Claudia Becker Movies

Director Zev Berman teams with screenwriter Eric Poppen to explore the occult-based Mexican border-town murder spree that claimed the lives of 60 innocents between January and March of 1989 alone. Graduation is drawing near and the spring breeze is blowing, what better time for three thrill-seeking Texas University students to make a run for the border to celebrate with one last wild weekend of drinking and debauchery? Though all the elements were in place for the perfect weekend getaway, this hard-partying trio is about to find out just how quickly things can take a turn for the worse when you're a stranger in a strange land. Upon running afoul of an ancient blood cult in search of the perfect human sacrifice, the three unsuspecting students are abducted and prepared for the ritualistic execution that will give Mexican drug runners supernatural protection that reaches above and beyond the laws of man. Sean Astin, Rider Strong, and Jake Muxworthy star in an ominous tale of occult bloodletting inspired by actual events. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Filmmaking duo Andres Leon Becker and Javier Solar took home top prize at the Guadalajara and Montreal Film Festivals for this visually inventive tale the warm relationship shared between a seven-year old girl and her single mother, and what becomes of their bond when the imaginative daughter becomes convinced that mom has been possessed by a vampire. Alicia and her mother live alone in a small apartment, yet despite the absence of a father figure, their close relationship between the pair provides all the emotional nourishment that a mother and her daughter could ever hope for. When mom unexpectedly comes home with one boyfriend, and then another, however, Alicia becomes convinced by a classmate that the depression and romantic problems that her mother are currently experiencing are a surefire sign that that a nefarious supernatural force is at work. Soon convinced that her sickly old neighbor is in fact a devious bloodsucker who has cast an evil spell on her once-happy mom, Alicia boldly determines to sneak into the apartment of the "vampire" and break the curse by placing a crucifix on the old man's chest. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Filmed in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, this massive biography of Cuban leader Fidel Castro begins in the 1950s, when the title character, then a young and hungry lawyer, bristles at the iniquities and corruption of the Batista political regime. Inspired by the words by left-wing radio commentor Eddie Chibas (Hector Elizondo), Fidel becomes active in a revolutionary movement aimed at toppling Fulgencio Batista (Tony Plana). In 1959, Castro and his followers stage a spectacularly successful coup, one that is staunchly supported by thousands of idealists and Cuban expatriates in the United States. Unfortunately, to paraphrase cartoonist Bill Mauldin, no sooner has Fidel come down from the hills like Robin Hood than he begins behaving like the Sheriff of Nottingham, killing scores of his political enemies in round-the-clock executions, routinely snatching away the basic human rights that he had promised his followers, and embracing Communism with a fervent passion. Although the film does not shy away from showing the darker side of Castro, it is essentially sympathetic to its subject, balancing the Cuban dictator's political outrages with his many acts of benevolence, and attempting to provide "motivation" for what seem to be appalling contradictions. Victor Huggo Martin and Honorato Magaloni are cast respectively as the younger and older Castro, with Maurice Compte as his brother Raul and Gael Garcia Bernal as the ill-fated Che Guevara.Fidel was originally telecast in two parts over the Showtime cable network on January 27 and 28, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Santitos is a character-driven comedy about a young Mexican woman who has to come to terms with the loss of her teenage daughter. Esperanza's daughter Blanca suddenly and mysteriously dies in the hospital where she was having her tonsils removed. Shortly afterward, the vision of a saint appears on the greasy glass door of the oven, telling Esperanza that Blanca is not dead. Despite warnings from her best friend and the local priest, she embarks on an incredible journey across the country and over the border that helps her shed her inhibitions one by one. Out comes a different Esperanza, a liberated independent woman who is also sexually uninhibited. Santitos was screened as part of the Filmmakers of the Present section of the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

A shy radio telescope operator named Zane Ziminski (Charlie Sheen) picks up a series of regular signals coming from space -- and deliberately pointed toward Earth. Convinced that he has discovered alien transmissions, Ziminski is first chastised and then fired by his boss (Ron Silver). Obsessed, he builds a makeshift radio telescope in his house to find out where the signals were sent. Convinced that they're intended for aliens already hidden on Earth, he tracks them to a bleak, isolated Mexican village, where he joins forces with a female scientist (Lindsey Crouse), who has suspicions of her own after witnessing an acceleration of global warming. The villagers turn out to be aliens, and the village a front for an underground alien complex. The aliens are here to "terraform" Earth and prepare it for the arrival of the rest of their race, who will die unless they leave their homeworld and colonize elsewhere. Only Ziminski can stop them. Written and directed by David N. Twohy, The Arrival is a throwback to the genre chillers of the '50s. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

