Poison for the Fairies (1986)

This Mexican horror/fantasy is a tale told from a child's perspective, so much so that all of the adult characters in the story are only ever partially shown – an arm, a leg, a hand, etc. It's quite a good stylistic choice and creates very much a child's world. It focuses on two young girls who meet at a Catholic school, one of whom claims to be a witch. Events transpire to back this up somewhat and so both of them then go on an extended search for ingredients to make a poison that will kill fairies, who are traditional enemies of witches.This is quite far from being a straight horror film. Its focus on folklore aligns it more with the fantasy genre, while its coming-of-age central storyline is not always interested in the macabre. It is certainly an interesting work from a stylistic perspective, yet not much really happens in its runtime and it does consequently drag somewhat at times. Its punctuated by some dreamlike imagery of witches and the like and these add some atmosphere. But the feeling I had mainly was this was a film that never really maximised its potential. It has excellent ingredients, just not mixed in quite the right way.

Quite a decent effort it is, but it rarely fully delivers. The leading girls are quite nice, but I cannot say that there is a lot of chemistry between them. There are a lot of moments when Flavia succumbs to Veronica's manipulation against her own will. They are really not well acted, and this is surely the director's mistake. Also, the idea not to show the adult's faces was OKish, but it was also realized not in a great way. As for the ending, I find it quite disappointing. I just can't believe that such harmless girl as Flavia will burn her friend and then will be happily staring at the fire burning. Even after all of the Veronica's deeds, that was a bit TOO MUCH.

Veneno Para las Hadas is a very good horror/fantasy movie. It's very psychological too because Graciela (Ana Patricia Rojo) constantly submits her new friend Fabiola (Elsa Maria Gutierrez) through extortion forcing her to believe her that she is a witch and bad things could happen to Fabiola if she doesn't give her what she wants. Graciela is an orphan who listens to her grandmother's horrific fairy tales and her nanny's knowledge about withces and pacts with the devil. Graciela learns a lot about witchcraft and uses her knowledge against Fabiola, the daughter of a rich family, who is new in the all-girls private school where the two first meet. Contrary to Graciela, Fabiola is brought up in a very modern way being told that ghosts, demons and witches don't exist. Not even prayers are encouraged in Fabiola's family. Knowing this Graciela forces Fabiola into giving her the things she wants on basis of her being a witch and there is more convincement by Fabiola when a strange coincidence totally convinces Fabiola that her new friend is indeed a witch. Fabiola changes from skeptic of everything (including prayers) to a believer of ghosts and witches.The movie is set apart by only the main character's points of view because we never see the faces of the adults, we only see them in unnatural ways or in very low light. Even though Graciela appears to be evil, she and Fabiola are still very young and childish in their behavior.A great musical score by Carlos Jimenez Mabarak delivers a fairy tale-like atmosphere to the already beautiful cinematography by Lupe Garcia. Set in early 60's Mexico City and the Tlaxcala woods, Veneno para las adas is a fairy tale by itself. A very dark one anyways, like the ones the Nana tells Graciela before going to bed.

"Veneno para las Hadas" succeeds in every term. The acting is good, expect a solid performance by a young Ana Patricia Rojo. There are some scary scenes, and the twisting end will shock you. Watch it if you wanna get scared. Recommended for fans of the horror genre.