Lifer Movies

Title: Hipnos Rating: 2/5 Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery Starring: Cristina Brondo, Demián Bichir, Marisol Membrillo Director: David Carreras Language: Spanish Another Spanish film made for TV (though not from the same package as the last couple), a trend which not only seems to be growing over there but seems to be coming up with some interesting results and proving that there is still creativity left in the genre, and that the right director with the right idea and trump anything Hollywood has to throw at it. Hipnos, however, isn't. The plot which revolves around the young new doctor given the opportunity to work at a prestigious sanatorium, but whilst investigating her patients a number of strange events seem to occur. Patients aren't what they seem and are capable of knowing what they shouldn't be able to know; the doctors seem to be putting patients under hypnosis so as to convince them to commit suicide, and as our young protagonist delves deeper into the d...

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 ...

Title: The Baby Room Rating: 4/5 Genre: Horror Starring: Javier Gutiérrez, Leonor Watling Director: Álex de la Iglesia Language: Spanish From a collection of Spanish films titled “6 films to keep you awake,” collating works originally made for TV on whatever budget the station would permit, I went into this one more than a little anxious as to what I would find. The promise of a traditional 'haunted house' film didn't help matters much either; a family of a loving husband, a devoted wife, and their 8 month old baby all trying to fight for their dream. Renovating an old mansion, it would appear as though their rags-to-riches tale would finally be coming to fruition but all is not as it seems in the house. During their first night they hear mysterious voices on the baby monitor, but find no trace of the source. Discarding the monitor as faulty he buys a new one with a built in camera to solve the problem, only to start seeing mysterious shapes through the monitor. Wit...

Title: [Rec] Rating: 4/5 Genre: Horror, Thriller Starring: Manuela Velasco, Pablo Rosso, Ferran Terraza Language: Spanish A horror film about zombies that runs for about 75 minutes is usually not expected to be that good, but I thought this one was good. Shot in the shaky camera style, we begin with a TV reporter, "Ángela" covering the night shift in a fire station, later an alarm is released for an emergency, and so they go to a building to rescue a woman trapped in her apartment, from there all things go wrong. Some of the things I found interesting in this film is that the makers brought some "zombie films clichés" and gave them a new look. I think the film was meant to bring chills, something it did well, rather than create a work of art. This is one of the best zombie films I saw, unlike many that came out lately like "Resident Evil" and its sequels, it made me feel tense at some moments. Let me start with the direction. The team of "Jaume Balag...