Product Details

• Actors: Rosita Arenas, Armando Calvo, Isabela Corona, Dina de Marco, Carlos Nieto
• Directors: Chano Urueta
• Writers: Alfredo Ruanova, Carlos Enrique Taboada
• Producers: Abel Salazar
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Language: Spanish (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Casanegra
• DVD Release Date: June 27, 2006
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FI8MM0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,292 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Witch's Mirror (El Espejo de la Bruja)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

AKA El Espejo De La Bruja. A Masterpiece of the Mexican Horror Movement! A poetic tale of madness and horror from director Chano Urueta. The Witch's Mirror is one of the landmark films of the Mexi-horror genre. A benevolent witch (Isabela Corona) enchants a magic mirror to protect her adopted daughter Elena (Dina de Marco) from her cruel husband (Armando Calvo). When the incantation fails and the girl is murdered, the witch vows revenge using every unholy principle of the supernatural that she can conjure.
Special Features:
• Original Uncut Version
• Completely Re-Mastered Picture & Sound from Newly Restored Vault Elements
• Bilingual Menus in English & Spanish
• Audio Commentary by Founder of IVTV, Frank Coleman
• Exclusive CasaNegra Loteria Game Card
• Essay: Chanovision: The Films of Mexican Cult Moviemaker, Chano Urueta
• Cast Biographies
• Poster and Stills Gallery

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A PURE HORROR FILM...., July 16, 2006

By 

Mark Norvell (HOUSTON) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Witch's Mirror (El Espejo de la Bruja) (DVD)

"The Witch's Mirror" is one of the few horror films I've seen that relies solely on horror to tell it's story. A surgeon murders his wife and his mother-in-law, a practicing witch, plots her revenge. When he remarries, the mother-in-law, now his housekeeper, sets her revenge into action with a host of occult devices at her fingertips. One of these being a huge mirror through which she summons the ghost of her daughter back to haunt the newlywed couple. But this is only part of the story. The new wife's face and hands end up being being accidentally burned and the doctor attempts to restore them through bloody surgeries and skin grafts. But the avenging witch and her ghost daughter aren't through yet. The acting in "Witch's Mirror" ranges from wildly overwrought to solemnly sincere and is never boring. The photography is excellent and glorious in b&w and the whole film drips with Gothic atmosphere. There are some wonderfully creepy scenes throughout including a piano playing by itself and scenes of the witch/mother-in-law summoning the powers of darkness to her aid. I loved this film. The DVD print from CasaNegra is immaculate. It's subtitled and there are lots of interesting extras. Not all Mexican horror films were campy and silly. "The Witch's Mirror" is a good example of a fine director in control of his subject matter and who intended to tell a horror story as a horror story. Recommended and enjoy.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Gothic Chiller From Mexico, October 12, 2006

By 

Darrell Heath (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Witch's Mirror (El Espejo de la Bruja) (DVD)

Wow!! Viewing this film was a real kick. Like another reviewer here I have seen and loved many of the old school gothic style horror films from Universal, Hammer, AIP, AMICUS and many of the early Italian horror films from Mario Bava and others. Well, I thought that I had seen just about all the genre had to offer and would probably never see anything new from this area of horror film again; for as the saying goes..."they just don't make films like that anymore". Fortunately I've been ignorant of Mexican horror cinema all these years. Oh sure I had heard about films from Mexico that featured masked wrestler heroes fighting vampire devil robots from Mars but I, quite ignorantly, thought that was about it for Mexican horror flicks. All I can say is I was wrong and am more than glad to admit it.

"The Witch's Mirror" is a worthy gothic horror film effort that fits quite snugly in among the old Hammer and Universal films. In fact it borrows quite liberally and shamelessly from many of those old classics. While watching it I kept seeing elements from all kinds of sources including: "Rebecca", "Frankenstein", "Mad Love", traditional ghost stories, revenge plots, etc. Now you might think that such a hodge podge could never work well together but director Chano Urueta pulls it together seamlessly, giving those of us who love this kind of thing an hour and a half of thrills and chills.

I'm not good at summarizing plots but here is a quote from the product description: "A poetic tale of madness and horror from director Chano Urueta. The Witch's Mirror is one of the landmark films of the Mexi-horror genre. A benevolent witch (Isabela Corona) enchants a magic mirror to protect her adopted daughter Elena (Dina de Marco) from her cruel husband (Armando Calvo). When the incantation fails and the girl is murdered, the witch vows revenge using every unholy principle of the supernatural that she can conjure" This barely does the story justice but to reveal more would, in my opinion, rob you of many of the joys I had of watching this film. I would just like to comment on how the film positively drips atmosphere. Director Chano Urueta had an excellent directorial style and he employs the black and white cinematography to good effect. And while the special effects don't always work when they do they are spot on and will raise a goose pimple or two even among many jaded horror fans. Also the film has a great music score as well and it reminded me of Bernard Herrmann at times.

In summary this is an excellent gothic period piece thriller and if you are looking for good old fashioned horror thrills you could do a lot worse than "The Witch's Mirror". This would be an excellent film to curl up with by your self or with someone you love on a chill October evening. So, I say go ahead and purchase it or rent it if you can and settle in for some good creepy fun.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally on DVD the Right Way!, June 7, 2006

By 

Orson99 "lick99" (Oak Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witch's Mirror (El Espejo de la Bruja) (DVD)

Thank you, Casa Negra, for finally releasing great Mexican horror films with the attention they deserve. Gone are the days of these under-appreciated movies being rendered practically unavailable. I just watched this DVD and was amazed by the sound and video quality (especially considering it's age). It's great to know these movies can be resurrected, and that such effort is put into the details.
I'm definitely looking forward to future releases.