When police raid a house in El Paso, they find it full of dead Latinos, and only one survivor. Known as “The Traveler,” he is taken to the police station for questioning. There, he recounts tales of horrors from his life, chronicling portals leading to other worlds, mythical beings, demons and the undead; he speaks of legends from Latin America. Satanic Hispanics tells stories by top Latin filmmakers that showcase the skills of Hispanic talent, both on and off screen.

For in-depth thoughts on Satanic Hispanics, please see my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review from its original festival debut here.

Video Quality

Satanic Hispanics makes its Blu-Ray debut with a pretty solid 1080p video presentation that holds up well with only the occasional deficit. While the film is no stranger to brightly lit environments, the majority of the footage is at night or in shadowy spaces. Highlights do not exhibit any issues with clipping, and black levels mostly hold together when it comes to depth with only intermittent moments of banding. The film employs rich, complex colors within the natural world which never fail to impress. The presentation shows off a worthy amount of depth throughout the different segments. There are some grotesque makeup effects and fabrics of clothing that provide crystal clear textural details. There are a few small areas where this disc could be enhanced, but overall this Blu-Ray provides a steady experience.

Audio Quality

Epic Pictures continues their trend of giving their Blu-Ray a Dolby Digital 5.1 lossy audio track instead of a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. While it still does what it needs to, it is always disappointing to know this track could provide a greater response with a lossless track. Dialogue comes through clearly without being drowned out by any competing sounds. Environmental elements flow through the surround speakers in a way that makes an impression. Some effective ambient details put you on edge. The music that accompanies these stories is an essential part of the film’s identity that is balanced well with formidable fidelity. The kinetic moments grow with the narrative, and the texture is there when it makes sense. The audio track accomplishes the basics of what you want it to, but it likely could have been a richer experience with a full lossless track. This disc provides English SDH, Spanish SDH, Spanish, Dutch, and French subtitles.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Producers/Directors Mike Mendez and Alejandro Brugues guide the main portion of the commentary track while directors Demian Rugna, Eduardo Sanchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero, and more come in to discuss the individual segments they directed. Everyone provides great anecdotes and insights into shooting this movie in the various environments, the background elements of the production, amusing stories from the set, the collaborative nature of the production, the themes at hand, and more.

Dread Talk: A 36-minute virtual conversation hosted by Dread Central with Mike Mendez, Alejandro Brugues, Eduardo Sanchez, and Gigi Saul Guerrero is provided in which they discuss the motivations behind making this film, the different perspectives they wanted to spotlight, the lore and myths explored, and much more that is very enlightening.

Segment Posters: A slideshow of the posters created for each segment.

Trailers: The two-minute trailer is provided for Satanic Hispanics. There are also trailers provided for other Dread titles including Colonials, The Jester, Island Escape, and Last Night At Terrace Lanes.

Final Thoughts

Satanic Hispanics is a really great anthology tale that gives you a rich array of material that shows the boundless possibilities of narratives within this culture. Even the point of view from filmmaker to filmmaker brings a fresh perspective that reminds you that Latin filmmakers are not a monolith. The balance between comedy and horror is struck quite admirably and keeps things from feeling too familiar from segment to segment. Epic Pictures has released a Blu-Ray featuring a decent A/V presentation and a couple of fine special features. If you are a fan of genre storytelling, give this one a shot. Recommended

Satanic Hispanics will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on December 19, 2023.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Epic Pictures has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.