“Diablo” – Interview with director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza

If one filmmaker has proven himself Latin America’s reigning king of martial arts action, it has to be Ernesto Diaz Epinoza. The director of “Kiltro”, “Mirageman” “Redeemer” “Fist of the Condor, Ernesto is also well-known for his frequent collaborations with Chile’s spin-kicking action movie warrior Marko Zaror, including in each of the aforementioned ballets of fists and feet. For Ernesto and Marko’s latest action-packed team-up, the newly released “Diablo”, the duo also brings aboard Marko’s fellow legend of action, Scott Adkins, for a cat-and-mouse game of suspense, thrills, chills, and combat. 

In “Diablo”, former inmate and bank thief Kris Chaney (Scott Adkins) arrives in Colombia and makes off with Elisa (Alanna De La Rossa), the teenage daughter of powerful Colombian crime boss Vicente (Lucho Velasquez) whom Kris has a grudge with. While Kris insists he is rescuing Elisa from her father’s sordid activities on the dying wish of her mother, Kris and Elisa also face another pursuer, the mysterious assassin El Corvo (Marko Zaror), who has his own dark score to settle with Vicente.

Today, KFK sits down with Ernesto to talk about the making of “Diablo”, working with Marko Zaror again and with Scott Adkins for the first time, and some other projects he has in the works!

Hello Ernesto, welcome to Kung Fu Kingdom! Glad to have you hear today and hope you’re doing well! Have you heard of our dedicated martial arts site before?

Hi Brad, I’m doing fantastic, and yeah, man, definitely!

Awesome, Ernesto! Well, let’s dive right into the making of “Diablo”. How did you come aboard “Diablo” as the movie’s director?

Well, Marko and Scott were friends after the movie’s they’d made together, and they wanted to make a movie in Chile, and Marko was telling Scott “Man, you’ve got work with Ernesto!”, so that’s how Scott and I met on a Zoom call. Then we just started working out the story, and that’s how it started.

You’ve worked with Marko Zaror many times before. How was the making of “Diablo” different compared to your past projects?

Well, the biggest difference is the budget! Our movies in Chile are micro-budget movies, and the other thing was this is the first time Marko was the bad guy in any of our movies, so we wanted to make it different and special and make him a bad guy who comes more from a horror movie than an action movie. 

On that note, Marko’s villain in “Diablo”, El Corvo, has the metal hand and a metal hook underneath it that he uses to slay his enemies. How did that idea come about as part of Marko’s character in the movie?

That came about through conversations with Scott and Marko, and the question was “Do we go for it or not?” because it’s really difficult to achieve that. We didn’t want it to be cheesy or to be unreal. It had to work, and to make it work took a lot of dedication from all the departments, like art department, and cameras, lighting, wardrove, everything had to work for that to work. 

Did El Corvo’s hook-hand complicate Marko’s fight scenes at all?

Yeah, it definitely was a difficult thing for him to adapt it, and it was a challenge, but it’s what made the fight choreography different and unique, too. Marko has done the fight choreography on all the movies we’ve made together. We really wanted the fight scenes in “Diablo” to be at the level of Scott’s movies, and it was a lot of hard work. 

So, what would you say what the biggest challenge in the making of “Diablo” from your perspective as the movie’s director?

I think the final action sequence was the biggest challenge for me as the director and for everybody, because we adapted the script for that location when we found it. We created that whole scene when we saw that ramp and the tower, and you have so many things happening at the same time to keep the attention and the emotion. You also need a lot of time to shoot that, and we didn’t have much time, so it was a real challenge.

So, the part with the industrial shredder wasn’t originally scripted for the finale?

Yeah, that scene originally happened on just one floor, and it didn’t originally have the ramp and the shredder. 

Well, it definitely added a lot of tension and suspense to the finale of “Diablo”. Som what would you say were some of your favourite experiences from the making of “Diablo?

Well, besides the action scenes, working with the actors, working with Alanna and Scott, they had great chemistry. Then Alanna and Marko in the ally scene is really creepy. Just discovering the scenes with the actors and seeing how you can make things better when you talk about and prepare the scene. I remember watching them all work through the monitor and feeling like the audience. 

And on that note, as we prepare to sign off, Ernesto, what projects do you have coming up after the release of “Diablo”?

Actually, Scott and I want to do another movie together, and I just finished the script.

Well, Scott Adkins in another Ernesto Diaz Espinoza movie sounds fantastic! Also, avoiding spoilers, but the ending of “Diablo” seems to suggest that El Corvo might still be out there. Does that indicate the might be a possibility of “Diablo 2” with yourself, Scott, Marko, and Alanna De La Rossa?

It’s always a possibility, and I would love to, so hopefully, we get the chance to make another “Diablo”!

Well, we’d definitely be excited for that! Thank you so much for your time today, Ernesto! It’s been a real pleasure, and good luck with the release of “Diablo” and all your exciting upcoming actin projects! 

Thanks Brad, great to speak to Kung Fu Kingdom today!

“Diablo” is now available on PVOD platforms! Have you seen “Diablo”? What are your favourite martial arts action films directed by Ernesto Diaz Espinoza? Are you excited to see Scott and Marko work with Ernesto again? Would you be excited for “Diablo 2”? Let us know in the comments below; Like, share and join in the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter & Instagram. (And be sure to jump over KFK’s FU-niversity of movie reviews and exclusive, in-depth interviews, including our previous interviews with Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror, grab your official KFK gear and subscribe for more action on YouTube, as well!)