Death and the Compass is a loose adaptation of a Jorge Luis Borges short story from eccentric British writer-director Alex Cox (Repo Man). Treviranus (Miguel Sandoval), disheveled and haunted by the past, narrates the story of the last great case of a famous detective, Lonnrot (Peter Boyle). In a vaguely futuristic unnamed metropolis (most of the film was shot in Mexico City), Lonnrot investigates the case of a murdered rabbi, who was a Kabala scholar. Treviranus, Lonnrot's commander, quite rationally believes the murder was a botched robbery, and the work of the insane masked local crime lord Red Scarlach. But Lonnrot finds the last words the rabbi wrote, "The first letter of the name has been spoken," and thinks there was a more complex, kabalistic motive to the crime. Lonnrot asks a journalist, Zunz (Christopher Eccleston), to help him unravel the mystery. Soon, another murder and a disappearance lend credence to Lonnrot's mystical theory, and the clever detective believes he can predict and prevent the next crime. As the disgraced Treviranus tells the story, his jealousy and resentment of Lonnrot's powers of deduction and his popularity with the public become evident. After making El Patrullero (Highway Patrolman), Cox was commissioned by the BBC to do a short Borges adaptation for television. He later got additional funding (partly for directing The Winner, which he later disavowed after the producers made changes without his consent) to expand Death and the Compass into a feature. He added all the scenes of Treviranus' narration, and an elaborate scene in which he himself plays a blind detective cut down by Red Scarlach. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

At the time of her death in 1955 at age twenty five, Czech-born Mexican actress Miroslava had been in over twenty films. Her cool, distant beauty attracted Mexican viewers to her films then and continues to do so now. This biographical drama covers her life as a young girl escaping just ahead of the Nazis, up to the time she had a disastrous affair with the famed bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. Although she was apparently quite cool and impervious to feeling, she was actually quite fragile, and her discovery of her promiscuous lover's betrayal of her led her to commit suicide. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Tomas is a very busy fellow and is about to grow much, much busier. He has his current girlfriend in bed in one apartment, and his lady boss in bed in the next one, and is crossing from one to the other on a window ledge. Neither one has figured out what he is up to. His juggling act becomes much more complicated when, on one occasion from the ledge between the two apartments he spots his pretty new neighbor. It's only a matter of time before one or all of these women gives him his richly deserved comeuppance. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The last thing that seductive Lu the nightclub singer expected when the pirates abducted her was to be taken to an ancient Central American temple and worshiped by its people as a moon goddess. Actually she never expected to be abducted by pirates either. All she really expected was to entertain people living in the jungle. This adventure chronicles her exploits as the beloved moon goddess. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Kathleen Turner plays a writer of adventure stories, Joan Wilder, who has been having trouble selling her works of late because they aren't remotely believable. The basic problem is that the mousy Joan has never had any real adventure in her life. All this changes when she receives a frantic phone call from her sister, whose is being held prisoner by evil art dealers in Colombia. It seems that sis has mailed Joan a map leading to a valuable treasure. Nasty but cowardly Ralph (Danny DeVito), cousin of the principal villain (Zack Norman), has been assigned to claim the map from Joan. But upon arriving in Colombia, Joan and Ralph learn that others of a more homicidal bent are also after the map. Joan is rescued by soldier of fortune Jack Colton (Michael Douglas), who isn't quite clear about his stake in the proceedings. Jack and Joan undergo several perilous adventures in the wilds of Colombia. The treasure turns out to be a valuable jewel, which changes hands (one of them severed!) many times before it is swallowed by an alligator. Joan manages to break free from her pursuers, but Jack is presumed dead. Jack returns at the end of the film in Manhattan to surprise Joan. The sequel to Romancing the Stone was 1985's The Jewel of the Nile. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi