Jaime Fernandez Movies

Pedro Armendariz stars as a man struggling to survive a stint in prison in Carne de Presidio. He is convicted of murder after accidentally killing the cruel husband of a female friend. His own family slides into hard times as the man stays behind bars. Soon he begins plotting an escape, but ends up trusting some untrustworthy men in the process. Soon the hero is in over his head with some very bad guys. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

La Rebelion de Los Colgados (The Rebellion of the Hanged) is dominated by the presence of Mexican film favorite Pedro Armendariz. The actor is cast as a peasant who works in a mahogany camp in the Mexican jungles with his family. Disgusted with the miserable living conditions imposed upon himself and his co-workers, the peasant finally spearheads a revolt against the sadistic bosses. Some of the scenes of brutality and torture are almost impossible to watch, and as such were trimmed when the film was released to the U.S. by United Artists. The film was based on a novel by Berwick Traven, of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre fame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After divesting himself of his own studio and distribution firm, producer Robert L. Lippert Jr. put together a group of low-budget films for 20th Century-Fox release. Filmed in Mexico, Lippert's Massacre stars Dane Clark as a mounted police officer, sent out to find a group of gun smugglers. Time is of the essence, since the villains are selling guns to the Yaqui Indian tribe, in preparation for an all-out war against the white settlers. Clark is able to destroy the stolen weapons and capture the smugglers, but the Yaquis manage to surround the officer and his prisoners. The outcome of the film is implicit in its title. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When a mysterious stranger on horseback rides into town and the superstitious locals begin to talk of a legendary gunfighter with the speed to outdraw even the fastest hand, it appears as if the undertaker is about to put in some overtime in this tense Mexican western directed by Chano Urueta and starring Luis Aguilar. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This is a well-made religious film on the miraculous appearances of the Virgin of Guadelupe to a converted Aztec, Juan Diego, in 1531. The Aztecs had a temple constructed to the Earth Mother, Tonantzin on Tepeyac Hill when the Spaniards razed it to the ground as a part of their campaign to destroy the native religion. Six years after Quauhtlatoatzin was baptized with the name Juan Diego (played by Jorge Martinez de Hoyos), he was on Tepeyac Hill when a vision of Tonantzin/the Virgin of Guadelupe appeared to him, asking him to construct a church on the site. (Recent excavations show that this world-famous basilica is built over ancient ruins.) The Bishop refused to believe him. So on her fourth and last appearance to Juan Diego, the Virgin told him to gather some roses growing there (roses never grew on the hill, were foreign to this region), wrap them up in his cloak, and take them to the Bishop. When he did so, the roses came tumbling out of the cloak to reveal an imprint of the Virgin on the material. The cloak and its image are still on display in the Basilica today. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Set during the time of the Mexican Revolution at the beginning of the 20th century, this routine melodrama stars Luis Aguilar as a mythical (invented) masked hero fashioned after silver-screen swashbucklers or lawmen like Zorro or the Lone Ranger ("El Llanero Solitario," popular in translation on Latin American television for several years). The masked rider needs his face covered, of course, or his enemies will discover his real identity. At the same time, his enemies are masked, too, making it a rather anonymous war. The hero is put through his paces forwarding the cause of the Revolution, saving the requisite damsel in distress, and unmasking and toppling the bad guys. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A woman suffering under the heavy hand of her abusive husband finds that salvation can arrive in the most unlikely of forms in this drama from director Julian Soler. Gabriela had feared that she might not survive her next confrontation with her violent husband Ramiro. Just when things were beginning to look especially grim, crafty criminal Doroteo Tranquilino rolled into town to collect a debt for his godfather - a notorious crime boss who goes by the name "Tiger" Lemus. But when the locals mistaken Doroteo for the "Tiger" himself, this quick-thinking criminal lackey decides to keep the truth to himself and go along with the game. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This sequel to "Invasion of the Vampires" pits a family against a particularly resilient vampire. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Raul (Igancio Lopez Tarso) is a white man who enjoys the simple way of life practiced by the Indians of Mexico. He does his best to try and help the tribe, but he becomes a victim of greedy land grabbers who covet the tribal property. Jaime Fernandez and Aurora Clavel play the Indians. The feature, written and directed by Luis Alcoriza, appeared at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi