El Muerto (2007 film)

The film follows the story of Diego de la Muerte, a 21-year-old Mexican-American who is abducted, sacrificed, and sent back to the land of the living by the Aztec gods of death and destiny to fulfill an ancient prophecy.Horrified by their religious practices, the Spaniards set out to convert the native population to Catholicism, effectively declaring war upon the Aztec religion.While attempting to illegally cross the United States-Mexico border, young orphan boy Juan Diego is singled out by a fellow traveler, a strange old man known only as "Old Indian" claiming to know the way.He shares an apartment with his best friend Zak and is in love with Maria, niece of Padre Somera of the local mission which dates back to the Cortés era.However, Diego and Maria's relationship is strained both by his haunting encounter with Old Indian and the devout Padre's disapproval of the young man's sympathy towards Aztec beliefs and mythology.Diego awakens in the Aztec afterlife of Mictlan where the god of death sacrifices him to Tezcatlipoca in a ritual where his heart is torn from his chest with the aid of an obsidian blade.In order to fulfill the prophecy of the Sixth Sun, Tezcatlipoca requires three human sacrifices, each symbolizing the Catholic Church that wiped out the old gods over five hundred years ago.Armed with the power to take life or restore it, Diego must struggle against the very gods who created him in order to save the woman he loves.Rafael Navarro, longtime friend of Hernandez and fellow comic book creator had a brief cameo as a witness of a car wreck inadvertently caused by El Muerto.While Mictlantecuhtli required visual effects and puppetry by Nathan Mussel, Tezcatlipoca was entirely computer generated and throughout the film he is shown to manifest himself on dark mirrored surfaces.[9][10] Espino also played a vital role due to his ability to speak the Aztec language of Nahuatl, which can be heard in various chants throughout the film.[15] The film received a full-fledged theatrical premiere at Laemmle Grande Theatre[16] on September 14, 2007 located at its downtown Los Angeles venue.Mark Bautista, the make-up artist for the film, also makes a cameo appearance in the mini-comic as the tattoo shop owner, Marc.[27] On the more negative side, a review from JoBlo.com called the movie "nonsensical, ridiculous and boring in every way you don’t want your comic book adaptation to be" and gave the DVD a 1.5 out of a possible 4 rating.But if you look at the Day of the Dead folklore, people paint the skull-face on them[selves], and then the black Mariachi was just a stylish element.And further explored in another interview at JoBlo.com:[31] Well, I've heard initial Crow comparisons online, and I can understand that based on a visual basis.[32][33] JoeHorror.com declared, "The Dead One does bear a significant resemblance to the aforementioned Crow, but it definitely has its own flavor and its own tale to tell, honoring its predecessor rather than trying to rip it off.