Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Trash Mix podcast.
We're now on episode three, season two, and we're
going to get really serious, I guess, this time.
It's pretty much about social issues and stuff
like that going on, especially with the community
right now, especially. But we're also going to
dig into the past as well, which is something
that, you know, we all are very familiar, especially
if you're Mexican -American or just Latin American,
you're familiar with the immigration, you know,
the discrimination. The realities of it, you
know, crossing over the United States. And we're
going to discuss two films about that. The first
one being called Mojados, which is Wetbacks in
English from 1979. Then our second film will
be called El Vagon de la Muerte, which is like
Boxcar of Death. And yeah, that's a pretty brutal
one. And yeah, so Joey, what do you got to say
about it? Yeah, man, you know, this is like,
I know we had talked about it and, you know,
with everything going on in... especially L .A.,
but around the country, we just thought it would
be a good discussion to have something that's
a little bit more serious, more drama -based,
but it's kind of drenched in the realities that
we face right now with illegal immigration, Border
Patrol being the fucking Nazis that they are
right now, and just kind of the overall hate
that immigrants get in this country. Whether
illegal or not. Yeah. And it's crazy. Cause like,
you know, you hear, you've heard about this in
the past growing up, you know, like, yeah, this
is what we had gone through or so -and -so went
through. And it's like, now it's like, well,
it's kind of happening again. You know, you're
seeing it for yourself. Especially for us. Like,
I mean, I, I assume, well, I know that I am a
first generation. Well, my mom is, is actually
born in this country, but like, you know, and
as far as in my father's side, we're like first
generation Americans. Yeah. And I'm sure there's
a lot of people listening that are, you know,
first -generation Americans as well. So I think,
you know, the majority of people, especially
the raza that's listening, is going to feel,
you know, kind of in tune to these stories. They're
two different stories of immigration, but they
kind of both deal with the same type of realities
that immigrants face. Yeah, exactly. Good point.
All right, so let's see. First one will be Mojado's
Wepex from 1979. And Joey, that was one that
you picked, actually. Yeah, I had never seen
this before. I picked this one just based off
of the name, the cover, and the topic that we
wanted to discuss. Yeah, that poster is really
good. I mean, it's basically what the title is.
You know, they're crossing over, you know, in
the water. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So for those who
don't know what Mojados means, you know, it's
a derogatory term. It's the Spanish word for
wetback, as Armando said earlier. But, yeah,
I don't know. Let's kind of get into it here.
So Mojados was a movie from 1979. I guess the
general premise is basically, you know, there's
politicians and local border patrol and I guess
sheriffs that are all in cahoots with smuggling
illegal Mexicans over for essentially what's
slave labor. And this kind of has roots with
the Bracero program that was in place here in
the U .S. between the U .S. and Mexico that started
in the 40s. And lasted into the 60s. So, you
know, it deals with that and kind of, you know,
it exposes, I guess, the type of corruption that
that kind of, you know, I guess it's like the
underlining of these type of programs, you know,
that kind of allow politicians and allow local
leaders to kind of, you know, get a one up on
immigrants that don't know any better, that are
just here to try to. try to make money try to
have you know a better life for their family
and stuff so yeah and it stars jorge rivero which
i thought was pretty interesting because i mean
when you look at him he doesn't look like anything
like that at all no he's a very suave well put
together man yeah like he almost looks out of
place at times i'm just like i don't know if
he's kind of believable but oh well i mean he's
still a good actor but it was just kind of funny
seeing him amongst like other people and they're
like Yeah, he doesn't look like he'd be that
kind of a person. Well, he's a couple shades
lighter than most of the immigrants that die
in this movie. Yeah, like, literally, he just
stands out immediately. Like, even in the opening
when they're all, like, getting on the bus or
whatever. Yeah. Bro's just like, he looks so
out of place. So, let's go. It's directed by
Alejandro Galindo. um who had a very long career
yeah 50 year career basically right from the
golden age basically yeah like started in 30s
made his way into the golden age and lasted all
the way i think his last movie was 1989 if i'm
not mistaken yeah um so yeah a 50 year career
as a director pretty crazy written by Rafael
Garcia Travesi, as well as Rogelio Agra Sanchez,
who was also the producer of this movie, who
is kind of a titan of Mexican cinema, especially
for that era. Oh, yeah, big time. So we can talk
about him in a little bit. It was also co -produced
by one of his sons, Jose David Agra Sanchez.
Yeah, David. Yeah, David. Cinematographer was
Lorenzo Contreras. I think all in all, they did
a really good job of finding the right locations,
finding the right people, and kind of setting
the tone to this movie. I know Rogelio Agra Sanchez,
and you correct me if I'm wrong on this, but
what I read was that he was kind of the first...
uh mexican producer to basically invade the the
rio grande valley and bring mexican productions
there yeah he was pretty much the first one like
that settled there especially just settled there
you know some were already kind of coming over
there but he was the one to settle there he had
his house there in los fresnos and yeah he just
brought everything out with him studio stuff
and then he hired people from the area and he
got community support as well So it all worked
out for him to make these kind of movies. And
the first one was, if I'm correct, it's Noblesse
Ranchera with Juan Gabriel. Yeah, with Juan Gabriel.
That was the first one that they did. Yeah, I
guess... There's a pro and a con to it. I guess
he was trying to escape the unions in Mexico
City. The unions were crazy in Mexico City. In
that time, they were just like, we're not going
to deal with this anymore. They weren't fans
of the politicians either. The government were
like, we're going to have to do something. We're
going to find a loophole. That's basically what
they did. They found loopholes. We're going to
come over here, make the movie, but register
it as a Mexican film. Then go from there. i mean
it was a it's a pretty uh funny process i'll
dig into it another time but it's a funny process
i do have a book where it talks about how they
did that yeah i mean it's it's i mean for being
the first he kind of you know set the tone of
of you know the the i guess the aesthetics of
mexican movies of the time because eventually
People like the Galindo family moved up to Texas
and were making movies in Texas. Multiple different
producers ended up in Texas because of how successful
Rogelio was with these productions. I read that.
Especially this movie, Mojados, when it first
opened, I guess that opening weekend made like
$30 ,000. I don't know if it was a single theater.
