To Let


Title: To Let
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Horror
Starring: Macarena Gómez, Nuria González, Adrià Collado
Director: Jaume Balagueró
Language: Spanish

From the same man that would soon go on to deliver us [Rec] comes another horror made for TV on the small budget that it would allow, and released as a part of the same package that “The Baby Room” found itself in. After another disappointing release with 'Altered' I needed something to lift my spirits, and the Spanish have managed to do that once again. Showing his love of eerie dilapidated buildings early on, this is the sort of film I've been patiently waiting for the 'Saw' series to produce after the intelligent debut, only to have it fizzle out in a pretentious display of gore and never returning to what made the first so interesting.

It starts off rather unenthusiastically; a couple looking for a place to live who believe they've discovered the offer of a lifetime. And in a morbid sense you really could call it a lifetime for when they arrive at the rustic and neglected building on the fringes of the town they quickly become suspicious of the landlord showing them around. One of them spots their shoes already by the door, and a mysterious photograph of the two of them together sits atop the bedside table. With a shudder it all kicks off with rapid shift into overdrive; the realisation that the landlord has long since lost her sanity after having her building – her thirty year livelihood – condemned and has resolved to fill it with tenants once more, even if she has to chain them to the walls to keep them there.

In fact, this film gets under way so rapidly I was concerned that they wouldn't be able to maintain the momentum, but somehow they manage to steadily drop hints and clues as to where the story is heading without pausing to gasp for air; its only an hour long but they make better use of the time and keep things moving so quickly that there's more happening here than in many other contemporary horrors such that by comparison, they seem to dawdle about the subject matter. With much of the film following the power play between the 'cute-when-scared' Gomez and the psychotic landlord, both perform superbly as the cat and mouse tale ensues, frantically running about the maze and stumbling into clues and other characters, but it's certainly not without its flaws. Sadly, much of it can come across as more than a little predictable and so is mildly groan inducing when your correct prediction finally plays out precisely as you expected. Nonetheless the director has done wonders with his small budget and if not living up to the heights of some others in this collection, is still persuading evidence of the promise in Spanish horror.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Female Prisoner: Scorpion

Image
Title: Female Prisoner: Scorpion Rating: 4/5 Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime Starring: Meiko Kaji, Rie Yokoyama, Isao Natsuyagi Director: Shunya Ito Language: Japanese It was the 70s that saw the rise in Japanese grindhouse cinema (also known as ‘Pinky Violence); tired of the very ‘traditional’ style of many local films, and with the rise in success of Hollywood titles such as ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘The Great Escape,’ a new wave of daring and experimental directors came to light. Armed with a low budget and all the influences of the early Western grindhouse cheap gore flicks, they combined it with traditional Japanese film-making sensibilities to create a style that somehow succeeded in being both artistic in style whilst retaining those cheap traditions such as gratuitous nudity and violence to result in something rather unique. And it was with this, the first instalment in the ‘Female Prisoner’ series, that would influence a wave known as ‘Women in Prison’ films; with a strong the
Read more

Slasher Hunter

Image
Title: Slasher Hunter (2011) Rating: 3/5 Genre: Horror, Comedy Starring: Chad Phillips, Derek Rothermund, Ryan Sullivan Director: Steve Rudzinski Duration: 35 mins Four pals are planning to have a great weekend of sex and brews in an old cabin in the woods. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “this is the exact set up to every slasher movie from ‘79 to ‘99; this can’t end well.” Well our group of campers have thought of that, that’s why they brought sci-fi nerd Lee along for the ride who carries within him the so-called “survivor gene.” This special gene helps prevent him from being the unfortunate victim of any slasher maniacs that may be lurking about. Unfortunately this gene is also highly coveted by a group of the most dastardly slashers around: Frank, Larry, Jay, Charles, Pleatherface, and Puzzle (I didn’t say their names were very dastardly, did I?). It’s up to a renegade, federally-employed Slasher Hunter to thwart the slashers’ plan and save Lee and his friends before it’
Read more

Chinese Erotic Ghost Story

Image
Title: Chinese Erotic Ghost Story Original Title: Yuk lui liu chai Genre: Comedy, Exploitation Rating: 2.5/5 Starring: Ben Ko Chu, Chun Chung, Siu Wan Hung Director: Kin-Nam Cho Language: Chinese It's always a little tricky to think how these sort of films should be rated; from the title it's apparent that they aren't perhaps the most creative when it comes to titles, though if nothing else it certainly is an accurate one, with perhaps some mention of how batshit insane the bizarre events of the actual film are being the only thing missing. It all kicks off rather normally; Chu is introduced as the debt collector working for an asshole of a King with a beautiful mistress, two beautiful daughters and an even prettier wife, whilst he's stuck with a woman who sleeps 20 hours a day and spends the remaining four awake eating. Caught in the embrace of one of the King's daughters he's punished with the task of entering Satan's Temple and stealing the statu
Read more