31 Days of Horror Recommendations: The Old Ways (2020)

 

Year: 2020

Country: U.S.

Subgenre: Demons/Folk Horror/Native American Monsters/Witches

Runtime: 90 minutes

Director: Christopher Allender

I recently watched this for the first time on a Friday round up of Mexican horror; and, despite that is a domestic U.S. production, it really hit all the high points of an indigenous horror from that country. It does an excellent job of showing how indigenous practices have lived on in a very "mestizo" way. It is on the surface a witch movie, complete with a local bruja (Mexican witch). In fact, the whole frame of the film is about an investigation of local witchcraft in an area located in Veracruz by an American journalist from California. From there, things get very indigenous, very fast. The bruja is clearly a medicine woman, and a very "old school" one at that! She and her son even converse in the local Nahuatl dialect. I won't get into the whole plot, because I want to avoid spoilers, but it is not giving away anything by stating that it is set in and takes place in the town of Catemaco, a real place in southern Veracruz that is known for is brujas/brujos and is sometimes called the "witchcraft capital of Mexico." And the cave system featured in the film is also real; while the demon/entity/old god that is said inhabit them "Postehki" is made up for the film (the name is a real Nahuatl word meaning "broken"); the entity does bear a resemblance to death gods from various local indigenous religions of old. Many have noticed likeness to Mictlantecutli, the Aztec god of death and the underworld (dude wears on eyeball necklace!). But, I would argue that it bears a closer resemblencte to a REALLY scary death god that appears in reliefs at El Tajin, a completely unique "pyramid" complex located in Veracruz (see below). Also the "bent man" exorcism ritual that they practice is almost a heavily catholicized version of spiritual heart sacrifice--a form of actual human sacrifice in Mexico that it at least 2,000 years old, and most likely MUCH older. I am all down for any film--horror or otherwise--that features any Native American language (such as the Comanche dub of Prey, a film I recommended last year); but I wouldn't recommend a horror film just based on that. This movie has some real chills (there is a scene with snakes that I dare you not to cover your eyes for!); it is just a solid horror film! And, while the ending is a bit predictable, the journey to get there is not. I mean, you do come to a point where you ask yourself if the exorcists are just plain crazy; that they have let superstition and/or old traditions drive them to kidnap someone and hold her against her will. Or maybe there is something to this Postehki fellow after all?? Film is currently streamable on Netflix. Oh and do look up El Tajin...the place is crazy fascinating! 

The El Tajin death god (his name has as yet not been discovered) is rising from a pot on the left to receive a heart sacrifice of a ball player from the losing team on the right.