I would imagine it was a single theater. Yeah,
it was the Don Gordon Theater in Houston. There
it is. I can't imagine that he even spent more
than $30 ,000 on this movie. Yeah, you can tell
he spent way less than that. Yeah, because like
you said, a lot of the community, they were excited
to have... you know, productions move into their,
you know, their smaller Texas communities and,
you know, people would lend them cars, lend them
their houses, would just act for free and all
of it was free. So he basically only spent money
on. you know equipment like production ship you
know equipment and you know the actual film stock
and the actors basically is what he was paying
people for and then that opening scene they filmed
it in the back of their house in los fresnos
yeah that's what's crazy yeah the opening of
this movie basically is what opens up with a
monologue about You know, immigrants wanting
to find a better life and, you know, the dangers
that they face crossing the Rio Grande into Texas.
And then it immediately cuts to Jorge Rivero
and, you know, a group of nine other immigrants
who were basically paying a coyote to take them
back across the border so they can, you know,
they can find work, obviously. natural border
between Mexico and the United States. Now, it
is here, in an extension of 2 ,986 kilometers,
where the great hallucination exerts its harsh
influence. Here, where millions of Mexicans,
with reason or without it, renouncing the land
that saw them born, are also attracted by the
fabula of the dollar. here where perhaps the
most intense drama of our times takes place human
avalanches from all over the world of all races
and creeds were launched since then to the conquest
of the land of promise Pedro Ortega. Juan Garcia.
Joey Martinez. Allá está la luz. Sí, ándame.
And the, I don't know if he was, he was Chief
Harris was his name. Oh yeah, I remember they
keep saying his name funny. Harris. Harris, yeah,
yeah. Um, he basically opens, allows his, uh,
his sheriffs or his border patrol agents, cause
they don't really distinguish if it's border
patrol or sheriffs, uh, in the movie. So I, I'm
just kind of, you know, using the terms interchangeably,
but, um, yeah. So he allows his agents to open
fire on these immigrants that crossing the border
and plants drugs and guns on them to basically,
you know, weaponize illegal immigration and demonize
them and make them look bad. Um, but that whole
scene, like, like Armando just said is, is all
shot in Rogelio's backyard, which is kind of
crazy to think, uh, you know, I, I don't know
the landscape of the RGV, but I mean, it's pretty
sick that, you know, you can have a whole ass
river in your backyard. Oh yeah. Yeah. If you
ever go there, there's like riverbeds and just
a lot of open fields to at least now before I
think it was more fields and like a bunch of
surrounding areas. So, yeah, it's pretty cool,
especially if you're going to make a movie like
that. Yeah, that's like the perfect spot. The
opening scene, of course, you know, this is like
my term. I should trademark it, but sets the
tone of the movie, basically, because the whole
movie follows the one survivor of that opening
massacre, who, of course, is Jorge Rivero. And
it follows him and his struggle to bring awareness
and kind of infiltrate the corruption between,
you know, the authorities and politicians and
people that are allowing, you know, illegal immigrants
in to basically use them as slave laborers and,
you know, not to pay them for shit or whatnot.
But there's an interesting discussion because
the chief Harris, he purposely allows a reporter.
uh who i think his name was alfonso bringas yeah
to basically come to the scene of this massacre
to prove that these are bad people and of course
you know the reporter alfonso he's like you know
he's the only person that's willing to go on
record and and call out this corruption yeah
and he's like a chicano too so he's like you
know very like you know into that he's like no
you know you guys are just trying to make us
look right you know look bad make these people
Look bad. Yeah, he's very vocal about the corruption.
This is Harris. Send me those newspaper men,
including that Mexican bastard. I'll meet him
and show him the way. Yes, sir. All right. Let's
be fair, gentlemen. Que viene especializándose
en acusarme de proteger el contrabando ilegal
de braceros y de la corrupción. Hablemos en español.
Todos lo entendemos. Yo nací en este país y hablo
el inglés igual o mejor que usted. Son ambas
cosas. Braceros y contrabandistas. Vengan. Quiero
mostrarles algo. Are you sure they're smugglers
and not wetbacks? Marijuana. ¿Cómo iba a evitarlo?
Si cuando les ordené que regresaran a su territorio,
abrieron fuego contra nosotros. Usted lo planeó
todo para justificar este asqueroso crimen. Calma,
señores. Aquí lo importante es aclarar los hechos.
You said there were ten smugglers and only nine
corpses. Nine or ten, who cares? If one managed
to escape, we'll find him. I don't doubt it.
Especially when he could be a witness in charge.
A witness who would prove that you are a coward.
A miserable murderer. You Mexican greaser. Now,
wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold it, hold it.
I'm going to say it in Spanish. I think the gentleman
is right. You are a murderer. to basically bring
them all down. Yeah. He wants to, and that was
the thing too. He wants to get revenge for, you
know, having those people killed. That was another
thing too. It wasn't just like, oh, you know,
to get these people, you know, in trouble, you
know, but it was also for revenge on his end.
And there's a lot of things in it too, because
there's like, there's. There are sheriffs in
there, or I guess agents, I don't really know
what they are, that are like, paisa as fuck,
too, because they speak with terrible English
accents. Well, that's one I should point out,
that some of the dialogue in this movie is in
English. The majority of it is in Spanish, but
I'd say it's like a 70 -30 split of Spanish and
English. So for those who don't speak Spanish
can kind of follow along the movie without subtitles.
I think it plays into... just kind of how your
own it's it's uh the old saying right like skinfolk
and kinfolk basically you know you know the only
people that hate mexicans more are other mexicans
yeah and you can see it in this movie and display
because you have the agents that are obviously
yeah they're all immigrants i mean obviously
they're actors themselves but you know the characters
are speaking with terrible accents they don't
uh they obviously don't speak english that well
there's a scene where like a local member of
the community, sees Jorge Rivero, who has gone
under a truck to escape, and sees him and goes
to a little diner that they're in and basically
narcs him out to the sheriffs that are in there.
That leads to this whole -ass fight where Jorge
Rivero beats the shit out of one of the leading
agents for Chief Harris. Have you seen any wetback?
