La Leyenda del Charro Negro

**La Leyenda del Charro Negro** is the fifth film in the *La Leyenda* series, taking place after *La Leyenda del Chupacabras*. It was released on January 19, 2018.

The film is set for a limited American release on March 23, 2018.

The film was re-released in several cinemas in Mexico as part of the *"Mexican Film Festival"* from September 7 to 13, 2018, on the occasion of the national holidays.

## Synopsis

### Overview

After liberating the Chupacabras, Leo San Juan decides that it is time to return together with his brother Nando back to Puebla.

Halfway down the road, Charro Negro manages to confuse Leo and because of him, an innocent girl is dragged into the underworld. Leo is forced to repair the damage. His friends will come to try to help him and get out of there as soon as possible. But it is no coincidence that the Charro has chosen to involve Leo, his intentions go beyond getting a new soul.

### Plot

Picking up from the events of Chupacabras, Leo and his brother Nando are returning home to Puebla. They run into a gypsy fortune-teller whose wagon has a broken wheel. Nando attempts to bargain with the gypsy for a ride to Puebla, but when she refuses, Leo offers her their help free of charge. The woman offers them free palm readings in gratitude, which only Leo accepts. The gypsy soon grows horrified: Leo's hand has two life lines, a long one that speaks of a bright future and a short, dark one that indicates Leo's involvement with the supernatural has left darkness in his soul. She warns him that if he ever walks the realms of the dead again, he will not come out, and vehemently advises him to run home to his family.

A disturbed Leo catches up to Nando, and talk between the two devolves into an argument over Leo leaving Nando and their grandmother in favor of adventures with his "imaginary friends" (so called because Nando can't see spirits, although he does believe they exist). The fight is interrupted by an old man who attempts to enlist their help in recovering his stolen deer's eye charm from a man called Rupertino. Despite Nando's misgivings about the story, Leo persuades him to help them. They find Rupertino, who really does make a living as a con man, in the caravan where he lives with his young daughter Beatriz. The two brothers are violently attacked by Beatriz while Rupertino denies stealing anything, but they manage to pickpocket Rupertino and flee with the charm. Rupertino and Beatriz discover the theft and give chase, catching up to the pair on a bridge where they have already returned the charm to the old man. The old man confronts Rupertino, who genuinely does not recognize him until the old man laughingly reminds him of an encounter they had twelve years ago. The man reveals himself to be El Charro Negro, a malignant spirit to whom Rupertino sold his soul: Rupertino has since been hiding from El Charro Negro to stop him from collecting the debt. Though Rupertino bravely offers him his soul, El Charro Negro takes Beatriz's soul instead.

As El Charro is about to return to the underworld, Leo proposes a bet in return of Beatriz. El Charro appears uninterested, but tells Leo he must visit El Charro in his home if he wants to go through before vanishing through a portal. As Leo and Nando argue over this new development and Rupertino also prepares to join them, the ghost Teodora appears to inform Nando that Finado and Moribunda have been desperately attempting to tell her something. Finado frightens Rupertino, who bolts towards the portal, and in the confusion all of them fall through. Beatriz, who is still alive but slowly fading, is left in the care of Ana; she reveals to Beatriz that her father didn't trade his soul for money. He had done business with El Charro Negro because Beatriz had gotten very sick as a baby and Rupertino had been afraid to lose her as he'd lost Beatriz's mother.

The group reappears in El Charro Negro's domain, a sprawling agave field dominated by a luxurious hacienda. Teodora realizes she has lost all her ghost powers and must resort to walking, which she has grown unaccustomed to after nearly six decades as a ghost. Unable to locate Finado and Moribunda, the group advances to El Charro Negro's house. He shows them Beatriz's soul being distilled - when the process concludes, the remnants of Beatriz's soul will leave her body and she will die.

Deep in El Charro Negro's home, the alebrije Evaristo is captured and confined to the same agave mill as Xochitl. Meanwhile, Leo's group agrees to a deal with El Charro Negro: they will venture through his personal fair to retrieve four special objects. If they can find all four before the rooster crows, he will return Beatriz her soul. Teodora and Nando find the Medallion of Miquiztli in the tent of a freak show attraction named the Caterpillar Woman, where they fail to answer her riddle ('what is something that is yours but that others use the most?') and are attacked until Teodora discovers the answer ('your name'). Rupertino and Leo make their way through a giant game of duck shooting towards a glowing crystal as Leo's old enemy Rousseau shoots at them. They are successful, but Leo begins to experience discomfort and discovers that the short black life line has begun extending tendrils down his arm. The group later reconvenes to a giant game of lotería, where they recover the Iyari medallion.

