Editorials
‘Zathura: A Space Adventure’ The Jumanji Knockoff You Forgot About
We all remember our first foray into horror, the moment the switch flipped in our heads, the rush of adrenaline that came with fear was an intoxicating high that had to be chased. We all had our gateway into horror. Everyone had that piece of media that had them frightened, yet left them intrigued and wanting more. Whether it was an episode of Goosebumps playing on Cartoon Network, or one of the black and white Universal monster flicks, both of which were my personal introductions to the horror genre. While the rite of passage varies from person to person, I feel most people’s horror awakenings didn’t start in watching films that were technically classified as “horror” but films that present as a friendly age-appropriate flick for family movie night that would, on the drop of a hat, present some fairly startling and unsettling imagery. Things like Return to Oz, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Coraline, even I was put off by a few scenes in The Goonies. However, one gem I hardly see get talked about is the 2005 sci-fi adventure film Zathura: A Space Adventure.
Why Zathura Deserves More Recognition as Gateway Horror
Aside from being a really fun Jumanji-inspired family film, I feel like it’s a worthy addition to the conversation of eligible gateway horror films. I can recall on numerous occasions having to wait until my younger sister was asleep to be able to put this one on due to some of the creatures in the film being fairly frightening.
Zathura: A Space Adventure follows a bickering pair of brothers and their older sister who find themselves stranded in space after opening up a mysterious board game. They soon realize that they are at the mercy of the game’s various commands and obstacles, with their only hope of getting back home resting on their ability to finish the game.
Zathura was directed by Jon Favreau and released on November 11th, 2005. Between his comedy acting and his first two directorial outings, Favreau signed on to direct the film. The film screenplay was penned by David Koepp, who recently worked on the screenplay for Steven Soderbergh’s supernatural horror film Presence. The film is also an adaptation of the Chris Van Allsburg book of the same name. Allsburg is also the author behind the original Jumanji novel, hence why Zathura is often regarded as a “spiritual sequel” to the classic Robin Williams film.
The film stars a young Josh Hutcherson, who, aside from his iconic role in the Hunger Games films, has recently become a scream king to horror fans after starring in the film adaptations of the Five Nights at Freddy’s games. The A-list ensemble doesn’t stop there, though; a pre-Twilight era Kristen Stewart also makes an appearance in the film. The film also stars Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, and Tim Robbins.
How Zathura Creates Tension Like a Horror Movie
The two bickering brothers, Walter and Danny, are stuck at home while their sister is asleep, and their father is at work. Things are mundane until Danny, after being trapped in the basement by Walter, finds an old board game hidden away. This introduction to the films center piece alone is riddled with the traditions you see amongst cursed objects in horror films all the time, even down to the creepy basement with a roaring furnace, a la Evil Dead and Home Alone, respectively. Upon retrieving the game and bringing it back upstairs to his brother, Danny turns the wind-up key attached to the board, and the game begins. While the film does share a premise with Jumanji, a widely beloved family film, I’ve always felt that Zathura had more of an edge to it.
The premise itself is inherently intense, siblings home alone who find themselves suddenly barreling through space, all from the touch of a rusted board game. The duo’s first spin of Zathura lands them in an asteroid field with scolding meteorites crashing through their house. After this, the two realize that the only way to get home is to play through to the end of the game, no matter what Zathura has in store for them.
Not too long after the short-lived and shockingly not fatal meteor shower, one of my favorite pieces of the film is the robot. The robot first appears as a small metal wind-up toy that the brothers brush off immediately. However, it quickly reappears as a tall and lumbering metal monster, equipped with claws, a jet pack, glowing red eyes, and a deep, intimidating voice. This moment in the film was when I had to wait for my younger sister to go to bed before watching the rest. The giant steel Terminator scared the hell out of her, and honestly, I don’t blame her. After an intense chase around the house with Walter being pursued by the robot while Danny takes his turn and gets his card, the robot is subdued and thrown into the basement, surely not to return in the third act.
Practical Creature Effects Shine
The brothers later draw a card that simply reads “visited by Zorgons”; unbeknownst to them, Zorgons are an aggressive race of reptilian aliens that eat meat. The severity of the situation is summed up perfectly when Danny is told that he is, in fact, meat. While I always found the robot to be the most iconic piece of the film, upon rewatch, the Zorgons fit the bill for freaky alien antagonists. Aside from being similar in design to raptors from Jurassic Park with a horror movie makeover, the Zorgons are brought to life purely with practical effects.
One of Favrau’s main reasons for directing the film was the commitment to practical effects over CGI, so the freakier parts of the film are elevated tenfold by the lifelike prosthetics and set pieces. The lead Zorgon is also played by Derek Mears, who many horror fans remember as playing Jason Voorhees in the 2009 Friday the 13th remake.