No, señor. ¿Qué carga traes? Open the back. Okay,
you can go. It's kind of a pivotal scene, I think.
Because again, it shows that not everybody in
your community is going to like you. Not everyone
in your community is out for your best interests.
And you see it today, man. How many Latinos for
Trump type fools are out here calling immigration
on their own family? The ICE agents that we're
seeing. They're clearly Chicanos. Yeah. Like
I said, it's something of the past that you're
seeing now. It's like, oh, nothing's really changed.
It's still relevant, which is why I think this
movie is kind of important. People online were
kind of bashing this movie, kind of saying that
it was boring and slow, but I personally loved
it. I think it's kind of a... Yeah, I think what
it is is people were expecting it to be this
action -packed movie. With a lot of violence
or something. But no, this one was more serious,
if anything. This was an actual movie trying
to portray what was going on there. There's even
a scene between a senator whose name was William
Benson. And I guess he was in cahoots with the
leader of the farmers that were using illegal
aliens for work. And that scene, of course, was
also shot in Rogelio's actual house. Yeah. Everything
was in the house or like their friends that they
had over there. But it's just like, I don't know,
man. It's it's watching this movie was kind of
infuriating at the same time because, again,
it's like it's. While this movie was made in
79, here we are almost 50 years later, and it's
the same shit that's happening now. There was
also a politician in this movie who anglicized
his own name. He was a quote -unquote mojado,
but he anglicized his name from Pedro Rios to
Peter Rivers to kind of fit in to the local,
I guess, white community. um, you know, disguise
himself and, and kind of be, he was kind of like
a, like a, like a Ted Cruz type of fool, you
know, like change your name. Yeah. Kind of, you
know, fit in and not to bat. I know, I know,
uh, we got, you know, some homies that are from
Texas and not to bash Texas as a whole, but Texas
got some fucked up shit going on. And Ted Cruz
is just a part of that. I'm, you know, it is
what it is. You know, you'll find Texans that'll
say that too. So yeah, no, yeah, for sure. Especially
from the Rio Grande Valley. Yeah. So, I mean,
again, I, I hate to say the same thing and regurgitate
this, you know, the same, you know, information
points, but it's, it's a reality that's still
going on today, 50 years later. And, um, I, I
do think that this movie is, is quite important,
but, um, I thought that was interesting seeing
that, um, Because it does happen today, still.
There's even... There's even scenes where...
I don't know if it was a flashback. I don't know
if you remember, but there's a scene where Jorge
Rivera's character is walking out of some kind
of building. And there's a bunch of, obviously,
Latinos that are outside this fence that were
talking shit to him. Like, go back to your country.
Oh, yeah. And there's, you know... uh a lady
there named judy who i guess is his girlfriend
she was played it was played by maria fernanda
um and she's the only one that's really sticking
up for you know these immigrants that were just
trying to find work um i don't know i mean i
i hate to be the broken record man it's just
this is why this movie is still kind of vital
but there's seen there's pivotal scenes like
that because it does show you that again that
the community is not always for you so And I
don't mean, I don't know. I mean, I don't know
how much else to go into it because there's...
It pretty much just follows like, yeah, he infiltrates
and then, you know, just when you think things
are going to be better, they don't get better.
Yeah, well, because I guess he finally realized
it. I guess there was like the local, there's
like a local news report by, I don't know, I
don't remember if it was Alfonso Bringas, but
there was a local news report. about the corruption
because jorge rivera or rivero sorry doesn't
really know uh i mean he knows what's going on
but he doesn't know that it's like a widespread
thing so he when he sees it on the news and this
fool is asking for help for anybody to to corroborate
his theory or his stories on this corruption
he decides you know what fucking i'm gonna i'm
gonna risk my life i'm gonna infiltrate this
uh uh these group of of men that are you know
um i guess taking advantage of us and you know
he joins the the workers the braceros goes into
the farm system and he uses his time there to
to basically confirm alfonso's theories of with
names and people that are involved in the store
because of course the community knows about it
but they don't want to do shit alfonso the alfonso
knows about it But he can prove it. He's got
the support of, I don't know if he was a DA or
if that was like his boss. I think it was a DA,
like a prosecutor. Yeah, the prosecutor. He has
his support, but again, all he needs is the proof.
So in the last, I'd say like 30 minutes of this
movie, Juan, who is Jorge Rivero's character,
joins these workers. basically pretends to be
against the workers and kind of beats up the
workers that are trying to revolt and get more
money, more pay, and better living conditions.
And he finally gets the confirmation and gets
invited to Richard Harris' house, who is, once
again, he's the ringleader of the killing in
the beginning scene. And that's where he gets
noticed by the cop that he beat up earlier in
the movie. And so now he's on the run. And he
has to escape. And he goes back to Judy's house.
And it leads to this huge shootout. Yeah, I remember
that. I was like, oh, wow. Yeah. Typical action
movie, right? They have revolvers that only hold
six rounds, but they're shooting like 50 ,000
rounds, of course, without ever changing a bullet
or the casings, whatever. And it turns out that
there was a double cross in the team. There was
an infiltrator in the agents. One of the agents
ends up turning against... his own people and
you think he's breaking into Judy's house to
kill Juan and Judy but it turns out that he was
part of the i guess i don't know what the term
i'm looking for he was part of i guess like a
you know he was just one of them trying to help
yeah yeah like he was he was also there to infiltrate
and get information and confirmation that you
know richard harris was a part of it that the
senator was a part of it and that this other
guy donald uh briar or whatever was was a part
of it as well yeah And funny enough, that guy
was played by the producer, David Agra Sanchez.
Yeah, that's one of the sons there. So, again,
it's a family affair, like we've been saying.
So a little bit of a spoiler, but this does not
have a happy ending. Yeah, that was the thing.
It's like, you think it's going to be okay, and
I'm like, okay, hey, you know, they're going
to get their proof. They're going to be able
to get these people prosecuted and blah, blah,
blah. And it doesn't end like that, unfortunately.
Yeah, they end up. So once the agent basically
double crosses the other agents, you know, you
think it's all happy. They arrest some of them.
