Movie magic has its dark side in Silver Nitrate, a twisted horror thriller by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (The Daughter of Doctor Moreau; Mexican Gothic). Montserrat Curiel is a struggling sound editor in 1990s Mexico City; she's talented but held back by a jerk of a boss and his boys'-club style of management. Her friend Tristán Abascal, an actor whose never-quite-first-rate career was stalled by scandal, discovers that his new neighbor is director Abel Urueta. Because Tristán and Montserrat share a love of cult horror movies, he invites her along to dinner with Urueta, who presents them with a proposition. Decades earlier, Urueta participated in an attempt by a Nazi occultist to cast a literal spell through filmmaking. The film was never completed, and Urueta believes the curse of the unfinished spell is what ended his career. He believes if Montserrat and Tristán can help him finish the missing scene, the curse will be lifted. But once they begin work on the film, Montserrat and Tristán find themselves entangled with supernatural enemies.
Moreno-Garcia skillfully balances cult-film lore, movie-making techniques from different periods, and occult scheming with well-constructed, intriguing characters. The backdrop of Urueta's career and the origin of the cursed film is intricately constructed and, once production is underway, the thrills never stop. The menaces of racism and misogyny looming over the action add a thoughtful streak that gives some depth to the narrative. Thriller fans and movie buffs will be on the edges of their seats. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library