Fantastic Fest 2021: Senior Citizens Take On The Supernatural In 'Bingo Hell' The Latest Horror Offering From Mexican Filmmaker Gigi Sau ...

Arlington TX

27 September, 2021

7:09 PM

Description

By Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report September 26, 2021 If you're Hispanic and live in South Texas, there's a good chance you've accompanied your abuelita to a bingo hall. Grannies love playing the game of chance and getting their hair done. Director Gigi Saul Guerrero covers both in "Bingo Hell" which is part of the "Welcome to the Blumhouse" anthology series for Amazon Prime Video. Adriana Barraza, who received an Oscar nomination for "Amores perros" by director Alejandro González Iñárritu, delivers a feisty performance as the barrio's senior guardian who takes on evil forces threatening her bingo night. Wonderful character actor David Jensen has a cameo as Mario the bingo hall owner who sells out for big bucks, courtesy of Mr. Big (Richard Brake) a mysterious figure with a wicked grin who resembles a cross between Reverend Kane in "Poltergeist 2" and The Tall Man from "Phantasm." He turns the little church hall into a flashy casino-like bingo palace complete with flashy lights, tv monitors, and large payouts. Lupita (Barraza) sees the new business, Mr. Big's Bingo, as just another form of gentrification as most of the low-income residents of Oak Springs have moved off, selling out to the white man. It's not such a bad idea as the barrio has become a desolate place with only a hair salon run by Yolanda (Bertila Damas) left to take care of the few "viejas" including Lupita's best friend Dolores (L. Scott Caldwell). Sure, there's no crime or drugs in the neighborhood, Lupita and her friends ran off the dealers a long time ago, so she's convinced the remaining seniors to stay put instead of selling out for big money not realizing that "family" can exist anywhere not just in the barrio. Greed drives the horror film but by the time the credits roll the six remaining Deadly Sins have managed to permeate the story written by Guerrero, Shane McKenzie, and Perry Blackshear. As Mr. Big begins to lure in the locals, gruesome deaths start taking place causing Lupita to jump into action to take on the evil force seizing the hood. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.