Si muero antes de despertar

Though the subject of traumatized childhood can often be made out in Christensen’s work, he never depicted it as violently as in this film, which is based on a short story by William Irish. It takes the form of a classic fairy tale set in the present day: there’s a little girl lost, a courageous boy who comes to the rescue and a sinister boogeyman played by prolific character actor (and occasional director) Homero Cárpena.
While EL VAMPIRO NEGRO states very clearly that its child murderer is a deeply tortured man, Cárpena’s lunatic is a true film monster devoid of any human quality, who even goes as far as defying God. Christensen initially intended to present three of William Irish’s tales in one long feature, but the production company decided that the resulting running time would not be ideal for commercial distribution. So they asked him to cut two different films, with SI MUERO ANTES DE DESPERTAR as the first one.

Curated by Fernando Peña and Roger Koza.