# La hora marcada

La hora marcada is a 1988 Mexican television anthology series presenting horror and science fiction in the vein of The Twilight Zone, originally aired from 1988 to 1990 by Canal de las Estrellas, with half-hour episodes, and re-broadcast from 1997 to 1999 at various times by Channel 9 (Mexico) and local Televisa channels. Although virtually unknown outside Mexico, it achieved a popular and critical success in that region. The series was the first opportunity for many Mexican filmmakers to venture into the genre of horror, and its rotating cast of writers and directors included Emmanuel Lubezki, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón.

## Characters

The "Woman in Black" (La Dama De Negro), who typically makes cameo appearances wearing a long dress and a black veil in the background near the middle or end of many episodes, and sometimes plays a more active role in the episode, is a personification of Death. She was played by several actresses; among the most frequent: Frances Ondiviela, Margot Buzali, and Tere Hernandez.
In the 2007 spin-off series 13 Miedos ("Thirteen Fears"), this character is replaced by a similar character played by Constantino Morán, as a male narrator or horror host with black eyes without pupils, dressed in black, and portrayed as the devil.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Teleplay by | Original air date |
| TBA | TBA | "Concierto para mano izquierda" "Concert for a Left Hand" | Ximena Cuevas | Hugo Macías Macotela | 1988 (1988) |
| About a phantom hand. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El reloj pt. I & II" "The Clock parts 1 & 2" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBA | TBA |
| About a ghost haunting a clock. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "A veces regresan" "Sometimes They Come Back" | Alfonso Cuarón | Story by : Stephen King (short story) Teleplay by : Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón | 1989 (1989) |
| Two children who explore an abandoned theme park are killed by a gang of bullies, and their spirits return 25 years later for vengeance. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El Jorgito azucarado" "Sweet Little Georgie" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a boy who practices incest with his brother. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Asilo para jóvenes" "Youth Asylum" | TBD | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| About a gypsy who acquires the "eternal youth" of deceived young women. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Caminos de ayer" "Roads of Yesterday" | Guillermo del Toro | Guillermo del Toro | 1988 (1988) |
| About a time machine and colonial beings. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "La visita" "The Visit" | TBD | TBD | 1988 (1988) |
| About a ghostly nun. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Andrea" "Andrea" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About rituals. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Con todo para llevar / Hamberguesas" "With Everything On It / Hamburger" | Guillermo del Toro | Guillermo del Toro | 1989 (1989) |
| About a cult of zombies in a fast food restaurant. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "De ogros" "About Ogres" | Alfonso Cuarón | Alfonso Cuarón | 1990 (1990) |
| About ogres and a little girl. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Fotocelo" "Flashbulb" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a man who receives pictures of his girlfriend appearing to be unfaithful, causing him to take justice into his own hands. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Juego terminado" "Game Over" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a child killer and childhood trauma. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El motel" "The Motel" | Luis Estrada | Luis Estrada | 1989 (1989) |
| A woman and her alcoholic husband are lost on the road. The only place they find to stay overnight is an old and messy motel. Soon the woman will have to manage by herself when her husband disappears and a disturbed murderer begins to stalk her in one place. And worse, even if the woman ends the life of this murderer, will never end with the nightmare. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "De ángeles y demonios" "Angels and Demons" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBA | TBA |
| About two people who are supposed to be an angel and a demon. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El doctor Elias y la Muerte" "Doctor Elias and Death" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| Dr. Elias is a famous doctor who wants to discover something that makes him famous and makes him a millionaire. When he does not get it easily, he decides to make a pact with Death: if he sees Death near a patient, the doctor can decide whether or not Death can take the patient. Death accepts the agreement and Dr. Elias becomes famous, but people categorize this fame as a doctor who made a pact with the devil. One night in his office, Death visits Dr. Elias to "take him". He defends himself by saying that Death needs his authorization to take him, but she reminds him that the wording of the pact requires Dr. Elias to see Death, and begins setting traps that "invisible Death" will set to end his life. Dr. Elias manages to catch Death; after Dr. Elias dies, the trapped Death can not take anyone in the world, crowding the world with the undying... ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El café del fin del mundo" "The Café at the End of the World" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| About an after-death experience and the afterlife. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El dinosaurio" "The Dinosaur" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| A boy is tormented by nightmares where a ferocious dinosaur tries to attack him. His older brother, Pancho, takes advantage of the situation to frighten his brother. Juan tires of this torment, and decides to make a pact with Death so that the dinosaur he fears so much in his dreams comes to life and attacks his older brother, regardless of the horrible consequences. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El espejo enamorado" "The Enchanted Mirror" | TBD | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| A mirror that manifests at night as a ghost. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El revólver" "The Revolver" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| About a revolver and reincarnation. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El taxi" "Taxi" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| About beasts and death. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "En espera de la noche" "Waiting for the Night" | Alejandro Macias | Story by : Alejandro Macias Teleplay by : Alejandro Macias | 1990 (1990) |
| While their parents are on vacation two young boys witness the arrival next door of a mysterious old woman and a young woman who only appears at night. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Música de medianoche" "Music at Midnight" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| About ghostly music. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Equivocación" "Mistake" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| A man starts thinking that a man he is dealing with might be the devil and he is willing to strike a deal, no mater what. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "No estoy jugando" "I'm Not Playing" | Alfonso Cuarón | Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón | 1989 (1989) |
| A tale of possession in which a spirit tries to force the object of his affection to kill herself so they can be together forever. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Hasta que la muerte nos separe" "Until Death Do Us Part" | TBD | TBD | 1986 (1986) |
| A man revives his wife after she dies, but not in the condition he hoped for. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Invasión" "Invasion" | Guillermo del Toro | Guillermo del Toro | 1988 (1988) |
| About extraterrestrials. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Juegos de vídeo" "Video Games" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBA | TBA |
| Death makes two brothers obsessed with video games test their skills by submitting them to a game of "The Marked Hour", in which one brother is trapped in the game and the other brother must play and win the game to be considered the best player; the brothers are unaware that winning the game is just the beginning of their nightmare... ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "La bruja tuvo la culpa" "The Witch Is to Blame" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| About a witch and spells. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El cultivo" "The Cultivation" | TBD | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| About a strange illness and its cure. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Duplicado" "Duplicate" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| About clones and deception. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "La sombra" "The Shadow" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| On bitterness and a living shadow. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Regalo de Navidad" "Christmas Gift" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| A young man is tired of his family's conflicts and troubles, so for Christmas he asks Death for the gift of "one night of peace and quiet", not expecting that Death will fulfill his wish in her own way. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Smog" "Smog" | Juan Mora Catlett | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| About contamination. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Ángel Pérez" "Angel Perez" | Alfonso Cuarón | Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón | 1990 (1990) |
| A man attempts suicide, but his brother's angel saves him. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Uno más" "One More" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About impostor androids. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El último metro" "The Last Meter" | Rafael Montero | Story by : Óscar Montero Teleplay by : Óscar Montero | 1989 (1989) |
| A woman goes to a complaints office when she is kidnapped by two men who will lead her to the worst experience of her life and also the last. In spite of her attempts to ask for mercy, they do not agree. At last one can observe a crude final in which the woman was kidnapped to traffic its organs. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "David" "David" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| About a girl who plays with an imaginary friend, not realizing it is her brother's ghost. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Natiely" "Natiely" | TBD | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| About a love of two young people who can not be together. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Martha" "Martha" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| In the sideboard of a bookstore is a possessed doll, which follows Martha believing that Martha is her mother. This story is repeated every time the dolls victims suffer from hallucinations and die. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Volar como pájaro" "Flying Like a Bird" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a dead girl who returns to take revenge on her brother. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Dulce Sandra" "Sandy Candy" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| A girl who uses witchcraft on her teacher. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Pin Pon Papas" "Pin Pon Papas" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| A group of naughty teens in the woods encounter Death. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "La lagartija" "The Lizard" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a widowed parent who establishes a relationship with a woman with a secret. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Humo rojo en las venas" "Red Smoke in the Veins" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a cuckolded man who turns to a neighbor suffering from lycanthropy for help chastizing his wife. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "ISP 44" "ISP 44" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a hospital, and the strange events that occur in it. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Trampa en la casa" "Trap in the House" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| About an invalid woman who trapped alone at home while her husband is traveling. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Yo quiero mi mamá" "I Want My Momma" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a mother who has rare feelings about an evil that ravages her home. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "La casa" "House" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a strange being that inhabits a house for sale. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Doblemente yo" "Me, Two" | Alfredo Gurrola | Luis Eduardo Reyes | TBA |
| About possession. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Noche de paz" "Night of Peace" | Ximena Cuevas | Paz Alicia Garciadiego | TBA |