All right, we're going to take them in for questioning
and stuff like that. Meet us over here at the
prosecutor's office. And then remember Rivero's
character. He was going to go back to Mexico
with his girlfriend, remember? Yeah, that was
the plan. She was already packing her. He had
told her to pack the bags. I'll meet you after
I give a statement. And we'll head back to Mexico
and live a happy life. Get away from all this
madness. And unfortunately... It does not work
that way. He's in the car. Somehow there's like
a shooter, like a sniper guy that's waiting for
them to basically ambush them on the road. Shoots
out the tires. They crash. And they both die.
Yeah. And that's it. That's the end of the movie.
Literally the end of the movie. I'm just like,
fuck. I can't even imagine. Imagine going to
see that in the theater. Just like, damn. you
know i i i i'm actually glad that it was this
type of ending because there's nothing worse
than one of these like bullshit ass movie where
it's like a heavy movie heavy on the drama you
know you see these harsh realities and then oh
by the way everything's happening you know good
and and and and well you know this this person
was able to escape and live a happy life because
it doesn't always work out that way um it's not
always you know um It's not always a happy ending.
The stories don't always have to have closure.
Sometimes real life happens and people's hatred
get in the way and you don't get to live out
what you expected to. Yeah, that's true. So yeah,
it's a bummer of a watch, but it's still a very
interesting watch, especially with the social
issues and everything going on. And I feel like
there's not a lot of movies out there that really
portray this stuff. At least people that don't
know of, you know. I feel like people are just
more trapped with the same old movies over and
over. Like El Norte, for example. I mean, don't
get me wrong. I don't hate El Norte. That's actually
a really fucking good movie. No, it's a great
movie. Yeah, great movie. But I feel like there's
still more before that and even after that, you
know. So there's, you know, there's more. And
then it just happens, you know, these were filmed
during the 70s, you know, by Rogelio and the
Galindos. So I always feel like people really
need to check these out, you know. There's quite
a few of these type of Bracero movies and like
Fronteriza movies. Yeah. well the one that he
did after mojados which is called las braseras
that one's probably the one that everyone will
probably enjoy more because that one's more exploitive
that one has more sex in it more violence so
whatever people saw lacked in mojados they can
just watch yeah exactly um yeah i mean there's
even when when i was trying to research this
there's uh There's little to no information on
this movie. I went through pages and pages and
pages of shit online. No one's really talking
about it. To the point where no one even bothers
to list the cast and who they play in this movie
or anything like that. But, yeah, like you said,
you find a lot of information about Braceros.
Oh, yeah, Braceros, yeah. I love that poster,
too. I've been after that poster, by the way,
Braceros. So it's, like, two Border Patrol agents
with the girl, and the girl's wearing, like,
her bikini. No, not a bikini, like, her bra and
panties, and they're in the river. I mean, it's
the most exploitive thing ever. So this is a
perfect example of what my exploitation is, see?
From the last time I mentioned. This is true
exploitation. Perfect. Mojados isn't exploitation.
It's more of, yeah, I think it's a serious drama.
Oh, yeah. I didn't really find it very exploitive,
if anything. No, and it's actually pretty fast
-paced. I mean, the movie, it's only like an
hour, 22 minutes or something like that. Yeah.
So, I mean, things happen and they happen pretty
fucking quickly. You know, maybe to its own fault,
I guess it doesn't allow certain aspects of the
movie to kind of breathe and, you know, develop.
But overall, I don't think this movie really
needs all that. In the short run time, I mean,
you get a lot of story. Yeah, it just gets to
the point. Exactly, yeah. I mean, you see what
happens. They show up at the border. They get
murdered. An investigation follows. We learn
that all these people are corrupt and fucked
up. They infiltrate the group, get what they
need, all the information to prosecute, and then
boom, finale. That's a good watch. You watched
it on YouTube, right? I did, yeah. There's actually
a really good copy on YouTube. Yeah, there's
a copy on YouTube. Yeah, again, it's like a 70
-30 split of Spanish to English dialogue, so
you won't have any problems understanding the
story of this movie. There's even a point in
the movie where Chief Harris is like, well, we're
going to talk in Spanish so that... Oh, yeah.
Just so you know and it's clear that you know
what I'm saying. Yeah. Richard Harris, they keep
saying it. They say it's so funny. They're like,
Richard Harris? richard harris and they say the
name a lot too it's like oh my god yeah they
really they really hammer it to you that this
richard harris guy is a complete asshole and
he and he you know and he is yeah he's a piece
of shit he's a piece of shit yeah but it's just
funny throughout the whole richard harris richard
harris like oh my god like okay i think we know
who he is now It's funny because they mention
him more than they do, like, the senator. Yeah,
exactly. And the ringleader, Donald Byard or
Briar, some shit like that. Who are, like, the
masterminds of this whole operation. And they
hardly get mentioned. I mean, they're only in
one scene. I think Donald is in the... Actually,
in two scenes. He's in the opening scene that
I spoke about and then the final scene at this
party that they're giving where Jorge Rivero's
character gets outed as the survivor of the massacre.
And that's it, really. The whole story follows
Juan and what he goes through to basically...
i guess uh you know go for his his arc of vindication
you know basically uh trying to tell the world
that immigrants aren't bad people you know that
these especially these group of 10 men that try
to cross the border you know they weren't drug
addicts they weren't narcos they weren't criminals
they weren't there to kill anybody it was just
strictly to work and make money and have a better
future and this plays really well with the second
story um Because this movie also has a complete
downer of an ending. And I'll let Armando take
it over for this one. Yeah, so like almost a
decade later, we got a movie called El Vagon
de la Muerte. Y como les digo, se sacaron la
lotería al encontrarse conmigo. Se pueden considerar
desde este momento en los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica.
¿Tan seguro está? Claro, si no son los primeros
quemando al otro lado. Y la mayoría, cuando regresan
cargados de dólares, me buscan para darme mis
albricias por lo bien que les fue. O sea que
no vamos a tener problemas para llegar. Ninguno.
¿Y cómo vamos a saber cuando lleguemos allá?
