Gigi Saul Guerrero Is An On The Rise Horror Storyteller

From humble beginnings to signing a take care of considered one of horror’s largest manufacturing corporations, V/H/S 85 director Gigi Saul Guerrero’s emergence on the style scene has been as sudden because the jumpscares she fills her cult hits with.

Born in Mexico Metropolis in 1990, Guerrero grew up in her native nation till her household immigrated to Canada in her teenage years, finally attending movie college and connecting with future collaborators like cinematographer Luke Bramley, and producer Gorden Cheng. Regardless of the gap, Guerrero’s coronary heart and horror leanings have at all times steered her again to her homeland.

In 2011, she made her directorial and performing debut with the quick movie Useless Crossing. The quick follows a household making an attempt to cross the United States-Mexico border in hopes of discovering a greater life, as an alternative they uncover the US border patrol is harboring a nasty secret that entails the undead. The six-minute-story completely encapsulates the driving motivation behind most of Guerrero’s work: authentically portraying her Mexican heritage whereas delivering an thrilling (and terrifying) expertise that doubles as a pleasing viewing expertise with heavy gore and metallic music galore.

From there, Guerrero reduce her enamel on delivering quick, episodic, high-genre experiences. These vary from delivering killer segments in anthology movies comparable to Mexico Barbaro and The ABC’s of Demise 2 ½. Whereas directing these segments, and later, beginning her manufacturing firm Luchagore Productions, Guerrero discovered herself a part of the brand new wave of Mexican Horror motion often known as “Nuevo Cine de Terror Mexicano”.

Then Blumhouse got here knocking.

One of many largest producers of Horror movies and tv within the trade as we speak, Blumhouse noticed the untapped potential in Guerrero’s narrative instincts. She quickly started contributing work below their banner by directing episodes of their anthology sequence Into the Darkish and the extremely underrated tv sequence of The Purge, permitting her to work with one of many firm’s most notorious IPs. This relationship led to her signing a primary look take care of the corporate.

In 2021, Guerrero had her function movie breakthrough with Bingo Hell, a movie launched below Blumhouse’s Welcome to the Blumhouse banner that follows residents of the barrio of Oak Springs as they’re about to lose their beloved neighborhood bingo corridor to gentrification. However, in typical Guerrero vogue, not all is because it appears, and what follows is a excessive octane, gore-filled good time.

The movie was a breakout hit at Implausible Fest 2021, the biggest style movie pageant in the USA, and shortly turned a cult hit when it was launched on Amazon Prime’s streaming service, cementing Guerrero’s standing as not solely some of the promising voices in horror, however some of the dynamic Hispanic voices in filmmaking, interval.

With that stage of success, all eyes have been on what Guerrero would do subsequent. That reply got here in 2023 when it was revealed she would contribute a phase to the wildly fashionable V/H/S/ anthology with that 12 months’s installment V/H/S/ 85. Her phase titled “The God of Demise” follows a information crew through the notorious 1985 Mexico Metropolis earthquake who encounter a horrific creature of Aztec origin. Guerrero was, as soon as once more, returning to her roots, pulling from the identical effectively that fueled her quick movie debut so a few years earlier, however for a a lot bigger viewers. The movie was praised as one of many stronger entries within the sequence with Guerrero’s phase serving as a standout because of the terrifying tone it delivered.

So what’s subsequent for rising horror icon? That is still to be seen. She’s teased a number of initiatives, like an Eli Roth produced movie for Orion and a online game for Capcom that she wrote, however the future is virtually limitless. Not solely is she a trailblazing voice for ladies within the horror house, however considered one of Mexican illustration as effectively. Her physique of labor proves that there’s an urge for food for genuine Hispanic voices within the style, and there’s little doubt that, no matter she does subsequent, she’ll stay true to her heritage.