Slamdance 2024 Film Festival – El Coco, or El Cucuy, is a fascinating bit of folklore. In short, the name applies to a specific monster that punishes bad children. More specifically, the creature has razor-sharp teeth, glowing red eyes, and a bat-like ear that allows it to listen for children misbehaving. It hides out in the mountains or hills, ready to swoop in and murder children. Yep, it’s a pretty dark piece of folklore and also the premise of writer/director Cynthia Garcia Williams’ short, Legend of El Cucuy.

Williams manages to personalize the folk tale by centering 14 minutes on a family. Obriella Genesis Witron plays Isabel, who gets in trouble at school and is known for drawing creepy and morbid pictures. When Isabel’s teacher, Mrs. Renford (Nicci Bates), has a conference with the student’s mom, Laura (Diana Sanchez), the mother sides with her daughter to the point she tells Mrs. Renford that her child’s behavior can’t be regulated, no matter the outbursts or strange drawings. The dad, Francisco (David Jofre), wants to take a stricter approach to parenting, but his wife won’t let him.

The family dynamics are quite interesting, setting up a conflict between teacher and parent and between mom and dad. At the center of the conflict lies Isabel, who does what she wants, when she wants, basically of the time. Williams adds more depth to the folklore by providing a backstory to El Cucuy, presenting the monster as a grieving father who first lost his wife and then two daughters. This does humanize an otherwise terrifying tale.

The creature also looks cool once it shows up, and the make-up generally sticks to familiar descriptions of the monster. Even before the frightening character arrives on the scene, the threat is always there, as Isabel’s parents, her father especially, tease her that if she doesn’t behave, El Cucuy will come. At some points, you hope the monster will just devour the screaming kid already.

Overall, Williams took a familiar folk tale and personalized it, centering her short on the complicated dynamics of a family and the challenges of parenting. Legend of El Cucuy is an arresting and entertaining 14 minutes that’s a good combination of strong characterization and creature feature frights.

7.5 Out of 10