Lawbolisted Powerful

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Witchfinder General 666 I cannot claim to be an expert on Mexican Horror cinema so far, but I certainly intend to dig out more films of the kind of this gem. "Misterios De La Ultratumba" aka. "The Black Pit of Dr. M"/"Mysteries From Beyond The Grave" of 1959 is an immensely moody Mexican Horror film that provides both a morbid and fascinating story and a genuinely creepy atmosphere. Occultism, mad science and the resurrection of the dead have always been some of my favorite Horror topics, and "Misterios De Ultratumba" unites all these elements in a very memorable and deeply uncanny manner. The atmosphere of this eerie gem is intensified by a haunting score, great Gothic settings and morbid makeup.Dr. Mazali (Rafael Bertrand) and Dr. Aldama (Antonio Raxel) have made a pact that the first one of them to die shall come back and tell the other the secret of resurrection. After Aldama's death, Mazali, the head of a remote mental clinic, waits for the instructions of his dead colleague... This is only a very vague description of the plot, but I sure don't intend to give any part of this creepy gem's fascinating and wonderfully morbid plot away. The film, most of which is terrifically set in an old countryside insane asylum, maintains an intensely eerie Gothic atmosphere from the very beginning. The settings and visuals are great, old cemeteries and churches, heavy tombstones and foggy grounds provide the uncanny mood that my fellow fans of classic Horror should appreciate. The film provides morbidity, insanity and genuine scariness, all of which is intensified by the brilliantly intense and haunting score that boosts the creepiness each time it is heard. The performances are very decent, Rafael Bernard is good in the lead and Mapita Cortés is very nice to look at in the female lead as Dr. Almada's illegitimate daughter. This was the first film by Director Fernando Méndez I ever saw, but it certainly isn't going to be the last. Overall, "Misterios De Ultratumba" is an immensely creepy gem that no lover of atmospheric Horror should miss. Highly recommended!

Coventry Strrrrrrrrrrrrike TWO for Mexican horror cinema! After seeing the already astonishing "Curse of the Crying Woman", I got really intrigued by this nation's extremely underrated horror heritage and – big surprise – this "Black Pit of Dr. M" is even better! This is one of the darkest and scariest films ever made and it features some of the absolute greatest Gothic-horror themes imaginable. We've got mad scientists, eerie graveyards and mental institutions, loud thunderstorms, séances and of course a tragic love affair. The film starts with an atmospheric voice-over reassuring us that whatever lies beyond death should always be kept a secret. Two obsessive scientists once tried to discover if there's any way of getting back among the living and "The Black Pit of Dr. M" tells their horrid story. Dr. M(asali) and his colleague Dr. Aldama made a pact stating that the first of them to die has to come back and inform the other about the secrets of resurrection. When Dr. Aldama dies, he keeps his promise but also warns his colleague about the dangers of toying with the afterlife. Naturally, Dr. neglects this good advise and mysterious events start to take place, all indicating his own death on the fifteenth of November. This is a super-creepy film with a constantly ominous atmosphere and some of the most petrifying set pieces I've ever beheld. Every sequence simply oozes suspense, whether set in the asylum (where a crazed gypsy woman runs amok) or in Dr. M's own hacienda, where Dr. Aldama's spirit still dwells around. The outdoor filming locations are always enshrouded with fog and the nights seem to last three times as long as the days. The sinister music and sober B&W photography only increase the creepiness, while the performances of these fairly unknown Mexican actors and actresses are more than reasonable. There are some minor holes in the plot occasionally, but I'm really not in the mood to nag about those, as I personally was too overwhelmed by the intensity of this film. Horror films, especially Gothic ones, really don't get any creepier than this one. Make this a top priority on your must-see list.

gravelbreath The US release of this film was called "The Black Pit of Dr M." and was brought to the US (along with several other great Mexican horror classics) from Mexico by B movie maven, K Gordon Murray. As far as I am concerned this film is one of the absolute treasures of Mexican Cinema. How often would you hear that about a Horror film? Fernando Mendez's great horror masterpiece is so rich in atmosphere and boasts such beautiful, Gothic "mise en scene" that it looks like a true Gothic fairy tale painting has been struck right on the screen. I've seen scores of classic horror films and I have yet to see one that matches the almost over-the-top lush style and atmosphere that Mendez has created here. The setting is an old Hacienda, shrouded in mist, filled with exotic plants and photographed with such care it is almost mesmerizing to see. This Hacienda is an insane asylum headed up by Dr. M. When a spirit conjurer is called in to resurrect the life of a man who was wrongly executed, vengeance, murder and mayhem from beyond the grave ensues. A wonderful, supernatural tale, told in a lyrical yet almost surreal fashion combined with unrelenting, spooky visuals makes this greatly under-appreciated film an absolute must see.

occupant-1 Movies and TV from the Buffy show all the way back to 1960 have been ripping off the dig-myself-out-of-the-grave scene, evidently begun with this film (correct me if I'm wrong). The idea could be as old as Poe but it's this film which, in my history, succeeds with the definitive version. As mentioned earlier, two doctors in charge of an asylum agree to contact the one living, should the other die first. The theme played on the violin by Dr. M is recapitulated at different plot points in a way that earlier audiences would recall from opera.