Trash-Mex Tapes 3: What Are These?

Trash-Mex Tapes returns and I bring it back with 2 specific oddities from my collection. 

The first tape being of a film that seems to be virtually unknown & maybe “forgotten”. The second tape is of a film about time-travel & reincarnation while using clips from an old romance-drama film. 

“What Are These?” Indeed. 

Also, I took the liberty of uploading the films on YouTube (thank you by the way & enjoy). If they have to be removed, then they will be removed. Just an FYI.

Las Rejas De La Mafia (1984) Spanish Video Sound

This one is quite “unknown” since I couldn’t find any information on it whatsoever and the entire release as a whole is just plain peculiar. Las Rejas De La Mafia features an opening & end shot in 1984 while the main feature itself is from the mid or late 1960’s.

The opening & end scenes were shot on tape in a park in Montebello, CA. Supposedly though this is all set in Mexico. 

In the SOV opening scene, a boy named Juanco is kidnapped by his nanny during a park outing. Juanco’s father desperately searches for him & prays for his return. 

We then are introduced to the actual film itself: “Las Rejas De La Mafia” title card is shown. The film appears to be shot in the mid-1960’s or late-1960’s and is in black & white, but it actually appears to be a very washed-out color print. 

Now a mute & under the supervision of a grumpy elder man, Juanco (played by a kid named Jacques Michel) is stuck working at a farm in rural Mexico. Juanco then manages to runaway from the farm and ends up with a criminal group in Mexico City consisting of a sketchy old guy & several street kids that assist him. The film focuses on Juanco finally feeling “free” after being at the ranch for so long, but trouble arises when Juanco’s one true friend ends up kidnapped by the criminal group for a huge ransom. The film ends on brutal terms and its SOV counterpart ends ridiculously at a cemetery in East LA.

Ever since acquiring this tape, I couldn’t find any information on Las Rejas De La Mafia nor its cast & crew. It appears the 1960’s film was made independently with a virtually unknown cast and shot mostly around Alameda Central in Mexico City & a ranch house outside of the city. 

The SOV scenes were shot in 1984 at a cemetery in East LA & a park in Montebello. the SOV scenes also star Juan Jose Mireles (founder of the home video label “Spanish Video Sound”) with several family members of his & friends. 

Spanish Video Sound was one the first home video labels in California to exclusively distribute Mexican films & Spanish-dubs of several American films. It appears Las Rejas De La Mafia was their 3rd release and its cover design was made with simple cut & paste images & titles, just as other Spanish Video Sound releases were done. 

If anyone has more information on Las Rejas De La Mafia, please do tell. I’m just an email away.

Regreso Al Pasado (1992) Mexcinema Video Corporation

At only 17 years old, legendary Mexican actress Ana Martin got the lead role in Marcelo y Maria (shot in 1963, released until 1966), a melodrama about a couple of young indigenous lovers during the 16th century Spanish conquest of Mexico. 

In 1992, Mexcinema Video Corp releases Marcelo y Maria on home video, but it’s not exactly the same film that everyone is rather familiar with…. 

As it turns out, Marcelo y Maria not only got a retitling to “Regreso Al Pasado”, but also got a complete rehash consisting of a narrator telling the story with footage of the film (some in color, some in sepia), overlayed footage of modern times (war, motor vehicles, etc), and the film’s theme being about time travel & its connection to reincarnation. 

Yeah, it’s really fucking weird. 

I was here thinking finally have a copy of Marcelo y Maria since I’ve been wanting to see this particular Gilberto Martinez Solares-directed film for a while and this of course led to my disappointment. Amusement as well, I guess.