"After attempting to cross the US/Mexico border in search of a better life, Armando awakens in an unknown room, his body broken down and a Lucha Libre mask sewn into his neck. He attempts to escape, but is surrounded by a sadistic family, who watch him with hungry eyes. The only chance for Armando's survival in this hellish nightmare is to last in a wrestling match against the most terrifying villain of all: GIGANTE!" from the IMDB page
Here is your ringside seat to witness the horrors of EL GIGANTE. This short film caught my attention and I reached out to Luchagore Productions. They were kind enough to share a screener with me.
I was not prepared for just how badass EL GIGANTE would be. There was a lot of love crammed into this project with a run-time just shy of 14 minutes. It was shot on RED cameras, and you can see a lot of things are done right: the attention to detail with costumes, ring, atmosphere, belt... all sickening and fantastic. There is gore, brutality, wrestling, even.... TACOS! Its all here, folks.
The scene opens with a man sadly parting ways with his family. He doesn't have enough money to pay the way for all of them to be sent across the border. He promises them he will forge ahead and get them back somehow when he can. After a journey through the desert, he arrives at a fence. After climbing the fence, he is immediately greeted by a mysterious man driving a Chevy truck. The man tosses him some water. Parched, he drinks from the water. Everything fades.
All of this has happened as a brief set up. The meat of the story begins when he awakes. We see just how much worse his situation has gotten. A demented family has eyes on him, and these folks are scary. They could all have their own stories as to how they got so screwed-up, I'm sure. Its like the Sawyers from Bordertown are up in here. There's no chainsaw though... something even more ominous is lurking. Awakened to this pack of crazies, in a wrestling ring, with a luchador mask sewn to his face, he will soon face his horrifying fate... EL GIGANTE.
This is all just as awesome as it sounds. EL GIGANTE is executed so well, its impossible not to love. I am leaving out lots of cool things by omitting spoilers. This is 14 minutes of ass-kicking, wrestling-obsessed horror. Gigi Saul Guerrero and Luke Bramley did a slamming job tag-teaming this effort, EL GIGANTE easily takes the belt as best short I've seen in a long time. Its just fun to watch, and that's what really matters. Some films have lots of great elements but come across flat - and GIGANTE gorilla presses those with bone-crunching fury.
If you get a chance to watch it, you will not be disappointed. I hear there is a feature length in the works, and that is really exciting. I could definitely dig on 80+ minutes of this world and these characters. Follow Luchagore on Facebook and watch the trailer:
5/5
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