An Honorary Spanish Diva, I am

I happened to see like a 1,000 copies of this DVD at Tower, and it looked promising. As you can see, it won multiple awards. Not that in reality that matters, but reading the story seemed interesting. Veronica (played by Ana Patricia Rojo currently a Mx soap star) is a 10 year old girl with an obsession for witches due to the fascinating stories of witches and ghosts that her nanny reads her every night. She is a lonely girl whose parents died, therefore her imagination is all she has. In comes Flavia (Elsa Maria Gutierrez), a new girl whose rich parents have raised her in a happy state with dolls and trips to the country and also happen to be Atheists. She knows no fear of life (as her parents refer to "religion" as) and is extremely gullible. Veronica convinces this new girl that she has unholy powers and that she's a witch, taking advantage of circumstances that occur and taking credit for them. Flavia is skeptical but since she knows nothing on what's logical and unplausible, she has no choice but to believe everything she's seeing.


Through a series of blackmail and extortion, Veronica slowly takes complete control of Flavia, in the manner that Catholicism takes control of their followers: Through fear of damnation if they don't do as they're told.

The technique of this film is interesting too. The only characters we ever get to see are children. The camera angles are always in weird corners, giving the sensation that we're peeking in. When adults are onscreen, they're always shot from the waist down or to their backs, reminding us of "Tom & Jerry" and "Muppet Babies" cartoons. It's a unique angle for this film but I'm assuming because it's meant to portray the world of the children where the adults aren't important.



Sounds like a great movie doesn't it? WELL WRONG! I'm sorry, I'm very open-minded and patient with unfolding stories, but this story dragged on forever. The first 10 mins of the film are great. We establish the curiosity that Veronica feels as the stories are being read to her. Then the movie moves slowly to constant scenes of the girls playing. They never lead anywhere....until the last 5 mins, in which the movie, again, picks up and finally puts all the vague and silly scenes together successfully. I still didn't feel that the movie was good enough though even for those last minutes. This film will only make sense at the end. It'll go from being an awful movie to a "campy" movie. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, hence why I didn't comment on the end or what I feel the message of the film was.

The scenes in this film where "scary" stuff is supposed to occur are hilarious. They are so far fetched in editing..and the "screams" or looks of horror are so exagerrated, it's worth it to see its campiness. The film was directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada, the same man who directed the horror films "Hasta El Viento Tiene Miedo", "El Libro De Piedra" and the divalicious "Mas Negro Que La Noche" starring Lucia Mendez, Susana Dosamantes, Helena Rojo and others. Also, "Veneno Para Las Hadas" seems to have a cult following in Mexico. There's even a Goth (or "Dark" as the term is used in Mexico) band with that name, hee hee.

Anyone know anything about the little girl that plaed Flavia, Elsa Maria Gutierrez? I can't seem to get any info on her. She didn't die or anything did she? If anyone reading this know, info is appreciated.