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agentorange [Celluloid 06.13.11] Spain movie review horror thriller

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Year: 2010
Directors: Miguel Ángel Vivas
Writers: Miguel Ángel Vivas/Javier García
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: agentorange
Rating: 8 out of 10

Nice middle class families being terrorized by violent thugs is a staple of the horror genre. From the street gangs of Death wish to the upper-class, post-modern angst of Michael Haneke's Funny Games there's always been room to play with the terrifying notion and twist its parts around to come up with something new and consistently shocking.

Kidnapped is the latest Spanish export grabbing festival goers by the balls and it adds an entirely new layer of realism to the experience of this kind of movie. In what must have been a laborious process of staging and choreography, it makes you endure an entire night's home invasion in as close to real-time as you can probably get. This technique means that there is absolutely no escape from enduring what the characters go through and while Kidnapped may not have the most original plot, it makes up for it in pulse pounding tension, unflinching violence and real terror.



The plot is as follows: Jaime, Marta and their daughter Isabel are a well-off family who have just moved into a luxurious new house. The parents are going through a rough patch, but have decided to give their relationship one last chance. On the first evening in their new home, a group of hooded men burst into the house. Their objective: To get as much money as possible out of them in one night.

I have to give props to the actors in this - particularly Manuela Vellés who plays the daughter, Isabel. Once the home invasion begins there is no relief for any of the characters, so the actors have to play crazy-scared through the entire film. It must have been a grueling experience.

IFC Midnight picked up the rights to distribute Kidnapped and the film starts a limited theatrical run this week. For those of you not in big coastal cities, watch for Kidnapped on DVD and Netflix as IFC tends to release them simultaneously.

Be warned: Kidnapped is an unrelenting portrait of a home invasion that leaves you devastated and emotionally exhausted by the final shocking scene.

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JeffC (11 months ago) Reply

I am so looking forward to this!


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