Carmen Montejo Movies

Humor and tragedy mingle in this film, which examines the lives of a handful of people living in a large Mexico City apartment complex. Teresa (Lorena Rojas) has an unexpected encounter with a boy she knew from high school; where she once taunted him as a bookworm, she now finds herself attracted to him sexually. Horacio (Rafael Sanchez Navarro) loses his job, and his wife Eva (Veronica Merchant) responds by demanding a divorce. Josafat (Salvador Garcini) and his wife Ruth (Toni Marcin) are a deeply religious couple who are not sure how to react to their new upstairs neighbors (Cristina Michaus and Odiseo Bichir), who have sex loudly, enthusiastically, and frequently. Celina (Ana Martin) is a prostitute who finds herself attracted to her teenage son Santiago (Jairo Gomez); Santiago, on the other hand, seems uncertain about his sexuality, and sometimes plays peeping Tom with one of the gay men in the building when he isn't trying on Celina's clothes. And elderly Mr. Cano (Jorge Galvan) finds his children rushing to his side after he has a stroke, though they aren't as interested in helping him once they discover he's lost his money and there is no inheritance for them. Corazones Rotos was shown at the 2001 Guadalajara Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The Mexican Revolution had its share of heros and the story of the rebel named "The King" is related here. ~ Rovi

This undistinguished comedy is about twin sisters separated at birth, one grows up in poverty in a rural village, and the other goes on to fame and fortune as a sophisticated singer and dancer. Juana (Maria Elena Velasco, also the director and writer) is taken by her father after she was born to be raised in a remote Mexican village, while Chana (also Velasco) grows up in Mexico City where she gets to meet the celebrated Spanish singer Pilar del Rio (Carmen Montejo) because her mother works for Pilar. After the mother dies, Chana is adopted by the singer and moves to Spain, where she also learns to sing and dance. When Pilar decides to go on a tour that includes Mexico, Chana and her long-separated twin finally have a chance to meet again. But there is no guarantee that everything will go smoothly, since the gap between them is so vast, and on top of that, Chana's irate ex-husband is unaware that she has a look-alike twin -- and he kidnaps the wrong woman. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This disturbing Spanish shocker is set in the early 20th century and chronicles the horrendous conditions and treatment suffered by incarcerated female criminals. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This outrageous Mexican horror gem opens in the 17th century, where Spanish Baron Vitelius is being sentenced to death for heresy, thanks to his reputation as a Casanova and practitioner of the black arts. Before his death, he curses the bloodlines of the Inquisitors -- a curse heralded by the appearance of a comet, which Vitelius declares will mark his vengeance when it passes again. Flash forward 300 years to the swinging '60s, where the comet does more than just appear in the sky -- it slams into the Earth, releasing a brain-sucking demon with a forked tongue, which then transforms into the shape of Vitelius. The Baron heads to town and immediately goes to work on the locals, inviting them to a party where he manages to identify and list the Inquisitors' descendants in order to plan his revenge. Seeking them out one by one, he sucks their brains dry with his spiked tongue, then burns their bodies. When the police eventually discover Vitelius' secret stash of human brains, they manage to track him down and destroy him before he claims his last victim. Despite laughably bad dubbing that turns every character into a complete moron, this is still a clever little no-budget film, filled with wild imagery and goofy monster effects (e.g. the demon's rubber head occasionally swells and deflates via air-hose). Released theatrically in Mexico, this film saw its American debut on television and soon became a late-night creature-feature favorite. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

La Sospechosa concerns a woman named Regina who returns from a vacation to find that her mother has disappeared. As she begins to investigate what happened, she begins to suspect that her stepfather knows more than he is letting on. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

No Mataras (Thou Shalt Not Kill) was based on a novel by Joaquin Margall. Bilked by a politically well-connected loan shark, widowed mother Sara Garcia is thrown in jail when she tries to fight back. Hoping to avenge herself against all mankind, Garcia becomes the proprietress of a seedy gambling joint. She keeps the truth of her profession from her daughter, whom she has sequestered in an exclusive girl's school. But when the grown-up daughter is escorted to her mother's den of iniquity by her boyfriend, the results are disastrous. And that's only the first three reels! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi