not horrible nor great

Best movie ever!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

This synopsis of the drug wars in Mexico is a dark comedy which makes it watchable but also sad.La vida no vale nada (life has no value). Is the theme of the characters and by implication most of Northern Mexico. And the here and now because of this drug money fueled nightmare is el infierno (hell) (original title).Obviously the story is written for comical effect and the gangs made funny (they would assuredly not be in real life).It is a digestible way to sum up a lot of truths. Social commentary comedy?Very well filmed gives balance to the Telenovela versions of this conflict like El Hombre De Los Cielos etc...I recommend this movie highly for any audience. You will look at Mexico differently.

I am a Mexican citizen in my forties and avid film viewer. After watching "El infierno" ("Hell" in its original title), I am left with mixed feelings. On the one side, I was depressed to see some of the worst of Mexican reality on screen. On the other I think this is a *good* movie. Another reviewer pointed out that some scenes of this film are worth being taught in film schools. I agree. The director, Luis Estrada, chose his locations well and camera work is impeccable. Casting is spot-on and performances are good, especially Ernesto Gómez Cruz, as a ridiculously unbelievable Drug Lord, with good supporting performances throughout. Estrada has obviously studied contemporary masters and it shows: If you look closely you'll see the legacy of Leone, Tarantino or Scorsese here. A final warning: if you are a native Spanish speaker, but not a Mexican, you may feel lost watching this: Mexican slang and swearing are ubiquitous, and I am afraid some of the (dark) humor may not be understood or get lost in translation. However, don't let that stop you from watching this intense, violent, but ultimately interesting film.

When it comes to "El Infierno" I have to say that is a very sad movie. Why? Because it shows a very sad reality of my beloved country, myself, as a Mexican, think that the movie portrays something that is affecting Mexico in very brutal way. I gave it a 9 because din't like the rating they gave it here ("C", which would be almost a NC-17 in the US) and I would like have taken my teenage boy (as a "R" rated movie) to show him what could happen to him or to any family is he or any of his junior high friends take the easy road, and also for the two pointless sex scenes it shows. I really hope they screen this movie in the US. For those retractors (no racists or anti inmigrannts) of Mexico, Mexicans, or the violence situation we have, or just plain rednecks that don't or want to understand, It would give a you a little idea of why this is happening. Anyway see this movie and think about it.

If there is one thing true about this movie is that everything flows through corruption, even the Mexican film industry. This film shows nothing new, (it only reasserts the fact, regardless of the plot, that people only want to watch bloodshed and a bit of soft porn, and even that, the easiest task, is poorly achieved considering the crimes drug-lords have done through this past decade; I can assure that its not out of consideration to the victims family) on the contrary, it distracts the viewer from what is really important and tries to soften it with bad and harmful jokes. Drug-lords are not like this movie shows them, there are more than 2 links between drug-lords and small-time drug-dealers. No one could change so easily between sides. And the ending is nothing more than old fashioned political propaganda; to any viewer Mexico would seem like the 1940's, fat corrupt officers, drug-lords sons of bitches, whores in every town. The filmmakers only watched the news for a couple of days and believed they know how everything goes, Mexico is really worse than that.