Si muero antes de despertar (1952) aka If I Die Before I Wake

Continuing my exploration of the films of Carlos Hugo Christensen, and Latin American film noir, we have If I Die Before I Wake, the first of Christensen's Cornell Woolrich adaptations. Woolrich has the distinction of being one of the most filmed authors in history (Rear Window being the most famous of these adaptations), and directors in all parts of the world have translated his work to the screen. If I have not driven home the point enough, I will reiterate, Carlos Hugo Christensen is one of world cinema's most underrated and undervalued directors, and If I Die Before I Wake is yet more proof of this. The plot centers on Lucio Santana, a loveable prankster and class clown whose dad happens to be a detective working on the serial killings of local children. When Lucho makes friends with a girl in his class, she divulges to him that a man who lives in the woods near the park has been giving her free lollipops, and plans to take her to his candy house. But she makes Lucho vow never to tell anyone. When the girl winds up murdered, Lucho is torn between honoring his word to his slain friend, or telling his father that he knows who the man is. But soon enough, his decision is made, when his new lady friend becomes a potential victim of the killer. Christensen's depiction of the world as seen through the eyes of our child protagonist is one that is both understanding, and respectful of the challenges of childhood. Unlike the Hollywood films of the era that were often condescending or pandering in their handling of child characters and actors, Christensen handles the material with aplomb. He reminds us what it is like to be a child, to have the feelings and confusions and conflicts that a child has. His aesthetic is at once lyrical and soft-focused, but also hard-nosed and realist, and he is not above inserting a surreal dream sequence. There is also palpable suspense and terror on display here, and the final confrontation with the child killer is beyond eerie. Sadly, like all of Christensen's other films, this is in desperate need of restoration, and the current TVrip does not do the classic justice at all.