A Movie Full of Hidden Cosmic Horrors
The boys are temporarily saved by a stranded astronaut who spawns in after another card is drawn, who tells them that the only way to ward off Zorgons is by turning off every light in the house and cutting off all heat. The introduction of this character opens up another can of horror genre worms as we learn his backstory. The Astronaut reveals to the brothers that long ago he played Zathura with his brother, whom he fought with often, and upon pulling the “shooting star” card and being granted a wish, he wished for his brother to disappear.
After his immediate regret, he tries to wish him back, but is unable to because it was no longer his turn. The astronaut ends his monologue with the chilling line “There’s some games you can’t play alone”. If that isn’t a dark lesson with a sprinkle of cosmic horror to some degree, I don’t know what is.
Why Zathura Remains an Underrated Family Horror Experience
While Zathura: A Space Adventure is essentially Jumanji and space, the film takes its premise to some intense heights. While it’s not nearly at the level of traumatizing generations like Return to Oz and Matilda reached, it certainly pushes the envelope further than one would expect a Jumanji adjacent family film to go.
Between killer robots, flesh-eating lizard monsters, and the dread of meeting a fate such as being stuck in space, all because of a sketchy board game found in a creepy basement, Zathura is certainly worth a revisit for any nostalgic horror fans. Maybe you have a starter-level genre fan in your life, and if you’re worried that throwing them in the deep end and showing them a bona fide horror show would be too much, I’d say 2005’s Zathura: A Space Adventure is worth the time.
People hate It: Chapter Two. Unlike many horror sequels or poorly reviewed releases that gain popularity in time, the film has seemingly gained more notoriety. Maybe it’s the occasionally goofy CGI, the heavy comedy, or just how overstuffed it is, but everyone is really down and out on it. Still, though, I will defend this movie like a member of the Losers Club defending their Ka-Tet (deep-cut King reference for you constant readers).
But why, though? Objectively, the movie can feel overstuffed. The CGI is a little goofy. Well, despite all this, I believe It: Chapter Two captures the pure essence of the book. It captures the heart, the terror, and metaphors about small town America excellently…even better than the first one.
It: Chapter Two Is the Ultimate Stephen King Movie
Listen…I am a simple man. If you have this much pure Stephen King energy in a movie, I am going to love it. Why King fans did not grasp onto this movie, I do not know, because it is probably the most “Stephen King” Stephen King movie ever.
We have the small, Maine town and characters from the book, yes, but also a fantastic cameo from the big man himself. Seriously, this movie is like Avengers: Endgame for constant readers (even though Castle Rock is technically more of a crossover). The movie has the heart, small-town summer feeling, and aesthetics for a King film to the max. Whether that is a positive or negative depends on the viewer, but constant readers can relish in how set the movie is on capturing King’s Americana.
It: Chapter Two Understands the Stephen King Novel
Yes, the movie is sillier than the first installment. It’s technically less proficient and cleaner than its predecessor. Still, this movie just generally captures both the message and energy of the book. Don’t get me wrong, It (2017) is excellent in that it feels like a haunted house walkthrough. There are lots of different entities Pennywise dresses up as to attack. It’s colorful, fun…but it takes a lot of liberties. This is fine, but It: Chapter 2 painstakingly portrays the deeper undercurrents and plot beats of the novel.
The Horror Beneath It: Chapter Two
It has always been a story about the darkness behind America’s suburban facade. Behind all of the killer clown and creature feature/cosmic fun, it is about how America’s past will always linger, and is always darker than any fictional entity. It: Chapter 2 does not shy away from its portrayal of bigotry, or its bigger messages about racism and America’s past. The first one has elements of it, but really, Chapter 2 feels like it peels back the kid’s-on-bikes stuff to get to the nitty-gritty of the story.
Additionally, the movie gets the casting down perfectly. Not saying It did not have some of the best child performances ever, but finding not only worthy adult counterparts, but book-accurate players would have to be an arduous task. Huge shout-out to the casting team for absolutely nailing this.
Bill Skarsgård Makes Pennywise Even Scarier
The whole cast blows this movie out of the water, but Pennywise in this one steals the show. Skarsgard is rarely anything less than excellent, but he gets his true horror laurel here. He plays the role as sinister as possible, landing some humor but never letting it weigh down the fear factor.
He is a force to be reckoned with. When making something like a killer clown movie in contemporary times, you have to be really careful not to make it just straight-up silly. Art the Clown is, of course, pure nightmare-fuel, but when approaching the horror big top, it can unintentionally end up feeling like a mismarketed Goosebumps episode.
This, though, is not a case like that. Pennywise is nightmarish in this. His voice is more sinister, and he reads as a predatory cosmic entity, and not just another slasher villain. Fun and frightening, Pennywise pulls no punches in bringing the horror in Chapter 2.
It’s not unreasonable to think most American horror fans can probably name only one Mexican horror filmmaker: Guillermo del Toro. Given how many fantastic films he’s made and how successful so many of them have been, it’s easy to see how he became a household name, but he’s far from the only Mexican filmmaker with a taste for the macabre. Rubén Galindo Jr. may be a major telenovela producer now, but in the 1980s he wrote and directed independent genre films in Mexico that likely influenced the kind of filmmaker del Toro would become. Galindo Jr. isn’t some obscure figure in Mexican entertainment, but he’s also not as widely known as he should be in horror circles, despite having many of his genre films available from Vinegar Syndrome.
In celebration of Latin Heritage Month, I wanted to shed a light on Galindo Jr.’s films not just because they are a lot of fun, but also because of how underseen they still are. Galindo Jr.’s early films mark a complete departure from the work he does now, so much so that you’d think it’s different people, but his early career genre films were important and part of a familial legacy of both the Galindos and the Cardonas (the royal families of Mexican genre films).
The Galindo Family Legacy in Mexican Horror
Rubén Galindo Jr., as his name suggests, is the son of Mexican filmmaker Rubén Galindo Aguilar. He first entered the film industry as an actor, but joined his family’s production studio to take on a myriad of roles like set designer, accountant, purchasing manager, and more. His directorial debut in 1969 was for a comedy, Un Amante Anda Suelto, and was the first of 47 films he would direct. While his focus wasn’t explicitly horror, he did direct a couple of films starring Luchador and actor Santo, as well as many Mexican westerns before focusing more on distribution in the 1980s. Coincidentally, around the time his young son, Galindo Jr., would begin his own filmmaking career.
Rubén Galindo Jr.’s Journey Into Mexican Genre Cinema
Galindo Jr. began his filmmaking career by leaving his hometown of Mexico City to attend UCLA, only to return to CDMX in 1983 after graduating with a degree in Film and Television Arts & Sciences. His first film, Cementerio Del Terror, was a huge hit despite being a modest production, and it was the first of many independent horror films Galindo Jr. would take on. While his legacy won’t be built upon the work he did in genre, it certainly started there and evolved beyond the underground and into the mainstream over time.
Cementerio Del Terror (1985): Rubén Galindo Jr.’s Horror Debut
Galindo Jr.’s first film is by far one of his most uneven, but in the same vein, also one of the most entertaining. It starts like so many great horror flicks do: on Halloween, as a group of kids decides to steal a body from the morgue, only to disrupt the ghoulish ghost of a serial killer. While graverobbing isn’t exactly the kind of thing many do for fun, this particular endeavor is in service of a satanic ritual that will go awry, thus leading to all kinds of bloodshed and demonic appearances. There’s a sub-plot involving some premonitions of the killer returning from the dead that go ignored, reasonably so, and where things land is your standard house/cemetery of horrors where the kids are met with all kinds of devious and dastardly demons.
The Horror Influences Behind Cementerio del Terror
With a reported budget of 45-65 million pesos (roughly $275,000-$540,000 US dollars), filming started in 1984, and Galindo Jr. was able to wrangle in well-known Mexican actor Hugo Stiglitz to star in the production. The film was a huge success for Galindo Jr., even if it wasn’t well-received by critics at the time. Galindo Jr.’s influences are apparent in terms of both content and style, as he clearly draws inspiration from John Carpenter’s Halloween and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. There’s also a heavy helping of Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, even if the ghouls at play here aren’t the zombified kind. It’s truly a smorgasbord kind of horror film that never fully commits to one idea, but knows how to weave them together well enough to be entertaining.
The practical effects may seem ropey by today’s standards, but context and time would dictate that these are quite good considering the circumstances and how much of a trailblazer Galindo Jr. was for making this kind of film at this time in Mexico.
Time has been far kinder to this film than critics were, as it averages a 3.0 on Letterboxd and is the recipient of a now sold-out edition from Vinegar Syndrome. In terms of ranking, this is probably B-Tier for Galindo Jr., which is impressive for a debut feature regardless!
Dimensiones Ocultas (Don’t Panic) and Its Influence
Perhaps the best-known of Galindo Jr.’s early genre films, Don’t Panic is without a doubt his best horror effort, and his most derivative. If Cementerio del Terror was riffing on two horror classics, Dimensiones Ocultas riffs on another. This time, it’s Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. Following very similar story beats, we follow Michael, who, on his 17th birthday, uses a Ouija board with his friends and accidentally unleashes a demon. This demon isn’t your ordinary run-of-the-mill possession type; no, this demon haunts you in your dreams! Michael sees these murders before they happen and tries to warn his friends, to no avail.
