Mario Pena Movies

Ruben Blades stars in this low-budget independent salsa musical (filmed in Spanish Harlem at a cost of $600,000), chronicling the rise and fall of a salsa artist who wants to hit the big time. Blades plays Rudy Veloz, a salsa musician who grabs one-night gigs in Latino nightclubs. He idolizes Julio Iglesias and dreams of putting together a band that will incorporate a blend of musical styles so that Rudy can crossover to mainstream commercial success. However, he is warned by his mentor, Cheo Babalu (Virgilio Marti), that his music is garbage and that he should write from the soul. Rudy ignores him, pursuing his passion for middle-of-the-road success. Rudy is noticed at a concert by a record producer, who puts out a successful single of one of Rudy's tunes. The success of the single goes to Rudy's head, and he walks out on his loyal girlfriend Liz (Elizabeth Pena) and drops his long-time manager, Ray (Frank Robles). But Rudy can't match his hit single with another crossover tune and his producer drops him. Without support of the producer or his friends, Rudy falls back into obscurity. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

This prison drama is taken from the play by Eduardo Corbe. The title refers to the term used by Fidel Castro to describe his political opponents (English translation -- "worms"). A sadistic inquisitor is relentless in his grilling of three men and two women who are captured in the Cuban jungle. Captain Morena (Mario Pena) is the pro-Castro military officer who is caught between party loyalty and what he believes is unfair treatment of the prisoners. He is torn between wanting to impress visiting Soviet officials and determining the fate of the captives. The first version of this film came out in 1977, but the prints were stolen and subsequently damaged. Restored prints were used in the new version, much of which had to be redone due to the extensive damage obviously orchestrated by minions loyal to Castro. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi