisingly, when Vicente sees it, he hugs the dead body by addressing it as ‘mother.’
Gustavo uses his flashlight in the same pattern he follows to solve the Rubik’s cube. This is his trick of the business, and now, with the broken finger, he tries one more time to make it clear to Vicente that it is not his mother. But right after he starts the ritual, a scenario from the past happens in front of his eyes. Gustavo’s father died in a train accident, and his body was cut into pieces. The same incident takes place in front of him, and when he leaves the house, he tells Jessy. But Jessy tells him the picture of the crawling dead body shows Gustavo’s face only. While Gustavo sees his father in it, and Vicente sees his mother.
By performing the rituals, Gustavo has given birth to a demon that can transform its identity, which varies from person to person. This is the reason why Jessy sees his brother in the photo while Gustavo sees his father and Vicente, his mother. Everyone sees the one they love the most in that satanic entity. This is the reason at the end of the first story, Gustavo sees himself within the entity, covered in blood because perhaps the entity wants to show Gustavo his true color as he is responsible for performing rituals that perhaps cause the death of Vicente.
Is Maribel able to save El Vampiro?
As soon as the story of Gustavo ends, the detectives learn something bizarre about Juan. They find out that officially Juan is dead in a car accident, and when asked about how he survived, Juan says that he is sort of immortal. When they do not believe him, he uncovers his hand and shows that his injury (the one he received from trying to cut his wrist to escape from the chain) healed too fast. To make them believe, Juan mentions a series of murders that took place during a Halloween eve. He says that he knows who the killer is and then starts telling them the story of Maribel and El Vampiro.
We see El Vampiro killing numerous people and sucking the blood out of them during Halloween Eve. Soon, he receives a phone call from his lover, Maribel, saying that it is only 15 minutes to sunrise and he must head back to his home. While El Vampiro tries to return, he faces multiple obstacles, which leads him to a situation where it is impossible for him to return to his home in time. But Maribel comes to the rescue and offers him a ride. However, because of the traffic, they fail to reach their home and later seek shelter inside a garbage box.
The box is not enough to stop the sunlight from reaching them. Hence, a passerby finds two skeletons inside it while dropping his garbage bag. The man thinks that this is a skeleton used as a prop during Halloween Eve. But we see the skeletons holding hands together. Before their death, El Vampiro thanks Maribel for sacrificing her life only to save his. Maribel, on the other hand, expresses her gratitude for giving her this immortal life and explains how grateful she has been to spend time together with El Vampiro for centuries.
Who are the Nahuales?
During the interrogation, Detective Gibbons shows Juan the items that he has received. There is a small bottle of blood, and to explain what it is, Juan takes them to the story of the Nahuales. We see a man traveling in a vast green land with a horse. On the horse, there is a dead body, and by the looks of it, the man seems to be running away from something vicious. Soon, he hears some creature crying from the forest he left behind. He speeds up and reaches a house nearby. Then, he calls the CIA and tells them about his identity. He is Ramon, and his wife and children are shot to death.
The CIA confirms his identity and his involvement in taking down the political leader Jose Luis Salvador, who is responsible for the mass murders of innocent civilians in the United States of America. So, the body Ramon was carrying was Jose’s, and while he was hiding it, we see some men following him. Soon, three men attack him and bring him into the forest. We are introduced to a woman who is sort of head of the Nahuales. The reason behind Ramon’s abduction is he has stolen blood that contains magical powers. Now, the Nahuales are here to punish him for his sin.
The woman describes the Nahuales as the root of the plants. They are the embodiment of mother nature, and if anyone tries to disrespect the rhythm, they kill them. We see the Nahuales performing some sort of ritual and then killing Ramon by cutting his throat. Later, the woman goes through a transformation as if she is taking in the sin that Ramon has committed. And then she tears her skin and makes some sort of juice of it before drinking the blood that Ramon stole from them.
At the end of the story, we see Nahuales showing a couple of dead bodies that suggest the bodies of Ramon’s wife and children. Perhaps Ramon’s wife was related to the Nahuales. Knowing that he has killed them, they come for revenge. The blood probably runs in their veins, and to collect the magical power, Ramon must have killed his wife and children. Now, he faces his doom as the Nahuales succeed in taking revenge.
How does Malcolm get rid of the Demon?
After the story of Ramon is done and dusted, Detective Gibbons shows Juan a special bullet. He explains that this bullet requires a special gun to shoot the one who is chasing him. We will come to that later, as this discussion brings forth the last story that Juan tells the detectives: the story of Malcolm and the Cuban satanic entity. Malcolm enters a cafe, where Amy awaits him.
Malcolm greets her and tells her he remembers the last time he was inside the cafe was the time they broke up. Later, he tells Amy about being cursed because of recording a secret ceremony for Amy’s documentary in the past. Nothing would have happened if they did not record anything. However, Malcolm recorded it, which resulted in the deaths of his colleagues. Malcolm thinks that by recording the ceremony, he has awoken demons that are coming after everyone related to the documentary.
Soon, Malcolm confronts Amy by saying that he understands that Amy is already dead as this cafe has been closed for a long time, and it is a hallucination created by the demon that now owns Amy’s body. Malcolm then explains that he is carrying the private part of a demon named Popobawa brought earlier the week. The demon inside Amy’s body thinks that he is invincible. But Malcolm uses the private part of Popobawa and kills the demon in an instant. When the police recover Malcolm from the cafe, everyone else inside the cafe is found dead. They leave Malcolm, saying that he is the only survivor of a drastic gunfight.
Satanic Hispanics (2022) Movie Ending Explained:
Can Juan Kill San La Muerte?
Juan explains that he had once made a bargain with San La Muerte to save his wife and child from being sacrificed. But when the time came, Juan feared death and ran away from it. Since then, San La Muerte has followed him wherever he goes. But, since Juan is one step ahead, he has successfully outrun his death so far. However, being locked up inside the police station will help San La Muerte find him and kill him. While the detectives are trying to digest his stories, they hear gunshots outside. Soon, they find out that San La Muerte has arrived at the police station and is making the police officers shoot each other.
Detective Gibbons runs to the evidence room and brings Juan the special gun and the special bullet that can kill San La Muerte. Juan thought the gun had been lost for 80 years. Fortunately, unbeknownst to him, it was always here, in the evidence room. Juan picks up the gun and shoots San La Muerte. We see the demon fading away as Juan gets into a car and leaves for a new destination. At the end of the film, we see Juan being stopped by a police officer. When asked, he says if the officer does not allow him to leave, there will be consequences (just like he told the detectives).
This proves that no matter what, San La Muerte is unkillable. The special bullet only gives Juan enough time to run away. It perhaps opens up a 90-minute window in which Juan is able to go far from San La Muerte. However, Juan’s immortality seems to become a curse as he needs to be on the run always to avoid getting killed by San La Muerte. In other words, Juan likes the other side of the curse, the way he cheats death every time. It gives him the thrill of enjoying his immortal life. We don’t know if we will be seeing Juan again in the future. But we are waiting for a better duel between Juan and San La Muerte.
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