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quietearth [DVD News 08.19.08] review dvd horror

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I'll have to forgo our normal review process as we requested this a month ago and I didn't receive it until last week. A week doesn't provide me the time to review 6 films, so sorry folks, I'll do the best with the little time I do have, which means I'll be skipping through each film for a glance. Lionsgate put out this subtitled compilation of horror from Spanish filmmakers, with the likes of [REC] helmers Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, and if you asked me if this was worth a rent, I'd say yes! Is it worth purchasing? Hmm, I'm not much into buying dvd's so I'll let you be the judge on that.

THE BLAME
Director: Narciso Serrador
A tale of a woman and her daughter who, invited to work at a friends clinic, arrives to find out that it's actually an abortion clinic. The design and photography look great, and they even use some shots of the little girl riding a tricycle ala The Shining, but ultimately it looks like a dragging drama, and I wouldn't watch it. On a side note, this might actually be the first pro-life horror film to date.


Spectre
Director: Mateo Gil
A love story which flashes between a mans youth and obsession with a woman, and his old age where he sees the same woman again, unaged and unchanged. He follows her but doesn't like what he discovers. With hints of the same music as the last film, it ultimately falls far short of something I would watch. NEXT!

A Real Friend
Directed by: Enrique Urbizu
Right with the stills that danced across the dvd menu, I knew this was one I would definitely watch. It starts in a hospital in what looks like some war torn third world country, a priest examines a burned body, and the next scene has him shooting at someone as they jump out a window. Zip, cut to little girl who has imaginary friends like Leatherface. She eventually befriends a real vampire, and well I won't tell you the rest, but the ending sequence is cool.

A Christmas Tale
Director: Paco Plaza
Right off the bat I'm interested, not just because this is done by one of the [REC] directors, but because it's about a broad who, dressed up as santa, fell down a well. It turns out shes a thief and has a big haul. Well guess who stumbles onto her? A bunch of kids, and they make her a deal, her freedom for the dough. But then they change their minds and keep her in the hole. As you can guess she escapes and runs rampant with an axe. Who said all serial killers were men? There's also some great shots of a nerdy kung-fu kid with big glasses who looks strangely like me when I was a kid. Haha, yes, this one is a winner.

The Baby's Room
Director: Alex De La Iglesia
It starts out with some kids breaking into an old house, and a little boy looking into a puddle. An exact copy of him comes up and kneels besides him, then pulls him into the puddle never to be seen again. Fast forward to the present where a family and their baby move into this newly renovated house. Yes, it's another in a long line of baby horror films but this one actually looks pretty good. They get a video baby monitor and one night the father wakes up to see a dark man standing by the baby's crib. This is only the beginning of the visions. Yes, I'd definitely watch this.

To Let
Director: Jaume Balagueró
Hands down the most intriguing of the bunch, To Let is about a couple looking for an apartment and they can't seem to find the right fit. They make an appointment with a new real estate agent who takes them to an undeveloped part of town and shows them a place in a rundown apartment building. What follows is the most twisted story of the bunch. This is the one I would watch first.

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Mathew F. Riley (3 years ago) Reply

Saw these on BBC4 a while back - To Let and The Baby's Room are pretty intense viewing. The Baby's Room being VERY inventive indeed. A Christmas Tale is a bit long but gave me Stephen King-ish nerdy childhood adventure vibes, (not that an axe woman came after me as far as I can remember).


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