Mexican Trio

PANICO-1970-Three short tales from Mexico. In the first a young woman in her nightgown is pursued  by a crazy woman with a knife. Some guys seem to be hanging around but do nothing. She has a flashback to when he was assaulted by a group of men. After running some more she tangles with the crazy woman and kills her. But things are not what they seem.

In the second story, two men Carlos and Abel try to escape the jungle and an attack of yellow fever. Both have memories of Abel’s dead wife. Due to fatigue they crash their canoe and are stranded in the jungle swamp. Abel seems to take it in stride but Carlos is a mess on the verge of losing it completely but it's more likely guilt than fear that's driving Carlos batty.  In a fit he reveals he had an affair with his friend’s wife! Raging Abel tries to kill Carlos who stabs Abel to death. He buries Abel but he rises from the grave several times (perhaps all in Carlos’ mind) and Carlos loses it completely.

In the third a scientist creates narcotic drug for use in surgery. It mimics death but the patient is still conscious and can see. I'm not sure what makes this a great drug but I believe this segment is actually a comedy. His cat knocks over a beaker of the solution and it spills in to the scientist's coffee. Not realizing what's happened he drinks it and falls into a narcoleptic coma. His wife calls a doctor who pronounces him dead. He hears and sees everything but no one can hear his pleas. His wife's cousin has an inkling he’s not dead but to no avail. He’s buried just as he regains consciousness. His cat who also drank some of the drug and looked dead revives. The wife and the doctor have feelings for each other. Somehow at the end he’s reborn as a maggot but doesn't survive too long. This is very reminiscent of an episode of TV’s Alfred Hitchcock Presents with Joseph Cotten in a similar situation.

PANICO is a well made psychological horror film but basically the stories aren't that good. The last two go on too long and don't really provide that much suspense (although the last segment tries hard).

Thanks for reading!