POISON FOR THE FAIRIES (1986)
There is a scene in this Mexican shocker where a little girl listens intently as her nanny spins a yarn about witches and fairies. Her stoic, yet beguiled reaction is eerie, and while I'm at it, hats off to the young actress who plays the calculating Veronica. If the rest of the film sustained that level of spectral calm, we would have a 5-Z'Dar classic on our hands. As it's currently drafted, it's still pretty damn good. The plot follows two children bent on simple mischief, but they are spellbound by stories of witches to the extent that they potter around with the dark arts themselves. There's no mistaking it; this is coming-of-age material. The hook, however, lies in the film's cabalistic underbelly. The atmosphere is such that at any given point, even during the mellow exposition, you can sense evil lurking just off-camera.
A recent addition to Shudder's ever-expansive library, Poison for the Fairies is the right call for a lonely spring night. Or is it summer already? I can't be expected to keep track of the seasons AND watch horror movies obsessively. It's one or the other. Earlier, I intimated that Poison misses the mark. And it does, but only slightly. The pace perambulates off the beaten path, and while I like the concept of concealing the faces of the grown-up cast members, I couldn't help but feel that the narrative needed a more prominent adult character to balance things out. Focusing on kids minimizes the stakes a bit. Maybe it's just me. I urge you to reach your own conclusion. Stream it today. Or track down a physical copy, you good-for-nothing millennial.
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