From humble beginnings to signing a deal with one of horror’s biggest production companies, V/H/S 85 director Gigi Saul Guerrero’s emergence on the genre scene has been as unexpected as the jumpscares she fills her cult hits with.
Born in Mexico City in 1990, Guerrero grew up in her native country until her family immigrated to Canada in her teenage years, eventually attending film school and connecting with future collaborators like cinematographer Luke Bramley, and producer Gorden Cheng. Despite the distance, Guerrero’s heart and horror leanings have always steered her back to her homeland.
In 2011, she made her directorial and acting debut with the short film Dead Crossing. The short follows a family attempting to cross the United States-Mexico border in hopes of finding a better life, instead they discover the US border patrol is harboring a nasty secret that involves the undead. The six-minute-story perfectly encapsulates the driving motivation behind most of Guerrero’s work: authentically portraying her Mexican heritage while delivering an exciting (and terrifying) experience that doubles as a enjoyable viewing experience with heavy gore and metal music galore.
From there, Guerrero cut her teeth on delivering short, episodic, high-genre experiences. These range from delivering killer segments in anthology films such as Mexico Barbaro and The ABC’s of Death 2 ½. While directing these segments, and later, starting her production company Luchagore Productions, Guerrero found herself part of the new wave of Mexican Horror movement also known as “Nuevo Cine de Terror Mexicano”.
Then Blumhouse came knocking.
One of the biggest producers of Horror films and television in the industry today, Blumhouse saw the untapped potential in Guerrero’s narrative instincts. She soon began contributing work under their banner by directing episodes of their anthology series Into the Dark and the highly underrated television series of The Purge, allowing her to work with one of the company’s most infamous IPs. This relationship led to her signing a first look deal with the company.
In 2021, Guerrero had her feature film breakthrough with Bingo Hell, a film released under Blumhouse’s Welcome to the Blumhouse banner that follows residents of the barrio of Oak Springs as they’re about to lose their beloved neighborhood bingo hall to gentrification. But, in typical Guerrero fashion, not all is as it seems, and what follows is a high octane, gore-filled good time.
The film was a breakout hit at Fantastic Fest 2021, the largest genre film festival in the United States, and soon became a cult hit when it was released on Amazon Prime’s streaming service, cementing Guerrero’s status as not only one of the most promising voices in horror, but one of the most dynamic Hispanic voices in filmmaking, period.
With that level of success, all eyes were on what Guerrero would do next. That answer came in 2023 when it was revealed she would contribute a segment to the wildly popular V/H/S/ anthology with that year’s installment V/H/S/ 85. Her segment titled “The God of Death” follows a news crew during the infamous 1985 Mexico City earthquake who encounter a horrific creature of Aztec origin. Guerrero was, once again, returning to her roots, pulling from the same well that fueled her short film debut so many years earlier, but for a much larger audience. The film was praised as one of the stronger entries in the series with Guerrero’s segment serving as a standout thanks to the terrifying tone it delivered.
So what’s next for rising horror icon? That remains to be seen. She’s teased a few projects, like an Eli Roth produced film for Orion and a video game for Capcom that she wrote, but the future is practically limitless. Not only is she a trailblazing voice for women in the horror space, but one of Mexican representation as well. Her body of work proves that there’s an appetite for authentic Hispanic voices in the genre, and there’s no doubt that, whatever she does next, she’ll remain true to her heritage.