Sunday Viewing:: Poison For The Fairies (1984)

I've got a good one for you today but I'll warn you in advance that it may require some patience on account of it's chopped into a dozen or so 10 –minute increments on YouTube and the subtitles are on the wonky side. VENENO PARA LAS HADAS (POISON FOR THE FAIRIES) is a 1984 film from Mexico written and directed by CARLOS ENRIQUE TABOADA. It's about the relationship between two outcast ten-year-old girls one of which fancies herself a witch.

Young Veronica (ANA PATRICIA ROJO) is a troubled girl whose main source of entertainment is listening to creepy stories about witches told by her creepy grandmother's equally creepy caretaker. The tales mesmerize her and as someone who feels powerless in her own life, she is intrigued by the dominance and command the witches display. A new girl arrives at her school named Flavia (ELSA MARIA) who enjoys a much more comfortable living situation, yet shares in Veronica's sense of not fitting in. A friendship quickly ignites and it's a fascinating one. These characters are mere kids but Veronica's manipulations to achieve dominance and subjugate her playmate might remind you of every horrible adult you ever met. What could have been a mutually beneficial friendship between the two turns into a near master and servant situation as Veronica convinces Flavia that every tragedy that occurs is the result of her all-powerful black magic. Never satiated, Veronica demands more and more from Flavia until she makes the world's dumbest mistake and requests Flavia's beloved puppy and that's when shit gets real.

Obviously I'm going to love this movie. It's about witches and creepy kids and it's kind of like a cross between HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994) and THE BAD SEED (1956) (or THE OTHER (1972)?) with a smidge of a preteen BAD INFLUENCE (1990) thrown in. Also, when I was a youngin' I was semi obsessed with the book THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT by BRIAN COFFEY (who turned out to be DEAN KOONTZ) and the relationship in this film reminded me an awful lot of the one in that. There's a kind a yin yang thing going on and I found myself bouncing back and forth between which character (the nice one or the not so nice one) I identified with more. Anyway, if I didn't have you at the word "witch" maybe you should just go about your day concerning yourself with something else. I'm just sitting here glad to know that no matter how long I dig into this genre I can still find something I didn't know I needed to see. The First Youtube segment is below and I'll put the others in order in the comment section. If the subtitles don't work for you, just click on the "CC" button!