Don't Panic (1987)
Rubén Galindo Jr. is a horror director from Mexico City who produced a number of films from the mid-1980s through the 1990s, starting with Cemetery of Terror. As can be expected his films don't have much of a budget but he does put in some effort to emulate the European and American films that he is a fan of. One of those is, of course, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and his 1987 movie Don't Panic tries hard to live up to its influence.
Michael (Jon Michael Bischof) has an affluent father (Eduardo Noriega) and an alcoholic mother (Helena Rojo). He moves back to Mexico City from Beverly Hills right before his 17th birthday and, while celebrating, his friend Tony (Juan Ignacio Aranda) brings with him a Ouija board. Tony has been in contact with a spirit called Virgil and Michael wants nothing to do with it. He goes along with the game anyway to impress Alexandra (Gabriela Hassel), a new girl at his school that he has a crush on.
Soon Michael's eyes are turning red and, when they do, he becomes temporarily blind to the world around him, seeing instead through the eyes of a killer as his friends are murdered one by one. Alexandra soon becomes upset with him, his mother thinks he is crazy and John (Roberto Palazuelos), the brother of one of the victims, is convinced Michael has something to do with it. Eventually John and Michael team up to try and stop Virgil before he can finish his list.
The dubbing in this is atrocious, but I do not think the actual acting was much better. I also don't know if there was an original Spanish version as it seems that, though taking place in Mexico City, this was made to feel as American as possible for the international video market. The only thing that really sets it apart are a couple surreal scenes, the Virgil makeup and a crazy sequence where Michael begins shooting up a family dinner at Alexandra's house.
Other than that it's standard slasher fare, substituting demonic possession for a burnt child murderer so as to not get sued by New Line. There is a decent sequence where a girl named Cristy (Mindie McCullum) is stalked at a hospital while Michael tries to get the staff to believe him that she's in danger, but beyond that even the kills range from lackluster to unintentionally hilarious. A good part of the movie is also taken up by the romance between Michael and Alexandra, all of which is there to fill the run time and goes on too long.
It is able to stay on track with the story and isn't painful to watch, but Don't Panic is yet another one of those films that was never popular enough to be forgotten, but which has somehow found its way back into distribution. There is worse, but there are also many films like it that are more enjoyable.
Don't Panic (1987)
Time: 90 minutes
Starring: Jon Michael Bischof, Gabriela Hassel, Helena Rojo, Roberto Palazuelos, Juan Ignacio Aranda
Director: Rubén Galindo Jr.
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