Even The Wind Is Afraid — Even The Wind Is Afraid(Blu Ray)
Even the Wind Is Afraid( aka Hasta El Viento Tiene Miedo) is a 1968 Mexican horror movie directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada, who is most famous as the director of the rather fabulous 1986 film Poison for the Fairies. Whilst I am quite familiar with the latter title, I was delighted to find that this was not Taboada’s only foray into the field of genre cinema.
Even the Wind Is Afraid takes place in a boarding school for girls, five years after a bright young student, Andrea, took her own life. Andrea had a difficult life, her father had walked out on her, and her mother had to work incredibly hard to send her to the school, so when the school headmistress, Miss Bernarda prevented her from going to her visit her ill mother, who eventually passed away before Andrea hanged herself in the school tower.
One of the young students, Claudia dreams about the hanging and takes several classmates to investigate the now forbidden tower. The six students were caught and as punishment, Miss Bernarda refused to allow the girls to return home for the upcoming holidays, forcing them to remain behind at the school.
Once their classmates leave, the girls must spend the next ten nights in the school with only Miss Bernarda, their teacher Miss Lucia and the kindly school caretaker Diego for company. The first night Claudia starts sleepwalking, following a disembodied voice that calls her name and leads her towards the tower. Claudia is followed by two of her classmates, and the three of them see the figure of a young girl at the window of the tower room, before fleeing back to their dormitory. This is however just the beginning, and when one of the girls, Kitty, has a photo of her boyfriend Armando confiscated by Miss Bernarda she sneaks into her office late at night to take it back. In doing so she finds a photo of Andrea in Miss Bernarda’s desk, and after showing it to Claudia it becomes evident that she is the girl from her dream. The films ramps up the occurrences of the supernatural from there on in.
Even The Wind Is Afraid turns out to be a very good little film, packed with atmosphere, and featuring some very effective moments of creeping dread. The script is tight, and the characters are well rounded. The performances of the cast are top-notch especially Alicia Bonet who plays Claudia, Norma Lazareno as Kitty and both of the school’s teaching staff, Marga Lopez as the strict Miss Bernarda and Maricruz Olivier as the popular Miss Lucia. It is also worth pointing out the music from Armando Mazanero which really adds to the atmosphere created by the better than expected cinematography.
While the print is certainly not up to the standard of many modern Bluray releases that are struck from original negatives and given a spanking new 4k restoration, it has probably never looked better and despite some sound issues early on the audio is clear. Overall, Even The Wind Is Afraid is a solid and atmospheric ghost story that deserves to be seen by many more people, and while the Bluray lacks bonus material, the fact it exists at all is a cause for celebration.