When Turrubiates’ wife goes into labor the local shaman, Tobias (Jose Tablas), performs a ritual over her. Just then Turrubiates (Rigoberto Carmona) arrives with the local doctor, Jose Luis (Rafael Sanchez Navarro). Turrubiates throws the shaman out of his house and threatens him that if anything happens to either his wife or his son he will kill him. Tobias gives Turrubiates the evil eye and leaves. Turrubiates’ wife survives but his son dies during childbirth. Turrubiates blames Tobias.
That night Turrubiates kills Tobias. Sheriff Aguilar (Roberto Montiel) finds his body down river. With no refrigeration to keep the body cold, the sheriff decides to bury Tobias right away. Before the grave is filled in, the sheriff looks at the shroud covering the body and sees it bleeding. The next minute the blood is gone. Believing it is just a hallucination Sheriff Aguilar ignores the vision.
Everyone knows that Turrubiates killed Tobias but they also believe that the shaman is not really dead. They know he sold his soul to the devil and will come back to life when the moon rises. Another villager gives Turrubiates a dagger with a crucifix on it and tells him he needs to stab the shaman in the heart to prevent him from coming back to life. Turrubiates digs up Tobias’ body but before he can plunge the dagger into the shaman’s heart, the moon rises. The shaman turns into a Nahual and kills Turrubiates.
Soon there are animals being killed and eaten. The villagers believe it is a Nahual but the sheriff maintains it is a bear. Eventually people are being killed and eaten by the demon creature. The sheriff has no choice but to believe that something unholy is loose. He hires a big game hunter (Jorge Russek) to help him track it down. The local priest, Padre Martin (Tito Junco) believes in the Nahual legend and has silver bullets made from the church’s communion cup. When Jose’s wife Rosa (Roxana Chavez) is kidnapped by the Nahual, he joins Padre Martin in hunting the demon.
“Cazador de demonios” AKA “Demon Hunter” was released in 1983 and was directed by Gilberto de Anda. It is a Mexican horror movie.
This was a pretty good horror film. Some of the English subtitles are a little fanciful but the movie was actually eerie and there was quite a bit of blood. It was basically a werewolf movie with a Mexican twist. The Nahual wasn’t great but it wasn’t all that bad either. I’ve seen worse werewolves.
A Nahual or Nagual is a Mexican mythological creature. It is derived from the word nahualli, which translates to “transforming witch” or “magician”. In the legend it is a person who is able to take an animal form. A shape shifter. There are variations on the legend. Some traditions believe that everyone has a Nahual, or guiding animal spirit, whereas others believe only powerful leaders such as shamans have Nahuals. Nahuals are not always evil. It depends on the person whether the Nahual is good or evil.