Veneno para las hadas

In the Dublin private school in Mexico, the wicked girl Verónica (Ana Patricia Rojo) is mocked by her classmates since she is a liar. She lives with her grandmother, since her parents died in a car crash, and her nanny raises her, telling fairytales to Verónica every day. When the wealthy and naive Flavia (Elsa María) joins the school, she befriends Verónica, who succeeds to convince her that she is a witch, forcing Flavia to help her and give gifts to her. When Flavia travels on vacation with her parents to the family farm, Verónica forces Flavia to invite her to travel with her. The envious Verónica forces Flavia to play witchcraft with her but something tragic happens.

"Veneno para las hadas", a.k.a. "Poison for the Fairies", is a psychological horror Mexican movie with a simple storyline. The result is a frightening movie, exploring Flavia's innocence. Carlos Enrique Taboada does not show any adult's face and the camera work is used on the level of Flavia and Verónica's eyes; therefore, the viewer watches the film as if they were children too in a great technique. The conclusion is also very dark. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Veneno para as Fadas" ("Poison for the Fairies")

I'm so glad to watch this!

Twisted fairytale. A deeply psychological horror on how an innocent child may transform into a potential sociopath. If adults aren't careful enough, those childish games may even lead to an inevitable tragedy.

Veneno Para las Hadas is a very good horror/fantasy movie. It's very psychological too because Graciela (Ana Patricia Rojo) constantly submits her new friend Fabiola (Elsa Maria Gutierrez) through extortion forcing her to believe her that she is a witch and bad things could happen to Fabiola if she doesn't give her what she wants. Graciela is an orphan who listens to her grandmother's horrific fairy tales and her nanny's knowledge about withces and pacts with the devil. Graciela learns a lot about witchcraft and uses her knowledge against Fabiola, the daughter of a rich family, who is new in the all-girls private school where the two first meet. Contrary to Graciela, Fabiola is brought up in a very modern way being told that ghosts, demons and witches don't exist. Not even prayers are encouraged in Fabiola's family. Knowing this Graciela forces Fabiola into giving her the things she wants on basis of her being a witch and there is more convincement by Fabiola when a strange coincidence totally convinces Fabiola that her new friend is indeed a witch. Fabiola changes from skeptic of everything (including prayers) to a believer of ghosts and witches.

The movie is set apart by only the main character's points of view because we never see the faces of the adults, we only see them in unnatural ways or in very low light. Even though Graciela appears to be evil, she and Fabiola are still very young and childish in their behavior.

A great musical score by Carlos Jimenez Mabarak delivers a fairy tale-like atmosphere to the already beautiful cinematography by Lupe Garcia. Set in early 60's Mexico City and the Tlaxcala woods, Veneno para las adas is a fairy tale by itself. A very dark one anyways, like the ones the Nana tells Graciela before going to bed.

At first, Poison for the Fairies may remind American viewers of the classic "Wonderful World of Disney" feature films, leading some people to believe they have been tricked into watching a children's movie. However, it is not for children. It is instead an atmospheric, absorbing fairy tale about two little girls and their intense, unsettling friendship--if one can rightly call a relationship based on psychological dominance as "friendly." The plot is deceptively simple: Lonely, aristocratic Flavia comes to a new school, where she instantly grabs the attention of Veronica, a girl from a lower-class family, who pretends to be a witch in order to comfort herself for a lack of power in the real world. All the other girls have long since learned to ignore Veronica, but Flavia is just innocent enough to believe that Veronica truly is a witch, her beliefs helped along once several macabre coincidences seem to reinforce Veronica's claims that she possesses black magic. Gradually the line between childhood friendship and a master and slave is blurred, and Veronica's games of make-believe witchcraft have filled Flavia with a fear and despair that are far too real.

People who expect a traditional horror film will definitely be disappointed in Poison for the Fairies. The pace of the film, along with the lack of violence or even blood, may be too slow for some viewers to tolerate. Visually, the film looks dated, and certain stylistic techniques (particularly the lengths to which the camera goes in avoiding the faces of adults) seem a little hackneyed. But all in all, this is a film of culminating, creepy horror building to a shocking but inevitable denouement, and well worth a watch.

"Veneno para las Hadas" succeeds in every term. The acting is good, expect a solid performance by a young Ana Patricia Rojo. There are some scary scenes, and the twisting end will shock you. Watch it if you wanna get scared. Recommended for fans of the horror genre.