Muy fácil. Muy fácil. En cuanto suban al vagón,
dénse por llegados. Ahí lo tienen. Yo ya cumplí
con mi parte. Ahora les toca a ustedes cumplir
con la suya. Aquí tiene lo prometido. Es lo de
los cuatro como quedamos. Si quiere contarlos,
por favor. Perfecto. Así me gustan los tratos.
Pues no tienen más que subir a bordo. They filmed
it in 87, literally probably after the real tragedy
that occurred. So, El Vagon de la Muerte is based
on a tragedy that happened in 1987. in Sierra
Blanca, Texas. Let me read the excerpt from the
LA Times article. 18 suspected illegal aliens
trapped in a locked steel -walled boxcar were
found dead in stiffing 120 degree temperatures
Thursday in what authorities called a botched
smuggling effort. One man survived the 14 -hour
ordeal by using a spike to punch a hole through
the floor and breathing through opening Said
Mike Williams, a spokesman for the U .S. Border
Patrol in El Paso. So, yeah, so Vagón de la Muerte,
it's based on that. Vagón de la Muerte is about
a group of people. It's the main guys played
by Juan Valentín and his two kids. And then these
three other guys, or four other guys, that is.
They're in the boxcar. They're going to get transferred
out to the United States from Mexico. And it
seems like it'll be like a sitch. It's like,
okay, we get in this cart. We're going to head
there in no time, you know. We just have to,
you know, relax and sit down for a while. And
when they're in the box cart, it seems okay.
But then, yeah, a lot of shit happens in there.
We got Juan Valentin's character. I mean, Juan
Valentin's son, who just happens that he got
a dog bite before they got in. So he's... leg
is all fucked up and it just turns out he's getting
rabies you know so he's starting to feel the
effects of the rabies i think it's important
to to point out that the dog's name was feudalice
yeah you're just like wait what like what's going
on because the kids like remember they show his
leg like oh feudalize um he was i was playing
with him and he bit me And, yeah, they show his
leg, and it's, you know, all bloody, and then
you're just like, oh, no. That scene's actually
pretty gruesome. Like, you know, they're, like,
squeezing his wound, and it's, like, gross. Yeah,
so they're trying to, like, you know, clean it
up. They're like, okay, maybe if we just clean
it up, you know, he'll be okay. And then there's
a scene where they pour alcohol in it, right?
And then he screams, and his scream is, like,
really loud, and it's like, oh, shit, this is
not going to be good. Carlos, is que me mordió
la piri. ¿Y cuánto tiempo hace de eso? Pues no
sé. ¿Cómo que no sabes? Pues fue hace algunos
días. ¿Y por qué no me habías dicho nada? Tenía
miedo de que te fueras en hogar con la piri.
¿Qué pasó, compadre? ¿Qué tiene el muchacho?
Mire nomás, compadre, lo mordió. ¿Cómo se atreve
a traerlo en esas condiciones? Así no puede viajar.
¿Qué no vio el doctor? Es que no me dijo nada.
Lo primero que hay que hacer es lavar esto que
está de la fregada. ¿Alguien trae un jabón? Yo
traigo uno. Ah, y un poco de agua. Sí, también.
Benditas mujeres. Habrá un poco de alcohol. Yo
creo que es lo único que va a hacer falta. Pues
ahora va a tener que decir benditos hombres.
I don't have a bottle of cane. Well, throw it
away. Give me some soup. We're going to have
to disinfect this with a little cane. Throw it
away. Come on, man. Throw it away. Throw it away.
So after that, they're still in the car, and
then it's starting to get hot in there. And then,
of course, more drama. You start to realize some
of these guys in the car aren't really good people.
They're all really fucking shitty. They all have
their own story of how they become villains.
Like Noah Moriyama, he plays a guy that robbed
his old job. He killed his boss, and he stole
money from the company, so he's on the run. The
other guy that's played by Alfredo Gutierrez,
El Turco. He raped his niece. Yeah, he's a child
molester. Yeah, he literally just assaulted his
niece, like, brutally. Like, and there's a scene
where they flash back to these guys, you know,
committing their crimes. And then you're just
like, oh, shit, you know, this isn't going to
go well, especially with there's kids there and
then these guys, you know. And then later on
during the movie, that's when the kid starts
to develop rabies. He's starting to get sick.
He starts foaming in the mouth. It's just this
really gruesome, yeah, it's a really bad, you
know, it's just scary and just like, fuck, this
is bad, you know. This is not going to end well
at all. You just know it's not going to end well
at all. It's kind of crazy because it starts
off like a happy family. Well, I don't want to
say happy family. They're a normal family because
they got financial issues, it seems like. Yeah,
typical Mexicans, the struggling in the rural
areas, they're just like, oh, it's not going
well here in the farm. We're going to have to
cross. But then before that, Juan's wife. she
dies remember she just all of a sudden gets a
heart attack so you're just like oh they're at
his wife is played by Ana Luisa Pelufo yeah so
she's only in it for a little bit but she's in
for one scene and yeah she they're are they're
having an argument about because I guess I guess
uh um Juan Valentin's character, Rafael, is already
making the choice to get on this train to go
to the U .S. with, I don't know, was it his cousin?
It was his friend. Yeah, his friend. And Annalisa
Pelufo, his wife, in the movie, she's like, you
know, you got a family here, fuck you. You know,
they're getting all heated arguments and see
what you're making my husband do. And she has
a heart attack and just fucking croaks right
there. Yeah, she just literally croaks right
there. And they're just like, damn, okay. Carlitos
no quiere comer. ¿Y quién va a querer comer con
esta discusión? Y para que lo sepan, muy pronto
me voy a ir a los Estados Unidos con mi compadre.
¿Me entendiste, Micaela? Por favor, Rafael, no
me hables así. Es cierto, no trates así a mi
mamá. Perdona, mi hijita, pero es que no me gusta
que se metan en mis cosas. Cálmense, compadre.
No peleen. Lo siento, pero solo de pensar que
te vas a ir tanto tiempo lejos de la casa...
What's wrong with you? Of course, it gives him
more of a reason to cross, like, all right, we're
going to really need to just leave, you know.
