Film Name: The Vocho from Hell
Director: Gerardo Oñate
Writer: Gerardo Oñate
Starring: Sergio Gava, Liz Donnan, Vladimir Bruciaga, Lorena de la Torre, Patricia Ugarte
During a rainy night in the former Distrito Federal (nowadays Mexico City), a gloomy and recently dumped lad hops in a decommissioned taxi, only to be taken by the driver straight to the fiery destination he deserves.
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask Writer-Director Gerardo Oñate a few questions about his film ‘The Vocho from Hell‘, which will have its UK Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 17th January at 15:00hrs.
Q. Your film The Vocho from Hell has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Whoa, ok. I think you’ll watch something very Mexican, and very Chilango (a word we use to define things that come from Mexico City or how we used to call it before, Distrito Federal), we thought of using the music we listen to when it’s late and we’re having drinks, in the very places we’re not supposed to have them. We thought of using a being we (as Latin Americans) are quite used to have around, which is the Devil, not as an evil entity, but rather a sort of vigilante who will come for you if you are indeed bad.
Vocho in Mexico is the nickname we gave the VW bug, and we used to have tens of thousands of VW bug taxis here roaming around, so it only made sense the Devil would drive one of these peculiar taxis in his hunt for souls.
Q. What were your inspirations when writing the script?
A. Well, it all started in 2021 when we were on an Uber ride to a party and as we hopped in the car, the guy turned his death metal off. I asked him to turn it on and as we were on our way he told us he had been certified as a Vampire & Satanist in Transylvania, and as he dropped us off, I asked him, so you truly are “The Uber from Hell”! And he said, I FUCKING AM, man! And drove off, with fire in his tires.
I kept this nickname in mind for a while, and after having a few beers with a producer friend, we came up with the idea to compose and produce the song with the same title, which later became the basis for this script, and one we also re-arranged and re-recorded as the original song of the short film.
Q. Did you have any of the cast in mind for the characters when writing the script?
A. Every single one of them, yeah. I did what Orson Wells used to do (and what he often regret), I cast my actress wife and actor friends for every single role and the experience was amazing. However, I did not intend to play the role of the Devil, but the actor we had in mind bailed on us a couple of weeks prior to the shooting and I had to step in (I enjoyed it quite a bit, actually), but I would’ve loved to only direct.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Well, we actually, given the city’s polluted conditions, out driver’s cigarette smoke, and the decadent, pernicious, tainted, and blurry feeling alcohol tends to give us, we thought of giving the image with a low quality of sorts, emulating B-movie exploitation cinema or Mexploitation (with titles like Planet Terror (2007) or Machete (2010) by Robert Rodríguez, El Infierno (2010) by Luis Estrada, and the well-known rumberas cinema, or “El Santo” movies).
With that in mind we tried to throw in as much satanic cumbia as we could, so we had the song I told you before covered by La Hora de la Hora (a ska, cumbia and Balkan music band from Mexico City), a couple of songs by Sonido Satanás (an amazing cumbia and sonidero band from Guadalajara), and a couple of score tracks designed to emphasize the hellish situation this guy finds himself in.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Yeah, I had a longer sequence of stablishing shots around town (in order for us to be funded by the government), but because we didn’t get them (and thus we launched and succeeded at a Kickstarter campaign) we ended up having just a couple of those shots in.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. To be honest, all of it. We shot in 4 days, two of cars and cars’ interiors, one for the “pact with the devil” bar scene, and another one where we melted a scaled sculpture of our main guy. We had a blast shooting.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. Yeah, acting and directing might be challenging, but I had the most amazing AD + DP team, and they helped me stay focused and efficient. Also, the actors knew when to repeat an action or dialogue when I gave them the same queue twice (or thrice?) and therefore we’d get different intentions on the same take.
Q. What makes The Vocho from Hell stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. As a jury myself in a few film fests, I hadn’t seen enough film with cumbia and horror (or fantasy) in them. We tried to make the music stand out not just as score, but also as context and we aimed for our “Mexicanhood” to be part of the whole situation.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. That Karma is a bitch, and that we ought to be careful with what we bargain for, and also to enjoy life, music and good vibes in general.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Yeah. We screened a Work In Progress version of our first feature (one I co-wrote and star in) which touches the subject of divine justice by the hand of our “local werewolf”: The Nahual, a sort of folk warlock that turns him or herself into an animal and -in our story- works to keep its community safe by being the judge and executioner of those who threaten it.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Uff. To be patient of course, but to believe in one’s perspective and authentic view of things. To learn to write and direct while watching and reading a lot of stuff (references!) and to have fun while making it, I believe that it is in the process, where growth -as a filmmaker- actually lies, not as much as in the result, and to dare to fail and fail again, but fail better every time. And then again, PATIENCE!
The Vocho from Hell will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday, 17th January at 15:00hrs.
You can find out more about Horror-on-Sea and purchase tickets for The Vocho from Hell here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