The group's final challenge is a fun house. However, they are barred from entering by El Charro Negro once Leo is inside, revealing he has walked into a trap. While all his friends convene outside the house and try to break in, Leo is confronted with a mirror that apparently holds an evil version of himself. He wakes up to El Charro Negro informing him that he has failed and the rooster has crowed; he then presents him with a bottle containing Beatriz's soul in a bottle. Back in the world of the living, Beatriz breathes her last in Ana's company. El Charro Negro refuses Leo's attempts at negotiating and reveals that he has singled out Leo to be his successor, pulling up his sleeve to show Leo his own black-veined arm. He then possesses Leo, forcing him to take on the mantle of El Charro Negro. The bottle containing Beatriz's soul falls and breaks.

Outside, Leo's friends are distraught when he emerges wearing El Charro Negro's clothes and wielding the spirit's vast powers. Nando manages to catch him off-guard, which allows Evaristo and Alebrije to fire Finado and Moribunda's pure energy into Leo. After a desperate few minutes, Leo's special powers are finally extracted and a furious Charro Negro abandons Leo's body and prepares to do battle with them in the shape of a shadowy black corpse. Though Leo doesn't want to leave his friends, the portal to the world of the living begins to close. After a parting kiss from Xochitl, Leo, Nando and Rupertino (who has scooped up as much of Beatriz's soul as he could into a gourd) leave for the mortal world. Xochitl, Teodora, Don Andrés, the alebrijes and the two skull children then launch a combined attack against El Charro Negro.

Back amongst the living, Rupertino returns to his caravan and pours the scant contents of the gourd into Beatriz's mouth. After a heartbreaking few minutes she finally returns to her father and Ana's joy. After saying their goodbyes, Nando and Leo hurry to Puebla.

Back in Puebla, they are greeted by many familiar sights, including the San Juan family bakery. Leo makes his way upstairs to find his grandmother awake in her bed. The two share a tearful reunion, after which they're joined by Nando and by Nana Dionisia, who comments on how grown-up Leo is. Although glad to be home, Leo is saddened at the loss of his friends.

Unbeknownst to the San Juan family, Leo's ghostly friends all crown around the bakery's window, having apparently defeated El Charro Negro. They too are sad that Leo can no longer see or hear them. Xochitl has an idea: she uses her powers to ring the bell that hangs outside the bakery and leaves a flower at the door. Leo goes outside at the sound. Unsure but trusting that his friends might hear him, Leo thanks them and tells them that their love and friendship will be with him always. He raises his hand, at which each of his friends touch back. It seems the touch somehow gets through to Leo, who thanks them with a smile. The ghosts reappear at the Villavicencio's abandoned casona in Puebla where they decide they will live from now on, as they consider Puebla their home too.

## Voice Cast

*Main article: List of Characters*
* Benny Emmanuel: Leo San Juan
* Emilio Treviño: Nando San Juan
* Annie Rojas: Xóchitl Ahuactzin
* Mayté Cordeiro: Teodora Villavicencio
* Andres Couturier: Don Andrés Artasánchez & Rousseau
* Herman López: Alebrije
* Eduardo España: Evaristo
* Erick Elías: Charro Negro
* Andrea Arruti: Beatriz
* Bruno Coronel: Finado
* Norma Iturbe: Moribunda
* Óscar Flores: Rupertino
* Karen Vallejo: Gitana
* Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza: Rosendo
* Ángela Villanueva: Toñita San Juan
* Luna Arjona: Nana Dionisia
* César Terranova: Santos Machorro
* Mario Castañeda: Senior Lopez
* Roberto Gutiérrez: Pecas
* Olga Hnidey: Caterpillar Woman
* Alondra Hidalgo: Denise
* Rodrigo Carralero: Blind Eyes
* Mayté Cordeiro: Rich Girl

## Gallery

*Main article: La Leyenda del Charro Negro/Gallery*

## References

1. ↑ Cinetlan
2. ↑ https://www.imcine.gob.mx/cine-mexicano/festivales-mercados-y-premios-mexicanos/festivales-mexicanos/fiesta-del-cine-mexicano