And then they're promising, you know, and he's
promising his kids, like, yeah, you know, we're
going to make a lot of money, you know, we're
going to come back. The American dream. Yeah,
and then, unfortunately, and then once you come
back to what's going on, you're just like, yeah,
this isn't going to end well at all for none
of these people. And then the guys start fighting
with Juan's character, you know, because of the
rabies stuff. Like, it's just this whole thing
in the card. You're just like, oh, wow, this
isn't going to end well, and it does not end
well. I want to say everyone dies there, basically.
One way or another. I'm not going to say how,
but they all do die one way or another. Whereas
with only one survivor and the one survivor being
little, she goes crazy. It's the daughter. She's
the only survivor, yeah. And she's just... yeah
she's out of it once they you know once we we
see what happens so you're like yeah she's out
of it now this is the most traumatizing thing
that that could happen to such a you know to
a child you know it's kind of gross too because
in in so i mean to me this movie felt more like
a stage play like if it felt because it really
only takes place in the box in the box car yeah
and um i i guess i mean maybe being you know
confined like solitary confinement you know you're
trapped in this this boxcar for who knows how
long it kind of brought the worst out of everybody
yeah and there's it starts to get hot in there
too and then they're trying to get out they're
like i know we need to try to get out so they're
trying to struggle a way to get out the door's
locked of course you know yeah they're trying
to like hit the walls they're banging on the
floor yeah they're trying to like they they have
like a bottle if it's a bottle of tequila or
whiskey or what oh yeah they're using that glass
to to kind of uh the floor yeah like cut through
the wood on the and the in the wagon so they
can get out of it and then when the boy dies
from rabies you know of course he starts to smell
you know because of the you know the heat in
there so it's even more so they're trying to
like escape the smell but then they can so you
feel all that that's going on there with them
yeah there's a lot of tension in that box yeah
there's a lot of tension and you're just like
oh man this is a bummer movie And, yeah, it's
a great one. I mean, it's just really intense.
So if you're one of those people that gets uncomfortable,
yeah, you're going to be really uncomfortable
watching this. I think there's like, you know,
like I said a little bit ago, there is kind of
like a character arc for every single character
in here because they start off good and they
all turn out bad. You know, the friend that convinced
Juan's character to go. Yeah, like it was a piece
of shit. To me, he was more of a piece of shit
because he knew him, for one. And two, he purposely
took advantage of him. I think he convinced him
to sell his house to him, who he then turned
around and sold to a loan shark to get more money.
Yeah. And basically used the money that he got
from the house to pay for... his own cross yeah
exactly uh and and then basically charged you
know juan vanadine to to go so he was like a
complete asshole took advantage of him uh and
and allowed these these other two men in the
in the car with them to um you know to basically
be assholes to them. There's a scene where like
the daughter has to go to the bathroom and they
all get up and they all start turning. Yeah.
Yeah. You start to realize like, okay, maybe
these guys aren't good. Cause at first you're
kind of like, eh, whatever. They're just there
with them. But then, yeah, they start to show
signs of like, oh, I don't know. Maybe you can't
trust them. Yeah. They were, yeah, they were,
the other two guys were, were fucking scumbags
too. Um, yeah, I don't know, man, this movie
was kind of a bummer. Yeah. It's a bummer. And
it's funny. Cause I think I mentioned this in
the punks show. Where I was, like, waiting at
the Juan Valentin show. And then they saw me
with, like, posters and stuff. Like, oh, you're
going to have that stuff signed by Juan. Like,
yeah. And then I showed them the Vagón de la
Muerte, the window card. And they're like, oh,
I remember that one. That one's so good. Was
that... Do you think that, like... obviously
then this movie was successful when it came out
yeah because even when like because there's a
copy on youtube and that has like a bunch of
views like thousands and thousands of views in
the comments when you read the comments i always
read the comments on those movies and i'm like
yeah i see a lot of people love this they're
like oh yeah i remember seeing this and then
at the show too and they were telling me like
yeah i saw this when it first came out like yeah
that's a really good one it's really sad but
it's really good do you think this movie played
on on tv as well like i mean i can't imagine
that everyone went to go see this yeah it played
on tv so i think what it was so this was around
the time when echo mix i think yeah echo max
was releasing this movie on tape so it was released
in theaters and then like literally after the
theaters that's when they put it on video over
here in the states I have the big box somewhere,
but yeah. Did it get a release theatrically here
in the States? Yeah, it did. I would imagine
in Texas. Yeah, yeah, like in 88 and 89. That's
when it came out. In Mexico, it came out in 88,
and I think 89 was when it came out in theaters
and in video. So then, I guess, I mean, I don't
know. I mean, maybe because it was Juan Valentin
in there that all the theaters were excited about
it. Yeah. I mean, it does kind of play like a
novella. Like, it is kind of... dramatic it is
very dramatic oh yeah very dramatic the train
itself but i think it's just intense you're just
like fuck so then you think back you're like
yeah this is something that you'd probably see
later on in like a rosa de guadalupe or something
oh yeah so that's why so it's one of those that's
rarely appealing to people that are into high
dramas like that um yeah there was like um So,
I mean, obviously it's based on a true story.
The true story itself is actually kind of more
gruesome than what happened to the movie. Because
more people died, yeah, than just the few that
were in the movie. And the article that you had
sent me that I was reading about it was saying
that, like, you know, people were so grossly
deformed through, like, the heat. And I guess
they were confined to, like, small space. Like,
I guess they were, like, trapped under a truck
bed or something. And I guess the only way people
were identifiable was through their clothes because
everything else was so mangled and I guess like
deformed and inflated and shit like that. Yeah,
it was pretty bad when I read that, yeah. But
yeah, that's what it's based on. They made another
movie too after it's called Pasaporte de la Muerte
or Pasaporte de la Muerte. Oh shit, I gotta watch
that. Yeah, that's another one that's based on
that as well. But Vaguan's probably the one that
exploits it the most just because it's not based
on the real thing. Pasaporte tries to portray
it as the real thing. So it's not as... I mean,
it's still explained, but it still tries to portray
it more accurately, if anything. But yeah. I
gotta say, I think if you're doubling these two
movies, you're in for one hell of a fucking night.
