Marimbas from Hell

Marimbas from Hell

2010 · 74 min · ★ 5.5 · Drama, Documentary

Don Alfonso plays marimbas, the traditional Guatemalan instrument. Facing extortion and without work due to the population's lack of interest for his instrument, he seeks refuge with his godson Chiquilín. Blacko is a pioneer of the Heavy Metal Guatemalan underground stage. He is also a doctor in the public hospital but nobody wants to be treated by him because of his long hair and his tattoos. Chiquilín makes connections for Don Alfonso and Blacko to combine their talents and create a brand new band called Marimbas from Hell.

Directed by Julio Hernández Cordón · Written by Julio Hernández Cordón

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

GuideDoc

Rent or Buy

Amazon Video

Cast

Make it a double feature

2h 34m together

Marimbas from Hell

Buy Me a Gun

Both from Julio Hernández Cordón.

More from Julio Hernández CordónSee all →

Buy Me a GunBuy Me a Gun · 2018
Buy Me a Gun
★ 6.92018
MovieDrama
In a timeless México where women are disappearing, a girl helps her dad, a tormented addict, to take care of an abandoned baseball camp where the narcos gather to play.
GasolinaGasolina · 2010
Gasolina
★ 6.42010
MovieDrama
Three middle-class teenagers out on a high-octane ride to hell outside the safety of their "colonia"
I Promise You AnarchyI Promise You Anarchy · 2015
I Promise You Anarchy
★ 6.32015
MovieRomanceDrama
Miguel and Johnny know each other since childhood. They are dedicated to skate and have fun. To earn easy money and continue skating, they sell their own blood to a clandestine contact in a hospital. The activity becomes business until a large transaction is not as they imagined.
DustDust · 2012
Dust
★ 6.02012
MovieRomanceDrama
Ignacio is shooting a documentary on the people who disappeared in 1982 during the armed conflict in an indigenous Guatemalan village. Amongst the families are Delfina and her son Juan. Delfina still hopes to find her husband, but Juan knows who was responsible for the disappearance of his father: someone who still lives in the same village.
Even the Sun Has SpotsEven the Sun Has Spots · 2013
Even the Sun Has Spots
★ 5.82013
MovieDocumentary
Pepe Moco, a mentally handicapped boy, who makes an advert for one of the presidential candidates who promises to organise the first World Cup in Guatemala. Beto is a kid who scales a town drawn in chalk, venting his spleen on its walls, threatening passersby with balls. The two of them soon become very close evoking the past and present of a country that does harm.
Domingo and the MistDomingo and the Mist · 2022
Domingo and the Mist
★ 5.42022
MovieDramaFantasy
Domingo’s house in the Costa Rican mountains is about to be expropriated for the construction of a highway. But his land hides a secret: the ghost of his deceased wife visits him within the mist. Domingo is sure he will never give up his land, even if that means resorting to violence.
The HowlsThe Howls · 2020
The Howls
★ 5.02020
MovieDrama
A young girl goes on a journey to find the lake of Texcoco.
Lightning Falls BehindLightning Falls Behind · 2017
Lightning Falls Behind
★ 5.02017
MovieDrama
Hernandez had already made films in Guatemala and Mexico and this time found inspiring locations, unusual atmosphere and enthusiastic young people in Costa Rica. In this consciously unpolished film, the rebellious girls Sole and Ana open the trunk of a car in grandma’s garden and find something they’d rather immediately forget.
MinotaurMinotaur · 2015
Minotaur
★ 4.52015
MovieDrama
Minotaur takes place in a home of books, of readers, of artists. It’s also a home of soft light, of eternal afternoons, of sleepiness, of dreams. The home is impermeable to the world. Mexico is on fire, but the characters of Minotaur sleep soundly.
CiudadCiudad · 2020
Ciudad
2020
MovieDocumentary
El día es largo y oscuroEl día es largo y oscuro · 2024
El día es largo y oscuro
2024
MovieDrama
A Mexican movie director travels the world as a vampire, getting blood from wherever he can at local film festivals.
SarnaSarna · 2021
Sarna
2021
MovieDocumentary
A portrait of Guatemala City and municipalities adjacent to the Pan-American Highway from the eyes of the stray dogs living there.
MalezaMaleza · 2007
Maleza
2007
Movie
The Rays of a StormThe Rays of a Storm · 2023
The Rays of a Storm
2023
Movie
For this short, incisive opus, his starting point is a tree. A famous - and ailing - tree, which is said to have stood the test of time ever since Hernán Cortés, the conquistador, was said to have shed tears on it after his single but crushing defeat by the Aztecs in 1520 during the so-called Triste Nuit (Sad Night). Cordón, true to his style of taking his protagonists and us on unpredictable odysseys, invites us into the turmoil of this night with its multiple echoes. - N. Feodoroff
La curiosa forma de pesar el trigoLa curiosa forma de pesar el trigo · 2025
La curiosa forma de pesar el trigo
2025
MovieHistory
KM 31KM 31 · 2002
KM 31
2002
Movie

More Like This

Metallica: Some Kind of MonsterMetallica: Some Kind of Monster · 2004
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
★ 7.12004
MovieDocumentaryMusic
After bassist Jason Newsted quits the band in 2001, heavy metal superstars Metallica realize that they need an intervention. In this revealing documentary, filmmakers follow the three rock stars as they hire a group therapist and grapple with 20 years of repressed anger and aggression. Between searching for a replacement bass player, creating a new album and confronting their personal demons, the band learns to open up in ways they never thought possible.
Global MetalGlobal Metal · 2008
Global Metal
★ 7.42008
MovieDocumentaryMusic
In GLOBAL METAL, directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn set out to discover how the West's most maligned musical genre - heavy metal - has impacted the world's cultures beyond Europe and North America. The film follows metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn on a whirlwind journey through Asia, South America and the Middle East as he explores the underbelly of the world's emerging extreme music scenes; from Indonesian death metal to Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal. GLOBAL METAL reveals a worldwide community of metalheads who aren't just absorbing metal from the West - they're transforming it - creating a new form of cultural expression in societies dominated by conflict, corruption and mass-consumerism.
Hysteria: The Def Leppard StoryHysteria: The Def Leppard Story · 2001
Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story
★ 7.02001
MovieDramaMusic
A dramatization of the early years of the hard rock band, Def Leppard, the group faces both success and personal tragedies such as drummer, Rick Allen losing his arm in a car accident and guitarist Steve Clark's alcohol addiction.
Metal: A Headbanger's JourneyMetal: A Headbanger's Journey · 2005
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
★ 7.62005
MovieDocumentaryMusic
The film discusses the traits and originators of some of metal's many subgenres, including the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, power metal, Nu metal, glam metal, thrash metal, black metal, and death metal. Dunn uses a family-tree-type flowchart to document some of the most popular metal subgenres. The film also explores various aspects of heavy metal culture.
Anvil! The Story of AnvilAnvil! The Story of Anvil · 2008
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
★ 7.62008
MovieDocumentaryMusic
At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal" influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter