Grave Robbers
It was a betrayal of all the Catholic church held dear, one of their members denouncing his faith and turning to Satan, abducting a local woman for use as a vessel to bring forth the Antichrist but fortunately stopped before the dark ritual of blood could be completed; tortured for confession then executed, the last words of the accused were to put a curse on the family of the Archbishop of San Ramón.
Years pass and the catacombs beneath the town are forgotten until friends Manolo, Armando, Diana and Rebeca enter the cemetery, led by her psychic powers, grave robbers seeking treasures to allow them to escape to a better life, Manolo falling through the open grave to the chambers beneath where they find gold, jewellery and a body pinned in place with an axe; despite Rebeca’s warning that there will be terrible consequences, the axe is removed and the horror begins anew.
A horror of 1989 directed by Rubén Galindo Jr, it is obvious that Grave Robbers (Ladrones de tumbas) is a heavily influenced product of its time yet it also remains firmly Mexican in its stylings, and so something unique if not particularly sophisticated in presentation, though the underground chambers are impressively designed and created even if also strangely well-illuminated for a subterranean complex, as is the nearby forest where most of the inevitable killings take place.
The ensemble on the whole doing the best with their parts, they include Ernesto Laguardia, German Bernal, María Rebeca and Erika Buenfil as Manolo, Armando, Diana and Rebeca, Fernando Almada as both the Archbishop and his descendant Captain López, Edna Bolkan as his daughter Olivia, apparently the obligatory virgin required for the sacrifice despite her relationship with Tony Bravo’s gunsmith Raúl, and Marianne Hallman as Viky.
The first character to be Friday the 13thed down by the river, with other moments recalling Alien, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Day of the Dead, the special effects are surprisingly well crafted if obviously emulating their iconic predecessors, some compensation for the bland dialogue which permeates a film more focused on impressive images which leaves the whole somewhat unbalanced, satisfied to be second rate when it could have aimed higher.
Moving through phases of teen movie, police action film, supernatural horror and slasher, Grave Robbers starts well but fails to capitalise on the potential of its shadowy foundations, the ideas and production values let down by characters incapable of behaving sensibly or expressing themselves clearly when under threat of a murder charge or being murdered themselves, pointing out the imminent danger to their would-be rescuers perhaps more productive than just screaming.
Grave Robbers is available on Shudder now
