My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Mythic. Unique. Simply out of this world. The seductive and mysterious figure of Marilyn Monroe is perhaps the greatest icon that cinema has created since its invention. Her meteoric career and sudden death have combined to make of Norma Jean Mortensen (her real name) a modern myth, the perfect embodiment of the dream factory that Hollywood intends to be. A truly pure symbol of the huge impact that cinema has in modern life. And a big part of this myth is to discover just how much of her was the goddess MArilyn and how much was still Norma Jean, the shy and insecure young woman with the dream of being more than a movie star, of being a real artist. This side of her personality is the one seen in the memoirs of Colin Clark, whom in 1957 worked as assistant to Sir Laurence Olivier at the time when Marilyn traveled to the United Kingdom to make "The Prince and the Showgirl". And his cinema memories return now to the big screen with "My Week with Marilyn".

"My Week with Marilyn" tells the story of Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), a young man recently graduated from University whose greatest desire is to abandon the life of privilege he has with his parents and enter the film industry. To achieve this, Clark moves to London hoping to find a job at Sir Laurence Olivier's (Kenneth Branagh) production company. Thanks to his perseverance, Clark wins the support of Olivier's wife, Vivien Leigh (Julia Ormond), and his first assignment is to find a house for the star of Olivier's next film: Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). Winning the job of third assistant director, Clark enters the world of cinema, finding himself in the middle of the whirlwind that is the shooting of a movie, where he discovers a different side of Marilyn, one rarely seen by her fans: a fragile and insecure Marilyn who tries to win respect as an actress by facing the royalty of British cinema.

With a screenplay adapted by Adrian Hodges, "My Week with Marilyn" in a way tells two stories at once: the coming of age story of young Colin Clark as he enters the film industry, and the struggle of Marilyn Monroe against the world, against Laurence Olivier, against her fears, against herself. Hodges ties both plots with skill, developing Clark's startup in the industry at the same time that Olivier prepares Marilyn's coming to the United Kingdom. Although, while certainly Hodges offers a pretty interesting perspective of the craftsmanship of filmmaking through Colin Clark's young eyes, in the end it is Marilyn's story what ends up absorbing the other. And this is because Hodges offers a captivating portrait of Marilyn's complex personality. Hodges' Marilyn is a Monroe at the top of her game, she's a star, a goddess, but deep inside, she's still a fragile and insecure actress struggling to win the respect of her colleagues.

A TV veteran (with a filmography that includes popular TV series "Cranford" and one of the better adaptations of Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield"), British director Simon Curtis makes the jump to the big screen with "My Week with Marilyn", in which he revives the moment of the clash between the greatest star of American cinema and the most celebrated actor of the United Kingdom. This clash of personalities, a clash of legends, is the most interesting element in "My Week with Marilyn", because in Curtis' film, the focus isn't exactly in the visual aspect of the movie (though it's worth to point out that the time period is nicely represented), but in his skillful handling of actors. To Curtis, the interest lays in uncovering the human side that's hiding deep inside the film industry, behind the glamour and the make up, and to achieve this, director Simon Curtis has made a movie where the faces, particularly the eyes, speak louder than any any line of dialog.

Naturally, performances become of great importance in this kind of cinema that bases its power in the actor's work, and while there are a couple of tragic exceptions; in general, it can be said that the cast of "My Week with Marilyn" makes a remarkable job. Playing the legendary Marilyn, actress Michelle Williams makes a formidable job in which she brings up the great complexity that her character has. With great talent, Williams revives scenes from "The Prince and the Showgirl", capturing that vibrant magic that Monroe gave to each of her performances, and at the same time, manages to portrait the demons that plagued Marilyn, those that made so difficult for her to create those celebrated performances. Unfortunately, Eddie Redmayne, who plays Colin Clark, is quite below WIlliams' work, delivering a performance so poor that visibly affects the film, as the young actor lacks chemistry with Williams and more than once he looks wooden and weak.

However, Curtis backs himself with a solid supporting cast, where Judi Dench and Emma Watson are specially memorable as, despite having minor roles deliver a first class work of acting. Watson in particular is a more than nice surprise, as she demonstrates that without a doubt she was the more gifted amongst the young cast of the "Harry Potter" series. It's kind of sad that Curtis had not been able to bring out of Redmayne a better performance, as even when he's playing the lead character he ends up easily overshadowed by other cast members. Curiously, this makes an even greater problem to become obvious: captivated by Marilyn's alluring persona, Hodges' screenplay almost leaves totally aside the story of Colin Clark, which ends up like a mere excuse to introduce Marilyn's inner conflicts, where the true soul of the story really is. In a way, this isn't really strange, as after all, she's not any actress, she's the one and only Marilyn Monroe.

In the end, "My week with Marilyn" is a nice exploration of the great cinema icon, Marilyn Monroe, which offers a superb performance by Michelle Williams. It's a real pity that said performance doesn't find echo in a good counterpart from Redmayne, but at least it's surrounded by a group of wonderful supporting actors. While traditional in his vision, Simon's Curts's work allows his cast to show their talents, which is translated in a movie that even when deals with the stuff that dreams are made of, it still very human.In fact, it's this great humanity what sets it apart from other biopics about Monroe, making of this a films that, while imperfect, it's still quite enjoyable. Specially if one's seduced by the magic of the legendary blonde.

7/10
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Morgiana (1972)

While often considered separate from the Czechoslovak New Wave, director Juraj Herz began his career right at the core of the movement that would redefine Czechoslovak film industry. The fact that he wasn't a student of the Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Herz was from the Theatre Faculty) distanced him from the movement, but also allowed him to shape his very own style, which was a bit more traditional in form yet not less subversive. In fact, Herz' willingness to work around the constrains of genres allowed him to keep his eccentric and idiosyncratic vision intact even during the years of the Normalization, when the liberalization of the Prague Spring ended and a new time of censorship began. Herz' horror film "Morgiana", released in 1972, shows once again that taste for the horrific previously shown in his classic "Spalovac mrtvol" (1969), though in this case, his fight against censors wasn't that successful.