Because it is pretty dramatic, pretty intense,
and like we said, both movies have very down
endings where you hope that the good people have
a good ending, but... No, unfortunately, they
don't. Yeah, exactly. And I don't, you know,
some people like that, some people don't. I do.
I thought when you added Vagón de la Muerte as,
like, the second pick in conjunction to the Mojados,
I was kind of excited because I know you had
talked about Vagón a lot, and I think it lived
up to the expectation that you gave it for me.
Yeah, and then, of course, this is directed by
Fernando Duran Rojas. And he's made a lot of
movies. Like if you look up his filmography,
like 158 credits to his name. Hot Snake being
one of the main ones that I think people will
know of the Western. Yeah, Vinegar Potato, right?
Yeah, Vibra Caliente, Hot Snake. And then if
you look at his filmography, yeah, he was already
familiar with like making these kind of movies
like Border Stuff and then Action Crime, a lot
of horror movies. So he's a really good director.
And in this one, he does a lot right here. He
portrays your criminal element, your drama element,
and then just everything else, you know, like,
you know, the exploitive stuff and so forth.
But, yeah, he's a good director, and this is
probably one of his best movies, I think, too.
And then this was produced by Ulysses Piagire,
who did the punks movies. Yeah. He had to make
these movies intense. I can already just imagine
him being like, you got to make this more hard.
You got to make this more intense. You got to
scream, by the way. and then that's the thing
too so the kids the two kids they were played
by uh ulysses's kids so andrea and ulysses jr
so those are his real kids the producer's kids
as as we keep saying everyone yeah mexican movies
are a family affair yeah it's so funny but uh
yeah like i said this one was yeah a good one
i would honestly love to see this on a blu -ray
like this is like a dream for me i need to make
a blu -ray wish list but this would be one of
them for sure i think I think people would maybe
overlook it, but I think if they do give it a
watch, they're going to be like, well, this was
really good. This was really dramatic, too. I
actually really dig this. Well, it's not a slasher,
so I don't think people really care too much,
unfortunately. Yeah, but I think it's still a
good one. It's still brutal enough. If you like
punks and you want to look more into the filmography
of the same people that made that movie, yeah,
I think you'll enjoy Vagoon. I think, I mean,
look. Everyone's tastes are different, but I
do think that both of these movies have something
for everybody. I would love to see both of these
restored on a Blu -ray, actually. Oh, yeah. Even
4K, honestly, because I think it would... Because
especially in early Mojado scenes, it's really
dark, so you don't really see a lot of shit.
So there's a lot of things that can get cleaned
up. make it look a little better. The sound,
obviously, you know, would get restored as well
with it. Yeah. Really good soundtracks on both
of these movies, actually. Oh, yeah. And when
Va, Juan de la Muerte, Juan Valentin sings twice.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, the first song was Cuando Llora
Un Hombre, which I know is one of his most popular
songs. I don't remember what the other one was.
Yeah, I can't remember the second one either.
Yeah, he's in the bar. And that's the funny part.
It just starts off so mellow. They're just at
the bar, and they're drinking, and then he's
singing. Next thing you know, all this intense
shit happens. You're just like, oh, that kind
of throws me off right there. I thought it was
going to be like a kind of a happy -go -lucky
movie, but then maybe a little bit bitter. But
then no, this was like happy -go -lucky and then
bitter all the way through. There's actually
a really cool, like, all -female group in Vagandera
Market, too. Oh, yeah. What do they call those?
Pocontrachis? Yeah, Pocontrachitas del Norte.
Yeah, Pocontrachitas del Norte. Yeah, they make,
like, a really rare appearance because they never
really starred in movies, but they were pretty
popular at the time. So that's pretty cool. And
I did look I did look them up. And yes, the songs
that they sing in this movie are available on
vinyl. Yeah. Unofficial soundtrack for another
Mexican movie. Yeah. You know, add it to the
list. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I don't know how
much people would be in a rush to see this movie
or buy it if it came out on Blu -ray. I do think
it's worth it. It's it's a good one. Like I said,
if you like punks. and you want to see something
else from the same people that made them yeah
you gotta see this one that's the thing i feel
like the last couple episodes we've been doing
there kind of unintentionally have been having
links to it just shows you how this cinema especially
the ones that we're talking about that's all
connected because they're all they're all the
same people or they all knew each other and that's
probably why someone like uh rogelio agra sanchez
was able to produce like something like 70 movies
in a short span of time. They were making almost
10 movies a year. A lot of the early movies,
I know he was successful in them. He was making
a lot of money when he first started. Let's make
another one. Let's go. Assemble the team and
let's go. Everyone's already here. His most famous
one that I want to know, I know people will know,
is the... the luchador one the one with all of
them oh yeah and i remember reading about that
he was saying like no expense was spared like
he didn't care how much he had to spend he couldn't
get el santo he was disappointed but he's like
let's just get another guy let's go let's make
this movie Shit, probably the cost of all four
of them was the cost of Santos. I was like, fuck
it. If I can get four for the price of one, let's
do it. Yeah, I think what it was is Santos couldn't
do it. I think Santos did want to do it, but
he just couldn't, I guess. That movie would have
been fucking sick. I mean, the movie's already
fucking sick. It's already good. But if Santos
was in it too, man, that movie would have been
hard. But yeah, that's one of Rogelios' most
famous movies and most successful, I want to
say, too. Because I know that one did really
well when it came out. He also did, what was
the Misterios en Bermudas or some shit like that?
Yeah, he did that one too, Misterios en Bermudas.
Shot in his backyard as well, they said. No,
not that one. That one was in South Padre Island.
But nearby there. Nearby. In his hometown. Yeah,
nearby. But yeah. So yeah, all those movies were
made there in the Rio Grande Valley. And Las
Braceras, as I mentioned, if you feel like Mojados
didn't, you know. Wet your appetite for sleaze.