| About mirrors. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Mi pastel de XV años" "My 15th Birthday Cake" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a house full of ghosts. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Los otros" "The Others" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a family and beings that live in the same house. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Por tu bien" "For Your Sake" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| About a nurse and her unbearable mother who lives on. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Equidad" "Equality" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About two spouses who plan to kill each other without the other knowing ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "La pluma sabia" "The All-Knowing Pen" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a husband who confesses his death wishes against his wife through the pen of a seer ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El hombre de trapo" "The Rag-Man" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a woman who mistreats her husband by continually taking advantage of her immobility. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Líneas cruzadas" "Lines Crossed" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| A woman hears over the phone a plot between two men who want to kill her. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El Hombre de negro" "The Man in Black" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a woman stalked by a cloaked figure. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "No retornable" "Non-Returnable" | Alfonso Cuarón | Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón | 1989 (1989) |
| A young man possesses the body of a serial-killer. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "La secta" "The Cult" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a sect of cannibals ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Fantasma en condominio" "The Condominium Ghost" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a ghost that inhabits some apartments and creates diverse evils to lure people there. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Amor de ultratumba" "Love From Beyond" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| A ghost who lives in the house of his nephews, which he himself inherited. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "La última morada" "The Last Residence" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a Doctor of the early twentieth century who, believing his catatonic wife has died, buries her with all her jewels, prompting grave diggers to dig up her coffin and cut off her finger, awakening her from slumber. The man designs a coffin with a complicated system to alert the living in case the same situation is repeated, and rejoices that he can call for help after he, too falls victim to catalepsy, until he overhears his wife deciding to cremate his inert body.... ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El huésped desconocido" "The Unknown Guest" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| A man invites a vampire into his home. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "No todo lo que brilla" "Not all that shines..." | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About an amulet that fulfills wishes. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "El juramento" "The Oath" | TBD | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| About oaths and spirits. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "En el cuarto de arriba" "In the Upstairs Room" | TBD | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| About a ghosts that robs a woman. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Terror en tiempos de crisis" "Terror in Times of Crisis" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About the use of divination arts to discover the whereabouts of a murderer. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Los acechantes" "Lurkers" | Alejandro Macias | Alejandro Macias | 1990 (1990) |
| About a boy with imaginary monsters for friends. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Pesadilla" "Nightmare" | Rafael Montero | Pablo Struck | 1990 (1990) |
| About a woman who slays a man and now much face his ghost. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Una cuestión de honor" "A Test of Courage" | TBD | TBD | 1986 (1986) |
| About a woman haunted by a tarantula. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Noticias de mañana" "News of Tomorrow" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| A newspaper brings the news in advance - a subscription costs one minute of one's life. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Bolsa de valores" "Bag of Treasures" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About a magic bag which exactly what its holder needs at the moment. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Mundos interiores" "Inner Worlds" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| A family finds a door to a dimension populated by their evil doppelgangers ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Les gourmets" "The Gourmets" | TBD | TBD | 1986 (1986) |
| About a restaurant that specializes in a rare delicacy: human flesh. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Ursula" "Ursula" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| About resuscitation and zombies. ||||||
| TBA | TBA | "Zangamanga" "Zangamanga" | Alfonso Cuarón | Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Los vampiros del video" "Video Vampires" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "A todos los amantes de la noche" "To All the Lovers of the Night" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Acabalos Johnny" "The Johnny" | Alfredo Gurrola | TBD | 1990 (1990) |
| TBA | TBA | "¿Quién es esa mujer?" "Who Is That Woman?" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "La espera" "The Wait" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Cansado de esperarte" "Tired of Waiting for You" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Muerte por aburrimiento" "Bored to Death" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Una de piratas" "One of Pirates" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Los besos del Diablo" "The Kiss of the Devil" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Testigo" "Witness" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "El anillo" "The Ring" | TBD | TBD | 1989 (1989) |
| TBA | TBA | "Reflejos fugaces" "Fleeting reflections" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Km 22" "KM 22" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| TBA | TBA | "Un signo de inteligencia" "A Sign of Intelligence" | TBA | TBA | TBA |

## Crew

Creator:
* Carmen Armendáriz
Producers:
* Fernando Saenz de Miera, 98 episodes
* Carmen Armendáriz, 100 episodes (1989-1990)
* Alfonso Cuarón
* Emmanuel Lubezki
Directors, various including:
* Juan Mora Catlett
* Alfonso Cuarón
* Guillermo del Toro
Writers:
* Juan Mora Catlett
* Alfonso Cuarón
* Carlos Cuarón
* Guillermo del Toro