"Morgiana" is a tale of two sisters, Klára and Viktorie (both played by Iva Janzurová), who live in a large mansion after the recent death of their wealthy father. Viktorie grows jealous due to the fact that Klára has inherited most of their properties, including their family house. Klára's popularity with men is another source of annoyance for her, a feeling that becomes downright hate when Viktorie discovers that the man she loves, Marek (Josef Abrhám) is in love with Klára. Full of rage, Viktorie decides to poison her sister, so she buys a lethal potion from the mysterious Otylie (Nina Divísková). However, Viktorie's plan doesn't go exactly as planed, as the poison she go from Otylie is a slow-acting one. Due to the poisoning, Klára begins to suffer from hallucinations, while Viktorie's impatience grows stronger with each second. To make things worse, Otylie attempts to blackmail Viktorie, and the sister's cat Morgiana is a silent witness of the madness.

Set in a decadent world that seems stuck in mid 19th century, "Morgiana" is based on the story "Jessie and Morgiana" by Russian author Alexander Grin. The screenplay, by Vladimir Bor and director Juraj Herz himself, tells a story that's in essence a fairy tale in which the "good" sister faces the "bad" sister's schemes. However, it's a fairy tale with a dark spin: the story is told from the perspective of the "bad" sister of the story, exploring the growth of Viktorie's hatred for her sister, rooted in their sibling rivalry and her envy of Klára's beauty, popularity and fortune. Everything done with an exaggerated tone of melodrama that ultimately makes of "Morgiana" a Gothic parody of the classic elements of Romantic literature. And this isn't unintentional, because there's an undeniable dash of black humor in the exaggerated plot of "Morgiana". Exaggeration is the key of the story, and this extends from the screenplay to the film's carefully orchestrated visual design.

Taking as basis the conventions of traditional costume drama, director Juraj Herz exaggerates them to give "Morgiana" a highly stylized atmosphere of grotesque decadence. Instrumental for this is the work of cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera (famed for his work in Czechoslovak New Wave classics like "Perlicky na dne" and "Sedmikrásky"), who uses his talent to bring to life Herz' deliriously surreal vision of the sisters' Gothic world. Kucera's camera is highly dynamic, roaming freely through the mansion as it follows the sister's drama (of great interest are the shots that take the point of view of Morgiana, the cat). Playing with color and light, Kucera creates a dreamy atmosphere that enhances the tone of dark fairy tale that "Morgiana" has. As he previously did in "Spalovac mrtvol", director Juraj Herz makes heavy use of wide-angle lenses, not only for the aforementioned cat's point of view, but also to reflect the distorted minds of his characters.

As written above, "Morgiana" plays like an exaggerated melodrama, so a fair share of over-the-top acting is to be expected; however, even this kind of overacting requires great skill and a certain subtlety to work correctly and avoiding looking artificial, and fortunately, actress Iva Janzurová achieves this feat. Playing both Klára and Viktorie, Janzurová delivers two very different yet equally remarkable performances. As Klára, she looks sweet and frail, and manages to convey the mix of juvenile naiveté and tedious indifference of the spoiled girl's personality. The complete opposite is her performance as Viktoria, which is vibrant and full of energy, making a quite believable portrait of a woman driven by hate. Through the layers of make-up Janzurová disguises her beauty to give her character an identity of her own. Two remarkable performances indeed. The rest of the cast is less fortunate, but while their work doesn't reach the the point of being downright bad, there's a noticeable difference in quality.

Hauntingly atmospheric and deliciously grotesque, Juraj Herz' "Morgiana" is a horror film that's more unnerving than shocking, as it's based on the subtle distortion of a familiar setting. Unfortunately, despite its many interesting elements, "Morgiana" is far from being perfect, as the final third is a messy and rushed climax that feels forced and out of place. As if the scriptwriters hadn't been able to find an ending to it. In fact, there may be a reason for this unsatisfactory finale, as originally "Morgiana" was supposed to include the revelation that the two sisters being actually two different personalities of the same woman (actually a key twist of Alexander Grin's source novel). It certainly sounds like a more appropriate ending, but sadly the administration got in the way and Herz was forced to devise a different second half for the film. Remnant of this original idea is the fact that Iva Janzurová played both sisters.

Perhaps this change in the screenplay would had resulted in a more coherent and complete film, but unfortunately, it's one of those things that will never be known. Nevertheless, despite its problems "Morgiana" still holds up well as a prime example of surreal horror; and while far from being one of Juraj Herz' best works, it's a nice showcase of the style and talent of this often forgotten member of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Quirky and grotesque, "Morgiana" may not have aged that well (it may even look kitsch to modern eyes), but it's a quite interesting surreal horror film that combines horror and melodrama to create something unique. "Morgiana" is, in a way, a sadly imperfect masterpiece.

7/10
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Spalovac mrtvol (1969)

Conceived within the walls of the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) in the early 1960s, the Czechoslovak New Wave was an important artistic movement that brought light to the artistic sensitivities of a new generation of filmmakers from the communist country. A generation that included amongst its ranks Miloš Forman, Jirí Menzel and Jaromil Jireš, directors that would later become the major figures of Czechoslovak film industry. However, there were also filmmakers who, while less famous, had an equally interesting contribution to the movement, and one of them is Juraj Herz. The reason behind the apparent exclusion of his name from the more famous poster children of the Czechoslovak New Wave is simple: he wasn't a film student, but a theatre student, specifically a puppeteer. However, this puppeteer would bring one of the most interesting styles amongst the movement, one grounded in the horrific and the grotesque, and "Spalovac mrtvol", "The Cremator", is perhaps the best example of it.

Set at the onset of the occupation by Nazi Germany, "Spalovac mrtvol" tells the story of Karl Kopfrkingl (Rudolf Hrusínský), the man in charge of a crematorium in Prague. While friendly and sociable, Karl has a morbid fascination with the dead which he fuels with his reading of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. To Karl, the cremating of a body is necessary for the correct liberation of the soul. Nevertheless, despite the morbidity of his obsessions, Karl remains a loving father to his children Zina (Jana Stehnová) and Mili (Milos Vognic); and though he is attracted to other women, he keeps a cordial albeit distant relationship with his wife Lakmé (Vlasta Chramostová). Karl feels his life is in correct balance, however, when the Nazi forces enter the Czech border, he is invited to join the Nazi party because of his German heritage. The Nazi agents will play with his obsessions, awaking the manias that Karl has hidden in the deepest side of his soul.

"Spalovac mrtvol" was based on the novel by Czech author Ladislav Fuks, whose entire oeuvre revolves around German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The screenplay was adapted by Fuks himself along director Juraj Herz, whom use the story of the deranged cremator to make an allegory of the progressive introduction of Nazi ideologies into Czechoslovakia's society. Taking advantage of Karl Kopfrkingl's ambitions and delusions of grandeur, the Nazi influence completes the transformation that makes this morbid yet harmless man to turn his darkest fantasies into a reality. So, driven by his new beliefs, Kopfrkingl is now able to turn against his friends and family, fully convinced that his actions are actually for "the greater good". And what's perhaps more interesting about "Spalovac mrtvol" is that this dark, disturbing tale of psychological horror is told with a great dose of black humor that oddly, gives the film a quite fitting touch of irony.

However, the most striking feature of "Spalovac mrtvol" is its visual narrative, which director Juraj Herz conceived as a highly stylized Gothic nightmare in which disorientation is the key. A disorientation devised to reflect the twisted mind of the film's main character, whose train of thought twists and turns from the morbidly macabre to the downright grotesque. And to do this, Herz makes good use of the lavishly beautiful expressionist cinematography by Stanislav Milota and the frenetic work of editing by Jaromír Janácek. Jump cuts, montages, and a narrative that shifts from linear to non-linear, are some of the tools Herz employs to disorientate, but rather than being clichéd, they feel appropriately in tone with the story. Cinematographer Milota nicely employs the distortion of fish-eye lenses to evoke the distorted vision that Karl has of life, and by playing with light and shadows, Milota creates an unsettling Gothic atmosphere that suits nicely the quirky tone of the film.

As the title character, actor Rudolf Hrusínský shines in the role of Karl Kopfrkingl, the cremator whose twisted desires will take him to a descent to madness. While in a way Karl could be seen as an exaggerated caricature of a madman, Rudolf Hrusínský's remarkable performance gives uncovers the many layers the character has and unveils a complex and somewhat tragic figure. With great use of subtle yet noticeable mannerisms and his powerful screen presence, Hrusínský completely becomes this deranged individual, able to be sympathetic and horrifying at the same time. Certainly, in many ways "Spalovac mrtvol" is entirely Hrusínský's show, however, while the supporting actors in the film do have a considerably inferior space to develop their roles(after all, the film is told from Karl's perspective), some of them truly make an effective job, particularly Vlasta Chramostová, who plays Karl's dutiful and timid wife Lakmé.

Perhaps the most disturbing horror amongst the many conjured by Juraj Herz' "Spalovac mrtvol" is the very fact that while this is an exaggerated tale, it may actually have happened in a way. As the film starts, Karl knows and respects many people who are Jews, however, after the Nazi ideology enters his mindset, the morbid cremator is unable to conciliate those thoughts and begins to see them in a bad light. Behind the horrors unleashed by the deranged Karl himself, the real horror of how the Nazi ideology slowly infiltrated and changed a society's mindset is the most haunting element in "Spalovac mrtvol". In Herz' nightmarish Gothic world, the morbid cremator is certainly a monster, but greater monsters are those playing with his mind. Karl is convinced that his actions are helping a good cause, that he is cleaning the contaminated souls of the world, helping them to achieve peace. Karl's actions are a reminder that the path to hell is paved with good intentions.

While his membership of the Czechoslovak New Wave is often disregarded, the work of director Juraj Herz has many of the trademarks of the movement, though his perspective is often a more perverse and cynical one, and "Spalovac mrtvol" is perhaps the best example of it. Unnerving and grotesque, yet at the same time absurd and darkly comic, "Spalovac mrtvol" or "The Cremator", is a unique gem of Czechoslovak cinema that employs the horror genre to bring light to the real horrors of Nazi occupation. Though more than being an accusatory film, "Spalovac mrtvol" is instead a cathartic one, a film that through its grotesque imagery may help to understand a madness that turned a country against itself.

8/10
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The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

Without a doubt, arriving to the old age is truly a change of life as hard as adolescence, perhaps even harder, as when it shows up there's a greater resistance to the changes that come with it. And yet, sooner or later the human being will end up adapting to these new stage of life, perhaps even with some new instances of self-discovery. This posibility inspired British author Deborah Moggach to write the book "These Follish Things", a novel published in 2004 (when the author herself was already 56 years old) that explores precisely this theme, with a touch of cultural shock, as the novel deals with a group of British senior citizens who are sent to a retirement home in India. Seven years later, writer Ol Parker and filmmaker John Madden offer an adaptation of "These Foolish Things", now with the title of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and with a strong cast that gathers some of the best British actors of their generation.

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" revolves around the lives of several characters: Evelyn (Judy Dench) is a housewife whom after the death of her husband realizes that she hasn't lived her own life, Douglas and Jean Ainslie (Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton) are a couple who has lost their retirement savings investing in their daughter's company, Graham (Tom Wilkinson) is a High Court judge whom has suddenly decided to retire and travel to the country of his youth, Norman (Ronald Pickup) is an aging bachelor who still has the ambition of being a Casanova (Ronald Pickup), while Madge (Celia Imrie) is a widow unable to live without the company of a man in her bed. Finally, Muriel (Maggie Smith) is a strict and racist old woman forced to travel to India to have the hip replacement she needs. All of them find in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel a promising (and cheap) place to live their retirement, but what they find when they arrive is a place in ruins whose enthusiastic owner (Dev Patel) dreams to improve.

The screenplay by Ol Parker takes the premise of Moggach's novel and develops it as an ingenious light comedy in which this group of forgotten characters discover in the remote India a bit of themselves. Unlike the novel, Parker focuses only in his elderly characters, whom have been practically left aside by their families back in England. However, this toning down of the novel's plot doesn't mean merely a simplification, as Parker's script keeps with inteligence the typical wit of British humor. Parker manages to unfold the very different stories of his group of quirky characters with great skill, with a good development of the relationships between them and how they affect each other. Graham's story and the one of the Ainslies are particularly moving and captivating ones. In general, Parker does a great job at handling so many characters, though it's worth to point out that there are also a couple of them in which he could had gone deeper.

Director John Madden brings these stories to life with a solid work of directing, taking good advantage of the effective work of cinematographer Ben Davis, who captures the vibrant colors and seductive shapes of the culture of India, contrasting them sharply with the grayness of that good old England that the characters leave behind. However, Madden doesn't employ any complex visual flair in his vision, on the contrary, he keeps a natural and realist touch, giving space to his actors to work in their characters. In fact, Madden avoids falling in that typical travelogue style so common in films set in exotic locations, and instead, he focuses totally the attention to his characters, who are truly the film's heart. Despite having a big group of characters, Madden unfolds his story at a nice pace, keeping a slick and dynamic visual narrative that allows him to move between the different subplots that are developing in the film.

The cast of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is truly a collection of first class British talent, with Judi Dench at the head playing Evelyn, a shy old lady willing to discover the world. Dench offers a warm performance, full of her natural charm and talent. Tom Wilkinson makes a remarkable job as Graham, the retired High Court judge who travels to India with a very particular mission of his own. HOwever, and while both Wilkinson and Dench make a brilliant job, the real scene stealers are two different actors: Bill Nighy and Maggie Smith. With great subtlety and an excelent timing for the dry humor that Parker's script handles, veteran Bill Nighy delivers an amazing performance in which he displays his enormous talent. The other gem in the film is Maggie Smith, whom makes a powerful performance as Muriel, the arrogant and racist old lady who feels trapped in a country she despises. It's a testament of Smith's talent the way she makes the most of her quite unlikable character.

As the wife of Bill Nighy's character, Penelope Wilton faces role as difficult as Smith's, perhaps even more, as her character is another in the group who refuses to adapt to the culture of India. Wilton makes of her hateful character something more than a the mere charicature that she could had bee, as she gives her great verosimilitude and a well defined identity of her own. In minor roles we find Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie and Dev Patel, all of them making a remarkable job in their roles, particularly the beautiful Imrie, whom as Madge, makes a terrific performance. So good that it becomes a bit sad the fact that hers is perhaps the least explored character in the plot. And this is the great problem of Parker's script: the character development is a bit uneven, with a couple of subplots ending with the feeling of being incomplete. However, despite this problem, it's quite commendable the way that Parker manages to keep logic and inteligence as he weaves his stories.

While on first sight "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" looks like a the typical film about cultural shock between East and West and the fish out of water theme, but actually, what director John Madden and scriptwriter Ol Parker achieve with this movie is an intelligent comedy that tackles the human relationships with naturalness and subtlety. "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" gathers a great cast of British actors that, delivering a series of brilliant performances, prove that this group of artists has kept their talent intact. In the end, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is an optimistic film that, without big pretentions, just reminds us that in the end, everything will be fine. And if it isn't, then it's not the end yet.

8/10
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This review was originally published in Spanish for Habitación 101 in May the 4th of 2012. Habitación 101 is a great site to check for news and reviews on cinema and theatre in Spanish.

Emergo (2011)

Unlike what happens in the case of vampires, werewolves and other creatures from folklore, whose existence is understood as pure fantasy, in the case of ghosts this is a much more controverted affair. Facing the difficulty to explain certain supernatural events, there are several groups of people with the goal of studying and investigating the supposed cases of paranormal activity. Of course, many of these groups walk the thin line between science and superstition, but their existence is testament of the deep fascination with ghosts, which is more alive than ever. The world of these paranormal investigators captured the imagination of Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Cortés, inspiring him to write the film "Red Lights". However, his research was so extensive that it originated a second screenplay which he titled "Emergo". And this new screenplay meant the big opportunity for a young filmmaker named Carles Torrens, who was picked by Cortés to direct the film.

"Emergo", from the Latin word for "appear", tells the story of a team of paranormal investigators that decide to take the case of an apparent haunting in an old apartment. The team is made of Dr. Helzer (Michael O'Keefe), his assistant Ellen (Fiona Glascott) and technical expert Paul (Rick Gonzalez), who enter apartment 143 where Alan White (Kai Lennox) lives with his children Caitlin (Gia Mantegna) and Benny (Damian Roman). At the apartment, Paul and Ellen begin to install their electronic devices: movement detectors, cameras in each room and electromagnetic waves detectors. The reason for this is that the White s have been suffering from paranormal activity since the death of Alan's wife. Strange noises are heard in the house, objects move by themselves, and there's also the terrible feeling that something else is there with them. To make things worse, things between Alan and his daughter Caitlin aren't good, making more difficult the work of the investigators.

Rechristened with the international title of "Apartament 143", the film deals basically with the experience lived by the three investigators who face their first real case of a haunting. The most interesting element of the script is the realist tone given by writer Rodrigo Cortés, to the way the characters are developed in the apartment. That is, Cortés' team of investigators aren't mere amateurs, they see themselves as scientists and act with a scientific mindset, moved by a curiosity that defeats their fears. This gives the film a good dose of verisimilitude, as in a way it justifies their staying in the house and filming of the whole thing. In general, "Emergo" distinguishes itself from similar found footage horror films by the mere fact that there's a conscious effort for developing its characters and give them well defined personalities. This makes the story to feel fresh and vibrant, which is good as originality is not one of the plot's main assets.

Developing the film as a found footage mockumentary, the young débutant Carles Torrens offers a story told by the sum of the material recorded by the many cameras that the team has installed. So, the film includes footage from security cameras, professional video cameras, handy-cam video recordings and even footage from a cell phone. Visually this makes the film very rich, with cinematographer Óscar Durán employing a wide variety of visual styles that not only look great, but that are also justified by Torrens' visual design. However, not everything is perfect in "Emergo", as even when it presents an interesting camera work, the visual narrative is in general deficient, and this can be appreciated in the uneven rhythm that the film has in occasions, as more than once the action gets too slow to the point that nothing really happens, including a couple of long scenes full of expository dialogs that could had been solved in a more effective way.

It must be said that, while nothing amazing, there are a couple of high quality performances in "Emergo", mainly amongst the cast members who play the team of paranormal investigators. Michael O'Keefe, who plays the team leader, Dr. Helzer, makes a good job as the voice of reason in the film, skeptic at the supernatural explanation of a haunted house, though decided to find the real origin of the strange events that take place at the Whites' apartment. Rick Gonzalez and Fiona Glascott deliver quite good performances, and the couple has great chemistry on camera. Gonzalez showcases as well to have a nice comic timing, which without overacting, manages to give some good comic relief to the film. Gia Mantegna (daughter of actor Joe Mantegna), who plays Alan's rebel teenager daughter Caitlin makes an acceptable job, though her character is somewhat a stereotype and she overacts it a bit more than once.

The negative side is without a doubt Kai Lennox, who delivers a quite poor performance as Alan White, being too overacted and artificial in his acting. This becomes particularly obvious in the couple of scenes in which director Torrens let his character explain himself in a series of expository lines. This is a mistake on Torrens' side, as not only these takes are too long and break the rhythm the film carries, Lennox doesn't take advantage of them, and on the contrary, his limited acting ends up revealed. Perhaps decisions like this have an origin in Torrens' lack of experience as a filmmaker, but they sadly do affect "Emergo" and make it tired and boring, despite its short runtime. Of course, there are a couple of well executed moments in the film, and particularly the climax results being a really effective scene that mixes perfectly the fantastic theme with the realist tone (what every found footage should do) in perfectly crafted scene.

There are certainly many good things in "Emergo", things in which it really surpasses many films of the found footage subgenre. However, there are sadly a good amount of bad elements that unfortunately downgrade the film. For what it's worth, "Emergo" cements Rodrigo Cortés' reputation as a horror author that takes risks with new proposals in each project (as shown in his own film, "Buried"); but sadly, his pupil Torrens couldn't overcome his lack of experience. Anyways, despite the mistakes Torrens may have done in "Emergo", the film shows that the young filmmaker has an interesting vision, fresh and original. And not every débutant achieves this.

5/10
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This review was originally published in Spanish for Habitación 101 in April the 28th of 2012. Habitación 101 is a great site to check for news and reviews on cinema and theatre in Spanish.

Intruders (2011)

After a career making TV commercials, Spaniard director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo produced in 1996 the short film "Esposados", debut that earned him multiple international awards, including an Academy Award for Best Short Film. Nevertheless, despite this overnight fame, it took him six more years to make his feature length debut, "Intacto", film that once again won several awards, amongst them a Goya for Best New Director. This fame didn't go unnoticed, and so in 2006 Fresnadillo was hired by British filmmaker Danny Boyle to direct "28 Weeks Later", sequel to Boyle's own post-apocalyptic horror film "28 Days Later...". This success established Fresnadillo as a competent genre director with a great skill to create haunting atmospheres. In 2011, Fresnadillo returned to the United Kingdom to make "Intruders", a Spanish production that has that style so characteristic of Spanish Horror.

"Intruders" tells two parallel stories, the first one takes place in Spain, in which little Juan (Izán Corchero) lives terrified by Hollowface, a mysterious figure that appears in his room. Hollowface doesn't have a face, and by night it enters the apartment where Juan lives in order to steal his face. Juan lives alone with his mother Luisa (Pilar López de Ayala), whom is completely desperate and afraid since she doesn't know how to help her child. Father Antonio (Daniel Brühl),a local priest, gets interested in the case and tries to find out what's trying to posses the kid. Meanwhilem in Lodond, Mia (Ella Purnell) is a 12 years old girl who lives a normal life with her parents John and Susanna Farrow (Clive Owen and Carice van Houten respectively). On her birthday she finds a box with a spell that summons Hollowface, whom will try to steal her face. Both kids will fight their own monster, each in their own way.

The screenplay, by Nicolás Casariego and Jaime Marques tells a story of supernatural horror and fantasy that presents a monster, Hollowface, that recalls the more primal fears. A monster without face, that stands like a Boogeyman stalking in the dark of the room, in the closet, under the bed, among the shadows. The main characters, both children under 12 years old, face different problems but both are psychologically linked to the fear this monster represents. Juan lives alone with his mother, and knows too well the abandonment and loneliness, while at the same time is owner of a great imagination. Mia lives happily with her parents, but she's facing adolescence, finding herself in a point in which she wants desperately to grow up, but this desire affects her close bonding with her father, who still sees her as a child. Both stories are linked with a risky but functional twist, making it an interesting plot, though not without its fair share of problems.

In "Intruders", Fresnadillo shows a solid work of direction, with a well defined visual style and an appropriate handling of suspense, resulting in several sequences of great quality. With the aid of cinematographer Enrique Chediak, Fresnadillo creates a different atmosphere for each story: a cold and desolate one for Juan, and a warm though no less creepy for Mia. Chediak's work is remarkable, and he adapts it to that quite Spanish style of atmospheric horror dramas (in the style of "El Orfanato" of Balaguero's cinema), though of course, with Frasnadillo's personal trademarks, which involve a heavy use of steady came that brings an interesting dynamic, in spire of being at times a bit annoying. Perhaps the greatest virtue of "Intruders" is its total lack of pretensions, as director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo makes a story of fantastic horror that moves way from modern visceral shock and gets closer to the atmosphere of a scary tale for before sleeping.

The acting is perhaps the strongest point in "Intruders" starting with the young Ella Purnell, whom as Mia, delivers a remarkable work as a teenager, not exactly a girl anymore, but still not a woman, but whom is troubled as she faces a fear that could be considered childish: fear of the dark. Purnell acts with great naturalness, making a powerful performance that easily steals the film. While definitely not on the same level, the work of young Izán Corchero is also of great quality, though it's worth to point out that in his tale the dramatic weight is on Pilar López de Ayala, who plays his mother. Pilar López gives a solid work, making a restrained, though realist portrait of her paranoid character. On the British side, Clive Owen is effective in his role of overprotective father, though at times Carice van Houten (as Mia's distant mother) is the one who makes a more interesting performance.

While acting is very good, "Intruders" has a somewhat uneven character development, as if suffers from having a quite interesting premise that has not been developed. Certainly, writers Casariego and Marques have developed a fascinating story prone to multiple readings. However, the way the plot has been built is deficient, leaving multiple loose ends forgotten by the time the movie finishes. Just to mention the most obvious one, while the subplot of Father Antonio opens several interesting options, the whole affair is simply left aside without even trying a greater development for the character, leaving him as a mere footnote in the main storyline. The same happens with the trauma that John Farrow experiences at his job, and some other plot holes as well, resulting in a movie that at times feels incomplete. While "Intruders" shows a great quality in its execution, details like those prevent the satisfaction from solving mystery to be complete.

Despite those details, "Intruders" manages to be an entertaining fable of horror in a tone reminiscent to films like Guillermo Del Toro's "El Espinazo del Diablo". Closer to psychological horror to the more visceral one, "Intruders" offers an interesting spin to the fear of the dark. In fact, given the thematics it explores regarding childhood fears, it's odd that the film got an "R" rating in the United States, probably due to the innocent nude scene of Carice Van Houten (in United Kingdom for example, this only meant a more appropriate "15" rating). Anyways, perhaps "Intruders" is a minor work in Fresnadillo's career, but it's at least entertaining.

6/10
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This review was originally published in Spanish for Habitación 101 in April the 19th of 2012. Habitación 101 is a great site to check for news and reviews on cinema and theatre in Spanish.

Días de Gracia (2011)

Clash of wills, passions and dreams that are left in the field, football soccer has such a very special charm that has turned it into the most popular sport in the world. And within football, there's nothing like the fascination that's lived during a Wolrd Cup. As traditionally occur in events of this magnitude, crime tends to decrease during the days the World Cup takes place, in some kind of "days of grace" of sorts in which everyone's attention is focused on following the progress of the national team in the World Cup. This phenomenon sets the background for the feature length debut of Mexican director Everardo Valerio Gout, whom after more than a decade of producing commercials and musical videos (not to mention several short films), takes over the big screen with "Días de Gracia", an ambitious project in which two of the most representative elements of life in modern Mexico are brought together: crime and football soccer.

"Días de Gracia" (literally "Days of Grace") consists of three stories that take place during the last 3 World Cups: Korea-Japan 2002, Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010. In 2002, Lupe (Tenoch Huerta) is a young police officer trying to do his best despite the rampant corruption and indifference of society. After winning an award for his performance stopping a gang of criminals, Lupe is invited to belong to the team of Commander José (José Sefami), which will take him to the darkest side of his job. In 2006, a man (Carlos Bardem) is kidnapped outside his home, ending up tied and locked in a basement. Tortured both physically and mentally by his captors, he decides to win the trust of Iguana (Kristian Ferrer), the young kid in charge of watching him. Finally, in 2010 ,Susana is a housewife who one day awakes to the news that her husband has been kidnapped. Susana now will have to face the situation and try to keep her family together.

Written by Everardo Gout himself (along David Rutsala), "Días de Gracia" moves between time frames as it weaves the three stories, which are pretty different from each other. By the nature of the situation it depicts, the story of the kidnapped man is of a more intimate and personal drama, to the point of having the thoughts of the character as a narration on the experience. The opposite is the story of Lupe, which is one of greater action as it narrates how the young cop enters the world of corruption and hopelessness that is life of a policeman in Mexico city. In middle ground between these two extremes is the story of Susana, which carries a tone of family drama, charged of heated discussions between her, her brother-in-law and the agent working on the case. With such different elements, Gout builds up a plot that explores three different sides of a kidnapping, as he cleverly plays with time frames to enhance the narrative's rhythm.

As it tends to happen in filmmakers with a background in commercial and musical videos, Gout reveals himself as a director with a big preference for a defined visual style in the film. In "Días de Gracia", Gout and his cinematographer Luis David Sansans develop a distinctive look for each of the subplots. From the arid desolation of 2002, to the cold and claustrophobic confinement of 2006, while going through the neutral balance found in the 2010 plot. However, and while this truly gives the movie an identity of its own, there is a certain excess in the stylization in Gout's visual narrative. As if the director was decided to use any possible camera angle, as long as it looks cool and interesting, without caring if they truly add something relevant to his film. Anyways, it's worth to point out that in the midst of this excess, Gout and Sansans achieve some well done scenes, particularly in long sequences, where Sansans' talent shines.

But the strongest element in "Días de Gloria" is not the cinematography, but its cast, which is one of the most solid ones that a Mexican film has shown in 2011. As Lupe, Tenoch Huerta makes a remarkable performance worthy of recognition; natural and effective as the idealist policeman facing the enormous monster that is crime in Mexico city. Huerta is a revelation of talent, managing to transmit the difficult transformation that his character lives with frightening verisimilitude. Dolores Heredia, playing Susana, is another of the highlights of the cast, as even when her story (2010) is the least developed of the three, Heredia achieves a naturalness and an incredible strength in her performance as a truly desperate housewife. Spanish actor Carlos Bardem once again delivers a notable performance as the kidnapped man of 2006, as without using his face (his character is hooded 95% of his screen time), he truly transmits the fear and pain of his horrifying experience.

In this his feature length debut, Everardo Gout manages to give a fresh vision to a theme that has almost become a common place in modern Mexican cinema (kidnappings). However, he can't stop falling in certain problems that, while not exactly an obstacle to enjoy his film, they do diminish what could had been a greater work. For starters, Gout doesn't manage to escape the shadow of González Iñarritu's "Amores Perros", which is the most obvious reference, in both style and theme, as Gout employs a narrative a bit too similar to the one of the Iñarritu-Arriaga team. Another thing is the fact that Gout falls in a common problem in this style of narratives: one story is considerably weaker than the others. In this case, Susana's tale (2010), which is almost left aside in front of the more interesting (and better executed) ones from 2002 and 2006. The difference between those and the one from 2010 is notorious, and it's sad since not only it was the only story with a strong female character, but it was also a remarkable performance by Dolores Heredia.

Without counting those details, and the afore mentioned stylistic excess that Gout commits, this Mexican-French co-production is a highly engrossing movie that, while not entirely original in terms of them, this is compensated by an interesting visual design and a firm technical knowledge that reveal Gout as a filmmaker with w well-defined cinematographic vision, an explosive sense of rhythm, and a great skill to gather a talented team to back him up. Despite its problems, "Días de Gracia" is a dignified debut for the Mexican director Everardo Gout.

7/10
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This review was originally published in Spanish for Habitación 101 in April the 14th of 2012. Habitación 101 is a great site to check for news and reviews on cinema and theatre in Spanish.

Nueve reinas (2000)

The abrupt end of a life is always a tragedy, particularly in young people, as it leaves the question of what would they do if they were alive. In the case of an artist, this is specially meaningful, even more if the deceased artist was just beginning to get recognition. This is the unfortunate case of Argentine filmmaker Fabián Bielinsky, whom after having made two critically acclaimed movies, died on his sleep from a heart attack, at only 47 years of age. A testament of his talent is the fact that in only two films, Bielinsky managed to develop a distinctive style of his own, different to anything found in the cinema of Argentina at the time. The first and most popular of his two films, "Nueve reinas" ("Nine Queens"), was a crime thriller with a quite particular tone of comedy and irony that ended up winning multiple awards both in its native country and abroad. And not without a reason, as "Nueve reinas"' careful construction truly shows what a real loss was Bielinsky's death.

