El Muerto (2007 film)

El Muerto—also released under titles like *The Dead One*, *El Muerto: The Dead One*, *The Dead One: El Muerto*, and *The Dead One: An American Legend*—is a 2007 American independent superhero film adapted from Javier Hernandez’s comic series *El Muerto: The Aztec Zombie*. Brian Cox wrote and directed the movie, with Hernandez serving as associate producer. The story centers on Diego de la Muerte, a 21-year-old Mexican-American who is kidnapped, ritually sacrificed, and then returned to the living world by the Aztec gods of death and destiny to complete an ancient prophecy. The film first premiered on March 1, 2007, at the Latino Film Festival in San Diego, California. It was released straight to DVD on September 18, 2007, followed by additional screenings in New York City and San Diego. In 2008, *El Muerto* won the Best Feature Film Award at the inaugural Whittier Film Festival.

The plot begins centuries earlier, when Spanish conquistadors conquered the Aztec Empire and forced Catholicism on the native population, suppressing Aztec religion. An old prophecy foretells that the Aztecs and their beliefs will return to power during an era called the Sixth Sun. Years later, a young orphan boy named Juan Diego attempts to cross the U.S.–Mexico border illegally. A mysterious old man, known only as “Old Indian,” leads him to an Aztec shrine dedicated to Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death. The old man carves a symbol of Tezcatlipoca, the god of sacrifice, into Diego’s hand, declares his blood pure, and then dies in convulsions, leaving the boy alone in the desert.

Ten years later, 21-year-old Diego lives in East Los Angeles with his best friend Zak and is in love with Maria, the niece of Padre Somera, who runs a local mission dating back to the Cortés era. Diego’s relationship with Maria is strained by his traumatic encounter with the Old Indian and by the Padre’s disapproval of Diego’s interest in Aztec beliefs. As the Day of the Dead festival approaches, Diego feels a powerful pull. He dresses as an undead mariachi, with skeletal face paint. On his way to the celebration, forces from the Aztec underworld cause his car to crash, killing him. In the afterlife of Mictlan, the god of death sacrifices Diego to Tezcatlipoca, tearing out his heart with an obsidian blade. Exactly one year later, Diego is sent back to the living world. He learns that he was chosen long ago