By Luis Crespo
With the horrors of Halloween and the celebration of Hispanic History Month, let’s take a haunting view of the 2017 film “Tigers are not afraid.” Directed by Mexican film maker Issa Lopez and with touches of Guillermo Del Toro this film has everything to scare and frighten.
Centered within fantasy horror, Lopez’s film Tigers are not afraid, includes strong storytelling and the telling of fables all stem from long traditional Hispanic folklore realism in Latin American culture. Guillermo Del Toro legendary Mexican-born director has rooted magical realism in all his most successful films such as “Pan’s labyrinth” or “The devil’s backbone”.
The film begins with a teacher asking her students to name some fairy tale characters when suddenly the sound of gunfire forces everyone to seek cover beneath their desks. while in cover the teacher hands a young female student named “Estreya” a piece of chalk that was broken into three, and the teacher reminded Estreya that in fairy tales you get three wishes. The film then changes the pace by putting the protagonists in very real-life situations and the realities of a harsh world blend together with horror elements.
The children actors in this film give the appearance of weathered veterans in the field, they are incredibly compelling in their parts and give heartbreaking performances that make this film so widely appreciated like it is. This movie is visually appealing and fills the need for a different type of horror film, deserves a viewing, and would make a great addition to any horror movie collection.
Overall, the film was a solid 8/10. This Movie can be found on AMC’s horror streaming platform “Shudder.”
