Even the Wind is Afraid

Even the Wind is Afraid (Hasta el Vineto Tiene Miedo) (1968)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Carlos Enrique Taboada

Starring: Marga Lopez, Maricruz Olivier, Alicia Bonet, Norma Lazareno, Renata Seydel

From: Tauro Films

A Letterboxd mutual praising the movies of Mexican director Carlos Enrique Taboada led me down the path to checking this out; so was its availability on Tubi. Taboada wasn't a name I recognized yet long ago I remembered someone on the Rupert Pupkin Speaks blog praising his 1986 movie Poison for the Fairies (like the title of this movie, pretty spectacular). Besides Fairies not being officially available for streaming, it made sense for me to look at his early career first. Wind is not only one of his more popular films, it is on Tubi; note that while you have to search for its original Spanish title Hasta el Vineto Tiene Miedo, English subtitles are included.

Comparisons have been made to the 1969 Spanish horror movies The House that Screamed; from what I know that seems like a natural pairing yet seeing TWO movies in a row featuring a nasty cruel headmistress of a ladies boarding school isn't for me personally! In Wind, Claudia is haunted by a nightmare involving a tower on the campus of their school and due to their miserable headmistress, she and her buddies are stuck on campus almost alone dealing with the ghost of a young woman on campus, who not only was a former student but is the subject of Claudia's dreams. There is also the headmistress, a female teacher on campus, and Josefina, a fellow student who is a stooge for the administration.

It's understandable how some would think this dull or even a bit irritating. Personally, headmistress Miss Bertrand was portrayed as so repugnant for reasons which won't be revealed in this review and if nothing else, the movie and the actress Marga Lopez succeeded in making me root for those silly young ladies that like goofing off and loathe the stern disciplinarian. The film never made me doze off due to those spunky gals, the atmosphere present throughout, the chilling moments at night when the wind howls-which precedes ghost girl's appearances-the music, and a location which does look charming, but only in the daytime.

Plus, the most memorable aspect was actually the shoehorned-in sex appeal scene for everyone that would get such jollies from “the sauciest” member of the group doing a striptease in front of her pals to a jaunty tune from a piano! Ostensibly it was also done as a troll job against prude Josefina but how blatant it was for the viewer does make me chortle. Or, perhaps we're supposed to read something more salacious into it and infer-ahem-titillating thoughts.