Mexican horror movies, golden age cinema and Nazi occultism combine to great effect in Silver Nitrate, another fantastic novel from prolific, genre-hopping author Silvia Moreno-Garcia. In 90s Mexico City, horror movie-aficionado Montserrat is a sound engineer fighting to keep her place in the male-dominated industry, and Tristán is a washed-up soap actor struggling to find work in the wake of a tragic accident. When the two friends meet once-famous horror movie director Abel Urueta, it doesn’t take much for them to agree to help him complete an unfinished film of his, the ‘lost’ movie that essentially ended – and maybe cursed – his career. As they learn more about the origins of the film and its occult subject matter, and the other parties originally involved in it, they find themselves caught up in a dangerous new world where film and ritual combine.
Horror movies and occultism are a naturally engaging combination, but the concept here – of embedding a ritual into a movie, taking advantage of both the medium (including the titular silver nitrate as a physical medium) and the collective audience of cinema – offers a really interesting approach to a familiar idea. On the face of things this is more of a modern, overtly supernatural sort of horror than say Mexican Gothic, but it does in fact still have many of the classic gothic themes – the building sense of fear, a haunting presence, secrets slowly revealed through obscure writings. The creepiness starts off fairly subtle, but as Montserrat learns more about Wilhelm Ewers, the occultist who wrote much of Urueta’s unfinished film, the darkness begins to really ramp up. Montserrat’s interest rapidly turns into obsession, while Tristán finds himself literally haunted by his past, as the two friends slowly descend into the darkness of the world they’ve accidentally stumbled upon.
The sinister world of dark rituals, curses and Nazi occultism undoubtedly plays a big part in the plot, but the unconventional and often troubled friendship between the two main characters is what really drives the narrative. Montserrat is a classic Moreno-Garcia character, stubborn and determined and sometimes abrasive, trying her best to scrape a living and be there for her unwell sister while pushing back against the everyday sexism in her industry. Tristán meanwhile is flamboyant, unreliable and self-centred, very much the emotional foil to Montserrat’s pragmatism, relying a little too much on his friend to keep him focused in both his personal life and his fragile career. Over the course of the story they find themselves switching roles somewhat, which challenges their friendship right when they both need it the most, and even if you strip out the supernatural elements there’s more than enough in this dynamic to make things interesting.
As ever with Moreno-Garcia’s work there’s a historical element to the story too. It’s less overt here than with some of her books, but the backdrop of a low period in Mexican cinema (just before the arrival onto the scene of now-famous names like Guillermo del Toro) adds depth to proceedings, while Montserrat’s research into Ewers’ history and unpleasant ideology tap into some believably dark themes. All told, despite the dark magical elements that increasingly creep in, the whole thing feels very grounded and real – the sort of horror story that’s about psychological trauma as much as anything supernatural. It works brilliantly, everything combining into a gripping whole that’s typically low key but utterly fascinating. Come for the vintage horror references and the occult rituals, but stay for the test of friendship and the clever blend of magic and movies.
Review copy provided by the publisher
See also: all of the Silvia Moreno-Garcia reviews on Track of Words
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