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[•Rec] (2008)
Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano
[•Rec] – the place the ‘•’ went after Wall•E – is a terrifying Iberian addition to the found footage canon. It had US producers scrambling for remake rights (the so-so Quarantine was the result) and spawned one watchable sequel for purists to get their teeth into, and another to come. The Romero-like premise deposits a TV camera crew, and some ill-fated firemen, into a locked-down Barcelona apartment block where bloody mayhem awaits. It may not be revolutionary in its conceit but the execution, a world of haunted-house jump-shocks to wake the dead, is enough to drag even the hardiest horror fan along for the ride.
It’s the gory handiwork of the coming force in Spanish horror, Filmax producer Julio Fernánde, and two directors at the vanguard of this new wave, Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza Ángela. They’re a pair of Catalan filmmakers who transform their home town’s tenements into a rabid cauldron where even the neighbourhood old dear is likely to rip your head off and use it as a doorstop. This film is very unlikely to appear in the recruitment brochure of any Spanish fire brigade.
Hierro (2009)
Director: Gabe Ibáñez
Starring: Elena Anaya, Bea Segura, Mar Sodupe
Not a biopic of the legendary Real Madrid defender, but a slow-burn horror-thriller with shades of Flightplan, The Vanishing, or a lesser thriller by their spiritual alma mater, Alfred Hitchcock. A ferry trip to a remote Canary Island (the titular El Hierro) ends in panic when Maria’s (Elena Anaya) young son disappears. Three years later a phonecall summons her back to identity his body and before you can say, “It’s not her son!” it turns out that it’s not her son.
Or is it? Yup, there are one or two hokey twists to sap the credibility from Maria’s quest, but ad veteran Gabe Ibáñez carves up a pretty gripping exploration of grief in which nothing is quite what it seems. Ibáñez drops enough horror tricks, including a discordant score, stark lighting and sudden jumps to keep viewers firmly spooked.
Agnosia (2010)
Director: Eugenio Mira
Starring: Eduardo Noriega, Martina Gedeck, Bárbara Goenaga
This one’s arguably neither a horror nor even a psychological thriller – but then it’s one of those hard-to-categorise efforts that exist purely to make life difficult for those who sort their DVD by genre. Set in the 19th century, its heroine is a girl who, following a fall, has developed the titular condition and can no longer correctly interpret the information that her senses provide. So while she can see and hear, it all comes through as meaningless mumbo-jumbo – a bit like Rush Limbaugh.
But it’s not all delusions and craziness for Joana (Bárbara Goenaga), who may hold the key to her dead father’s potentially lucrative invention somewhere inside her confused head. Her dad’s partner will have that invention, and he sets into motion a giant con to get the information from her – only her condition makes conning her a bit complicated. One of the most gorgeous films you’ll ever see, this is a little harder than the rest to get your hands on, but delivers a steampunky, Age-of-Innocence-but-weirder-and-scarier sort of a thrill.
Buried (2010)
Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Starring: Ryan Reynolds
Whether this is a horror or a thriller is debatable, but if you ask us, waking up buried alive in a coffin is pretty damn pant-wetting. Yet that’s exactly the fate that befalls poor, attractive put-upon Ryan Reynolds in this Rodrigo Cortés film, as he wakes up somewhere in Iraq in a wooden box with only a lighter and a half-powered mobile phone for company.
The thing about this film, based on a witty Chris Sparling script, is that it’s often very funny, as a whole world of uncaring bureaucracies frustrate Reynolds’ Paul and his attempts to get help before he runs out of air. But it’s a black humour of the most pitch hue, and Cortés ratchets up the tension again and again as Paul’s situation grows more desperate. If you can stand it, it’s very nearly essential viewing – not least because it will provide you with no end of jokes about Ryan Reynolds’ trouser snake.
http://www.empireonline.com/features/rise-and-rise-of-spanish-horror
Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano
[•Rec] – the place the ‘•’ went after Wall•E – is a terrifying Iberian addition to the found footage canon. It had US producers scrambling for remake rights (the so-so Quarantine was the result) and spawned one watchable sequel for purists to get their teeth into, and another to come. The Romero-like premise deposits a TV camera crew, and some ill-fated firemen, into a locked-down Barcelona apartment block where bloody mayhem awaits. It may not be revolutionary in its conceit but the execution, a world of haunted-house jump-shocks to wake the dead, is enough to drag even the hardiest horror fan along for the ride.
It’s the gory handiwork of the coming force in Spanish horror, Filmax producer Julio Fernánde, and two directors at the vanguard of this new wave, Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza Ángela. They’re a pair of Catalan filmmakers who transform their home town’s tenements into a rabid cauldron where even the neighbourhood old dear is likely to rip your head off and use it as a doorstop. This film is very unlikely to appear in the recruitment brochure of any Spanish fire brigade.
Hierro (2009)
Director: Gabe Ibáñez
Starring: Elena Anaya, Bea Segura, Mar Sodupe
Not a biopic of the legendary Real Madrid defender, but a slow-burn horror-thriller with shades of Flightplan, The Vanishing, or a lesser thriller by their spiritual alma mater, Alfred Hitchcock. A ferry trip to a remote Canary Island (the titular El Hierro) ends in panic when Maria’s (Elena Anaya) young son disappears. Three years later a phonecall summons her back to identity his body and before you can say, “It’s not her son!” it turns out that it’s not her son.
Or is it? Yup, there are one or two hokey twists to sap the credibility from Maria’s quest, but ad veteran Gabe Ibáñez carves up a pretty gripping exploration of grief in which nothing is quite what it seems. Ibáñez drops enough horror tricks, including a discordant score, stark lighting and sudden jumps to keep viewers firmly spooked.
Agnosia (2010)
Director: Eugenio Mira
Starring: Eduardo Noriega, Martina Gedeck, Bárbara Goenaga
This one’s arguably neither a horror nor even a psychological thriller – but then it’s one of those hard-to-categorise efforts that exist purely to make life difficult for those who sort their DVD by genre. Set in the 19th century, its heroine is a girl who, following a fall, has developed the titular condition and can no longer correctly interpret the information that her senses provide. So while she can see and hear, it all comes through as meaningless mumbo-jumbo – a bit like Rush Limbaugh.
But it’s not all delusions and craziness for Joana (Bárbara Goenaga), who may hold the key to her dead father’s potentially lucrative invention somewhere inside her confused head. Her dad’s partner will have that invention, and he sets into motion a giant con to get the information from her – only her condition makes conning her a bit complicated. One of the most gorgeous films you’ll ever see, this is a little harder than the rest to get your hands on, but delivers a steampunky, Age-of-Innocence-but-weirder-and-scarier sort of a thrill.
Buried (2010)
Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Starring: Ryan Reynolds
Whether this is a horror or a thriller is debatable, but if you ask us, waking up buried alive in a coffin is pretty damn pant-wetting. Yet that’s exactly the fate that befalls poor, attractive put-upon Ryan Reynolds in this Rodrigo Cortés film, as he wakes up somewhere in Iraq in a wooden box with only a lighter and a half-powered mobile phone for company.
The thing about this film, based on a witty Chris Sparling script, is that it’s often very funny, as a whole world of uncaring bureaucracies frustrate Reynolds’ Paul and his attempts to get help before he runs out of air. But it’s a black humour of the most pitch hue, and Cortés ratchets up the tension again and again as Paul’s situation grows more desperate. If you can stand it, it’s very nearly essential viewing – not least because it will provide you with no end of jokes about Ryan Reynolds’ trouser snake.
http://www.empireonline.com/features/rise-and-rise-of-spanish-horror
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