This 42-Year-Old Mexican Hidden Gem Is One of the Best Supernatural Horrors About Evil Kids

From The Omen to Children of the Corn, the image of a cruel child with supernatural undertones has captivated horror fans for decades.

1986's Poison for the Fairies, an intimate, refined, and incredibly disturbing film by director Carlos Enrique Taboada, marked the pinnacle of his career and concluded an unofficial horror tetralogy.

Winning five major Mexican movie awards, the movie tells the story of two schoolgirls whose witchcraft game gradually escalates into something far more dangerous.

What Is 'Poison for the Fairies' About?

The story is set in Mexico in 1965 amidst a backdrop of conservative Catholic traditions. Veronica, a ten-year-old girl, is strange and lonely: she lives with her paralyzed grandmother and a governess who tells her terrifying stories about the Inquisition and witches.

Desperately seeking attention and friendship, Veronica immediately sees a new girl in her class, Flavia, as the perfect listener. Flavia is a quiet, obedient girl from a wealthy family.

Veronica shares a "big secret" with Flavia: she is an ancient witch. Raised in a family that denies all things supernatural, Flavia is initially incredulous. However, she gradually succumbs to the persuasiveness of her new friend and her strange tricks and begins to doubt.

'Poison for the Fairies' Is a Film About How a Game Can Become Deadly When Taken Too Seriously

Carlos Enrique Taboada constructed the movie so that viewers see the world exclusively through the eyes of children. Adults are rarely shown in the frame: we only see their hands, feet, backs of their heads, and silhouettes. They exist as blurry shadows, unable to explain or control what is happening.

This technique creates an incredibly claustrophobic atmosphere in which the girls are locked in their own frame of reference without the ability to make an objective external assessment.

Everything, from walks through the fields to nighttime rituals in the cemetery, is depicted with the meticulous detail characteristic of a child's perception when the world seems vast, mysterious, and full of hidden meanings.

Taboada doesn't provide a definitive answer to the question of whether witchcraft actually exists. Along with Flavia, the viewer falls into Veronica's trap and doesn't fully understand what was a lie and what was true.

'Poison for the Fairies' Is a Masterpiece From Carlos Enrique Taboada, a Director With a Tragic Fate

Poison for the Fairies marked the pinnacle of Taboada's career but also the beginning of its tragic end. The director, who had already struggled with criticism and neglect from the Mexican Film Academy, didn't attend the awards ceremony after the film's triumph, certain that he would be ignored.

His final movie, Jirón de niebla, was intended to be a logical continuation of his horror series. However, after a politically motivated search of the producer's home, the only final print of the film disappeared.

The loss devastated the director, who never made another feature movie.

Poison for the Fairies remains a unique testament to Taboada's talent – a slow, contemplative, and philosophical movie, where horror is born not from jarring sounds or gory scenes but from uncertainty and psychological manipulation.

What Did Viewers Think of 'Poison for the Fairies'?

• Poison for the Fairies has 80% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 7.2/10.

• On Letterboxd, Poison for the Fairies scored 3.7/5.0.

Where to Watch 'Poison for the Fairies'?

Poison for the Fairies is available to stream on Tubi.