Why Don’t Panic Remains a Mexican Horror Cult Favorite
There’s a lot to love about Dimensiones Ocultas, and it’s not hard to see why it has become Galindo Jr.’s most notable genre film. From the strange kid-print adult-sized pajamas that Michael wears to the incoherent plotting, it’s not a film that’s going to appeal to those who prefer tight technical filmmaking and single-threaded plot lines. The characters are hard to take seriously, in part because so many of the voices are dubbed, and if this all sounds like reasons not to like this film, you’re sorely mistaken.
The Elm Street influence is endearing in how sloppily it is transcribed here, but it’s also distinct enough to not feel like a complete rip-off. The demon, Virgil, doesn’t really look like Freddy, but if you squint your eyes after a few drinks, you’d probably not be able to tell the difference. The death scenes are creative and at the same time comedic, so it’s not a film that is easy to take seriously, which is a good thing.
While there are no budgetary numbers that are verifiable, Dimensiones Ocultas shows more ambition in terms of effects and ideas than Cementerio, while not really showing much evolution in terms of screenwriting. Galindo Jr. does have better command of the pacing here, and this too has received the amazing Vinegar Syndrome treatment like Cementerio, but is also sadly out of print. A-Tier Galindo Jr.
Ladrones de Tumbas (1989) A Unique Mexican Slasher
Shortly after Dimensiones Ocultas, Galindo Jr. was back at it, directing his third horror feature, Ladrones de Tumbas. Learning a bit from both of his former features, Ladrones feels far more consistent both in terms of plotting and execution. It does tread familiar ground that harkens back to Cementerio, as a group of teenage treasure hunters unknowingly awaken a malevolent entity hell-bent (literally) on bringing forth the spawn of Satan. The spirit systematically takes out the teens one by one in clever, slasher-centric ways, and while it does feel familiar, it’s never repeating the same stuff seen in earlier Galindo Jr. joints. The effects feel far more accomplished, and the story is much easier to follow, all things considered.
The Forgotten History of Mexican Horror Filmmakers
There’s even less information about this film’s production out there, which is more of a reminder that there is still a woeful lack of study around Mexican horror filmmakers that has penetrated the mainstream. Even in preparing for this article, it’s quite difficult to find trusted sources- hell, any sources besides Wikipedia and IMDb. What we do know happens after Ladrones is that Galindo Jr. would begin his distinction from horror and start making his way West to more dramatic and widely accepted fare. There is one more film that Galindo Jr. would helm for horror, possibly two if you consider Resucitaré Para Matarlos in 1991, before making his big pivot. And you guessed it: the Vinegar Syndrome release of Ladrones is very much out of print. S-Tier Galindo Jr.
Mutantes Del Año 2000 (1992) Rubén Galindo Jr.’s Sci-Fi Horror Experiment
Mutantes del Año 2000 is easily the worst of Galindo Jr.’s genre efforts, and it’s largely because it’s kind of a silly premise. It’s a story about a teacher going through an ugly divorce during a time in the future where pollution is so bad that everyone wears gas masks, and an ex-husband who has been dumping nuclear waste behind the house, mutating the local rodent population. When a giant mutated rat enters the home, the teacher must fight it to stay alive while she’s warding off both the rat and her ex, who wants to keep his nuclear secret. It’s absurd, and it almost feels like Galindo Jr.’s first foray into the more dramatic side of storytelling.
Not only is this one a bit of a slog to get through, but it also loses some of the fun and charm that Galindo Jr.’s previous films exhibited. While the story is a bit more concise and clear, a positive, the delivery leaves a lot to be desired, even if the world-building is somewhat interesting. It’s hard to know, at least without further research or speaking to Galindo Jr. directly, what caused him to fall out of love with genre, but his lack of conviction is apparent here. You can’t fault someone for wanting a change, but I would be remiss not to wonder what it would’ve been like if Galindo Jr. kept refining his abilities for the sake of scares.
Why Rubén Galindo Jr.’s Mexican Horror Films Deserve More Attention
One of the most challenging parts of writing this kind of article is not having enough sources to tell a fully holistic story. Part of this is due to time, as one can only watch so many special features in such a time, but also that there simply aren’t as many primary sources for Mexican horror history and the filmmakers that contributed to it. The fact that so many can’t name more than one Mexican filmmaker says a lot about the lack of information out there, and so if you’re a filmmaker seeking a new topic for a genre documentary, consider Mexican horror. Not only is it fertile ground, but it’s also got a lineage of talent that is still alive to talk about what it was like, something we are reminded of weekly as announcements of deceased horror stars come across our news feeds.
Rubén Galindo Jr. is just one of many who have made their mark on horror in Mexico, and selfishly, I would love to know more about this than what is available. Running a website and working full-time doesn’t leave a lot of time for much else, but it’s important to both remember and celebrate the legacies of those who came before as trailblazers who are just as worthy of our praise as those who become household names.
For more of Matt Orozco’s work, along with many other great horror articles, head on over to Macabre Daily!