Watch Las Braceras. I'm Vicks. I think you said
the key word there, sleaze. Everyone wants more
sleaze, more women, more nudity. Yeah, Las Braceras
will cover that. Perfect, there it is. Whatever
mojados didn't have that you felt lack of, Las
Braceras has you covered. And it's the same story,
basically, too. That's another reason why I wanted
to bring that one up, because it's almost the
same story. And it ends the same way. Stamp it
right there. Almost the same way, yeah. For all
the scumbags out there, you can go watch that
one. Yeah, exactly. Well, kept it nice and short
for this one, so hopefully we were able to talk
a little bit about the movies enough for you
to entice you to watch them. I know Mojados is
available on YouTube. Vagon de la Muerte. Is
Vagon available on YouTube? I don't even know.
Yeah, so it's under a different title. I don't
remember. But if you look it up, it'll come up.
But then I noticed it's a little bit cut. I think
they just cut off some of the music. So that's
the only bummer part. But it's still watchable
and stuff like that. So you can look it up there
as well. Okay, so both available for you guys
to watch on YouTube. Yeah. If not, you can bother
Armando. Maybe he'll give you a link or something.
Oh, yeah, yeah. I think I still have Vagon on
Dropbox or something. uh as always thanks for
listening uh you know rate subscribe all that
you know good shit we did officially start the
trash max podcast instagram page so if you're
not following that Go ahead and give that a follow.
We've been getting steady follows for the last
couple of days. Yeah, it's growing. Once we keep
posting more on there, we'll get more followers.
But yeah, we'll be posting more on there. We'll
post stuff related to the episodes. It's never
going to be just something random. It's going
to be always something connected to the episodes
we talked about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. New ones and
then maybe some of the old ones as well. yeah
so give give that a follow give armando a follow
if you aren't already which would be strange
i don't know how you're listening if you don't
follow him but it's funny because the other day
this guy was like is this your podcast and he
sends me the trash makes podcast link oh my god
i was like yeah i was like yeah i think you know
what i think i think people i don't know what
it is i'm not even gonna pretend to know yeah
i don't know i don't know either yeah i don't
know i think they just overlook everything so
but it's okay i mean it's whatever no it's all
good i mean you know you can't expect everyone
to be in tune with everything because there's
so many podcasts out there there's so many fucking
things to listen and watch like i mean you can
get inundated with so much shit uh now you know
but i will say though our podcast stands out
because once again we're talking about movies
that not a lot of people have talked about in
podcasts previously or at all I mean it's hard
enough to find information about this shit when
you're trying to google like alright let me find
a little history on this person or you know this
product I mean it's not out there it's just really
not out there luckily of course me being the
nerd that I am I always find a way so like The
book that I sent you. Somebody actually sent
me that book that I sent you. That was a good
read. I kind of want to go through the whole
thing. Yeah. So shout out to Robert Longoria.
He actually lives in Brownsville. So he sent
it to me. Shout out. Yeah. This was like last
year when he sent it to me. I was like, oh, perfect.
Yeah. So it was cool to use that book finally
for something, you know, other than what I normally
already knew. But yeah, that was good to use
that with you. So shout out to Robert. um shout
out to everyone who's listening um shout out
to everyone who eventually will listen and um
yeah man next month is uh gonna be uh well next
month is september um it's gonna be the mexican
independence uh is september 16th i kind of i
mean you know we've talked about it before but
i kind of want to do an episode that represents
both of our um Our home states in Mexico. Oh,
yeah. That's perfect. You know, kind of give
a little bit of light into, you know, where our
families are from. Because I don't think we've,
I mean, we mentioned it, but I don't think we've
ever gone in depth about where we're from. So
both your family, your mom and dad, they have
roots in Zacatecas? Just my dad. My dad's family
is from Zacatecas. My mom's family is from, where's
my grandma from again? I think she's from Nuevo
Laredo. Yeah, I'm sure. I think we can probably
double it. I mean, well, quadruple it because
my dad's from Michoacan. My mom, I mean, she
was born here, but her family's from Jalisco.
I think we can find titles for each state. Okay,
perfect. So then we'll do, I'll confirm that
with my mom. I'm pretty sure she's from Nuevo
Lorelo, which is right over the border. And so,
yeah, I'll confirm it. We'll pick a couple titles
and try to make it sleazy so people don't think
we're being boring with the drama shit. And,
you know, just to clarify, September 16th is
Mexico's independence, not Cinco de Mayo for
some people that think that. But notice how this
year nobody did nothing for Cinco de Mayo. You
didn't hear nothing about Cinco de Mayo at all.
I mean, look, I'm not going to say Cinco de Mayo
was not an important battle, but it's not what
everyone thinks it is. But I noticed, you know,
how normally, like, you'll hear about, oh, people
are going to have this event. You know, look
what's going on. And nothing happened this year,
yeah. And I wonder what's going to happen this.
this coming september other than like the boxy
matches you know yeah well i mean of course canelo
is going to be fighting so i mean the carne asada
that's literally the only thing i thought of
i was like what's everyone going to be doing
that day i'm just going to stay home and watch
the canelo which is what i'm gonna do too i mean
yeah i mean you know you gotta you gotta support
canelo man yeah what's single the mile and and
uh mexican independence day without a canelo
fight you know he fights twice a year one in
once in may once in september and all everyone's
happy man exactly So, again, thanks for listening.
Tune in next month. We'll be talking about home
states in Mexico. Maybe, I don't know, family
history or something. I don't know. Tell everyone
you know about the show. Rate, subscribe. And,
of course, contact us. Now that we have the Instagram,
you can always message both of us. Yeah, we both
have access to it, so you can hit up that account
and either one of us will respond. Yeah, just
hit us up. Don't be shy. Don't be weird. Like
I tell people, don't be weird. Just, just do
it. We got some big stuff coming to, I mean,
I've been, I've been planning something with
Armando for a little bit and it's finally coming
to, uh, it's coming into fruition. So, uh, once
I, once I get that done, maybe we'll have it
before the end of the year. Maybe it'll be like
a, uh, beginning of 2026 thing or something,
but we'll get that crack. And I think people
are going to be excited for that. Um, I know
October, everyone's going to be super stoked
for that. I mean, we're talking already months
in advance, but, um, yeah. Thanks for listening.
Yeah. Thank you guys so much. Appreciate it.
THE END Ahí está el bardo. Hola, Pardo. Esta
era tu piruja. De cuando andabas con pirujas.
Te la regalo. Llévatela a tu cama. ¡Te la regalo!