Demon
   Hunter 

Slasher Trash with Panache?

Review:  JA Kerswell

Part folk horror, part monster movie, with a dose of slasher conventions, DEMON HUNTER is an effective chiller, surprisingly largely free of the campier elements that pepper later ‘80s Mexican horror films. A resurrected shaman seeks revenge on the family of the man who killed him, and it’s up to a priest, doctor, and police chief to end his bloody rampage.
 
Tobias (Jose Tablas), a local ‘brujo’, arrives at a village house where a woman is in labour. She becomes distressed, and the other local women try to shoo him away, as it is unclear whether he is there to help or for darker reasons. When her husband, Turrubiates (Rigoberto Carmona), arrives with the local doctor, José (Rafael Sánchez Navarro), he violently throws him out. Later, upon hearing that his wife has suffered a stillbirth, he blames Tobias for his baby’s death; visiting his home, he beats him to death.
 
Later, the local police, led by Aguilar (Roberto Montiel), drag the old man’s body from a nearby waterway where he had been dumped. Although foul play is suspected, there are no leads. Burying Tobias, Aguilar sees blood pooling on the man’s shroud, but he dismisses it as a hallucination caused by the high altitude. Later, a villager tells Turrubiates that he knows he murdered the shaman and warns him that Tobias will return from the dead for revenge and kill his family and everyone connected to him. He gives him a ceremonial dagger and says that the only way to stop Tobias from resurrecting is to stab him through the heart. Turrubiates digs up the grave, but when he reaches the shrouded body, the corpse reaches up and rips his throat out.
 
When the police discover Turrubiates’ headless body, they believe he was killed by a bear. However, the local priest, Padre Martin (Tito Junco), thinks it is the work of the Devil and begins to suspect that Tobias has become a Nahaul (a shapeshifter who favours the wolf). After a local boy is found torn apart, Jóse finds human—not bear—saliva on the body. Under pressure after a local family is slaughtered, Aguilar races to catch what he still believes is a rogue bear but gradually becomes convinced that something supernatural, yet also human, may be at play … 

Although many sources cite DEMON HUNTER as a slasher film, it is at best somewhat slasher-adjacent, with its main inspiration seemingly being the then-popular trend of werewolf movies, particularly Joe Dante’s THE HOWLING (1981) (though it lacks any transformations). The films of Paul Naschy were also likely an influence, with a pinch of THE OMEN (1976) (the holy dagger). However, while it may not feature a human psycho wielding an axe, it adheres to many of the then-popular slasher conventions of the time enough to be included here in a similar way, say, to THE INCUBUS (1981) or SUPERSTITION (1982). From leery teenage boys being ripped apart to point-of-view shots from the killer, it shares some common traits. Director Gilberto de Anda has been noted for producing films influenced by those from north of the border and was probably well acquainted with the subgenre.

While there are a few light moments with a couple of semi-comedic characters, the film remains largely serious and features several creepy scenes and striking visuals, such as a blood pool around the shaman’s head that forms the shape of a wolf’s jaws. However, at times, the story feels somewhat disjointed, with the killer seemingly targeting victims at random rather than focusing on the killer’s family as implied. There is also a bizarre scene where, upon discovering a severed head buried in a grave, the protagonists agree that it is “logical” for a bear to have buried it as a future snack! Additionally, as might be expected, the influence of the Catholic Church's triumph over evil is emphasised, particularly during Gothic-leaning scenes at an abandoned monastery towards the film’s end.
 
Although DEMON HUNTER is not a pure slasher, with some minor caveats, it remains an effective and entertaining Mexican horror film that’s well worth your time.  

BODY COUNT 14: 
Female 4 / Male 10

1. Male hit with a plank
2. Male has his throat ripped open
3. Male is mauled
4. Male is mauled
5. Female killed (method unseen)
   
6. Female killed (method unseen)
   
7. Female killed (method unseen)
8. Male is found decapitated
9. Female killed (method unseen)
   
10. Male is shot dead
11. Male is burnt alive
12. Male is mauled
    
13. Female is found dismembered
14. Male is shot and hit with a flying dagger

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