"Nueve reinas" opens in a small convenience store where Juan (Gastón Pauls), a young con artist, successfully scams the cashier, only to be trapped while trying to perform the same trick twice. Marcos (Ricardo Darín) pretends to be a police officer and takes Juan away. On an alley, Marcos explains to a surprised Juan that he is not an officer, but also another con man. Marcos offers Juan the chance to be his partner for a day, and while Juan is reluctant at first, he accepts as he needs to raise money to help his father in jail. After several successful cons, Marcos receives the call from a former associate, Sandler (Oscar Nuñez), whom asks Marcos help in a rare scheme: Sandler has made perfect counterfeit copies of a rare set of stamps called "The Nine Queens", and was trying to sell them to a rich Spaniard (Ignasi Abadal) who is being deported the following day (therefore unable to check the stamps' authenticity). Sandler was unable to do it alone because of his health, so the pair decides to enter the scheme.

Intelligent, witty, and with a good dose of humor, "Nueve reinas" is a solid thriller in which director Fabián Bielinsky (who also wrote the screenplay) plays with the caper film genre to deliver and entertaining tale of two con men. As the film unfolds, Bielinsky increases the stakes, putting his characters in even more complicated situations with every new plot twist. Nevertheless, while certainly the clever plot that Bielinsky crafts is quite thrilling, but in the most Hitchcocknian fashion, the Nine Queens scam is merely a MacGuffin, as the real magic in "Nueve reinas" comes from the way in which he he has developed the two main characters and their relationship. Particularly since both men are con artists, so trust won't become easily a bargaining chip in the deals between them. However, necessity and casualty has brought them together, the experienced master and the young talent, to take their chances and pull off this ultimate scam.

While certainly Bielinsky's ingenious screenplay is marvelous, his talent as a director is well worthy of recognition too, as he crafts his film with a simple but slick style that suits nicely the casual tone of the film. With a certain grace and elegance, Bielinsky lets the film's plot to unfold smoothly, embracing the audience in its captivating spell, not unlike the scams his characters perform, functioning like a precise clockwork with the perfect timing, the perfect tone. While working with a quite low budget, Bielinsky gives his film a well defined visual style, a bit traditional perhaps yet very attractive. Cinematographer Marcelo Camorino captures the urban setting with an elegant beauty, his camera getting deeply into the streets that make the characters' natural environment. Nevertheless, Bielinsky doesn't use any flamboyant visual style, knowing (like Mamet) that the strength of his movie is in the language the characters talk.

So, given that the screenplay what matters, the actors reciting the lines are of key importance for the success of the film. And fortunately, the acting is one of the strongest elements in "Nueve reinas". Leading the cast as the talented but unexperienced Juan, Gastón Pauls shows a natural charm in his performance, playing the role of the young apprentice with great verisimilitude. However, "Nueve reinas" belongs to the masterful performance of Ricardo Darín, who plays Marcos. As the smooth-talking con man Marcos, Darín commands the screen with power, showing he is a resourceful actor skilled at creating multidimensional characters. Because no matter how good a script is, a bad actor could had ended up making the role looking like the stereotype it may be. A talented one, like Darín, embodies the character and delivers a real person out of it. The rest of the cast, while having much less screen time than Pauls and Darín, they all deliver effective performances, particularly Leticia Bréndice, who plays Marcos' sister Valeria.

Bu the real star of "Nueve reinas" is without a doubt its director, Fabián Bielinsky, who showcases his talent for storytelling by weaving his tale with great skill. While the plot is relatively simple (the afore mentioned Mamet has produced stories of greater complexity), the way Bielinsky has transformed it into a puzzling tale is just captivating. "Nueve reinas" is a masterful example of how to flesh out a story. By adding the necessary amount of detail to make it interesting and unique, Bielinsky has built up his caper thriller with the same care he would stage a confidence trick: with the perfect timing and the appropriate tone, the adequate rhythm and the right cadence. There are few things that go wrong in "Nueve reinas", as every element plays its role in the puzzle to great effect. Perhaps there's a moment in which the absurdity of the cons is a bit too much, but the dry, deadpan humor that Bielinsky employs keep everything in the right mood.

Sly, ingenious, and owner of a delicious dark humor, "Nueve reinas" showed the talent of a filmmaker that, without any great pretensions, managed to create an entertaining thriller with intelligence and wit. Because it's this intelligence what separates "Nueve reinas" from similar yet banal thrillers, as it allows the film to unfold its story with a style that few have. After "Nueve reinas", Bielinsky was offered the chance of making an American remake, opportunity he refused in order to make "El Aura". The remake, titled "Criminal" was still produced with Gregory Jacobs at the helm. Sadly, Bielinsky died just when his career was on the rise. Watching the triumph that is "Nueve reinas" makes one realize just what a great loss for cinema was Bielinsky's untimely death.

9/10
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[REC]³ Génesis (2012)

In 2007, Spaniard filmmakers Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza took the found footage concept (popularised by "The Blair Witch Project") to make a zombie film that was named "[Rec]". In this movie, they told the story of a reporter and her cameraman who, while making a coverage about a firefighters unit, ended up trapped in an apartment building infested by people infected with a virus that made them furious monsters. Shot from the point of view of the camera, "[Rec]" made great use f this resource to tell a story filled with suspense and horror that respected faithfully the genre conventions while at the same time was redefining them. The film was an enormous success, and two years later the duo repeated it in "[Rec]²", sequel that added a more action-oriented tone while expanding the background of the first movie. To close the series, both filmmakers have decided to make two films, each director making their piece of the conclusion. The first is the one by Paco Plaza, and it's titled "[REC]³ Génesis".

Unlike the previous two films, "[REC]³ Génesis" begins far away from the apartment building, as the action takes place in a small town where the wedding of Clara and Koldo (Leticia Dolera and Diego Martín respectively) is taking place. To the church arrive the family and friends of the couple, while the event is being taped by cameraman Atún (Borla González). Finally, the ceremony is over and Clara and Koldo are now husband and wife, so the group moves to a mansion where the wedding reception will be celebrated. Uncle Víctor (Emilio Mencheta), apparently drunk, falls from the second floor to the dancing hall, provoking panic in the guests. However, Víctor is not drunk, but infected and is now a monster. To everyone's surprise, more infected arrive to the hall and all hell breaks loose. Koldo and Clara are separated during the chaos, and Koldo ends up with a small group locked in the kitchen. Decided to not leave the place without his wife, Koldo begins a dangerous quest to find his beloved Clara.

Written by Paco Plaza and Luiso Berdejo (writer of the first "[Rec]"), "[REC]³ Génesis" is not exactly a straight sequel to the previous film's plot, but an alternate story, as it begins hours before the events of the first film and takes place during the same nightmarish night. And as an alternate story, "[REC]³ Génesis" is defined by a desire to find its own style, breaking with the tone imposed by the previous installments of the series. For starters, there are more elements of black comedy in "[REC]³ Génesis" than in the more sober previous films. This doesn't mean that horror is abandoned, not at all, but that there is a greater communion of both genre in the plot; and actually, Plaza and Berdejo manage to make of this mix a quite functional one. So much that it truly gives "[REC]³ Génesis" an identity of its own, making it a sharp commentary on modern Spanish society, to the family that gathers at weddings with the purpose of celebrating, gossiping and being hypocrites.

And this rupture with the past that Plaza makes in "[REC]³ Génesis" goes beyond the change in tone: in terms of style, Plaza opts to make "[REC]³ Génesis" in a traditional way, leaving aside the first person point of view that had been the trademark of the "[Rec]" series in its previous installments. While the film begins narrated from the point of view of Atún's camera (and also the one belonging to Koldo's cousin), this is literally abandoned with the destruction of both cameras. However, this isn't done without a reason, as what Plaza tries in "[REC]³ Génesis" is not a personal identification with the situation, but this time, with his characters. Unlike the previous films, in "[REC]³ Génesis" the characters are now of greater importance, as the film is now entirely the story of the couple trying to find themselves in the middle of the zombie chaos. Nevertheless, even when the narrative is of a different style, the work of cinematographer Pablo Rosso (who has worked in the entire series) is again of the highest quality.

As mentioned before, the story is focused entirely on Clara and Koldo, and the actors who play them truly make a remarkable job in their roles. The star of the show is without a doubt Leticia Dolera, who plays Clara, creating a complex and multidimensional character by using mainly her physical presence. Going from a frail and shy woman to a fully determined zombie killing machine (chainsaw included), Dolera makes of Leticia a truly iconic character. And with great subtlety (and thanks to the screenplay by Plaza and Berdejo), this transformation never feels forced or out of place, on the contrary, it's fully in character as she's a woman who has been waiting her life for this moment and won't let anyone to take it from her. Slightly inferior is Diego Martín, who plays Koldo, as unlike Dolera, in his performance there are moments in which Martín does feel a tad wooden in his role. However, in general, his work is up to the challenge, perhaps not in Dolera's level, but not really bad.

As can be seen, "[REC]³ Génesis" is at the same time so different and also so similar to the previous films, that could generated mixed feelings about it. On one side, "[REC]³ Génesis" keeps pretty much coherent towards the already established mythology of the series, and it even explores more into the nature of the infected people. Also, Plaza doesn't hold back in creating wonderful scenes of graphic violence in which beauty and horror are combined in front of Pablo Rosso's camera in an extraordinary way. Nevertheless, the rupture in tone and form with the previous two films leaves a strange feeling at first, as if despite the title and the zombies, this "[REC]³ Génesis" wasn't really very "[Rec]" after all. Certainly, it's admirable how Plaza tries to make his story to have a different flavor, nevertheless, perhaps he may had gone a bit too far in his attempt. What is truly commendable is the fact that Plaza has created in "[REC]³ Génesis" sequences that surely will become icons of modern Spanish horror.

In the end, it could be stated that "[REC]³ Génesis" is two things at the same time: a brilliant horror comedy about zombies, and a somewhat unsatisfying "[Rec]" installment that perhaps would work better with a different, unrelated title. But well, those are perhaps mere details, as what matters is that in "[REC]³ Génesis" Paco Plaza proves to be an original filmmaker, with great knowledge about the horror genre, and delivers a masterful lesson in combining black humor with raw gore. Fun, entertaining and even moving, "[REC]³ Génesis" may not be very "[Rec]", but it's actually pretty good.

8/10
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This review was originally published in Spanish for Habitación 101 in April the 14th of 2012. Habitación 101 is a great site to check for news and reviews on cinema and theatre in Spanish.

[Rec]² (2009)

Found footage as a narrative style became quite popular after the release of "The Blair Witch Project" in 1999. This narrative device, which consists in presenting the film as the discovered evidence of a story, soon found many filmmakers willing to experiment with it, sometimes with bad results, but also sometimes with remarkable ones. "[Rec]", a Spanish horror film directed y Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, and released in 2007, rightfully belongs to this last category. Essentially a zombie film, "[Rec]" narrated the story of a reporter and her cameraman as they end up trapped in a building where people had been infected with a disease that transformed them in voracious cannibal monsters. Narrated from the point of view of the camera, the film managed to translate successfully the tension and intensity of the horror film to a first person narrative. Not surprisingly given the film's success, talks for a sequel began quite soon, and Balagueró and Plaza returned to the apartment in 2009 for "[Rec]²".

Beginning right after the first "[Rec]" ended, "[Rec]²" opens up outside the building, where Dr. Owen (Jonathan D. Mellor), an official from the Ministry of Health, enters the quarantined apartment building along a four-man Special Operations team. They all have cameras mounted on their helmets, plus one of them, Rosso (Pablo Rosso), carries another camera to document the findings. At the building, Owen and his team face off the infected people, and Owen decides to employ prayer to stop them, revealing he is actually and agent from the Vatican sent to get a blood sample from patient zero, the Medeiros girl. At the same time, a man (Pep Molina) is trying desperately to enter the building. He is the father of Jennifer, the girl from the first "[Rec]"; and he manages to convince one of the firefighters (Juli Fàbregas) to help him enter. Three teenagers, Tito, Mire and Uri (Pau Poch, Andrea Ros and Àlex Batllori) follow them, not knowing that they are about to enter a nightmare.

In "[Rec]²", writers Balagueró and Plaza are now joined by Manu Diéz in an attempt to make a story that expands upon the mythology set by the first film while at the same time moves the plot to a different direction. For starters, "[Rec]²" firmly establishes demonic possession as the root of the infection, enhancing the religious undertones that the first movie only hinted at. This angle is particularly interesting, as the writers develop the theme into a captivating set of myths that give the "[Rec]" series a well defined identity of its own. Also, and as expected given the fact that the protagonists are now members of an elite tactical team, action takes a greater importance in the story. While the first "[Rec]" was based on the suspense of the reporters discovering the unknown, "[Rec]²" is now based on whether the soldiers will accomplish their mission. The way the writers have tied the film to the first one is also clever, though the addition of teenage characters for comic relief is one terrible mistake.

As written above, "[Rec]²" sees the series moving to a more action-oriented kind story, and in terms of style this is reflected in the frantic the narrative has. The new gimmick is the use of helmet-mounted cameras, giving the opportunity to see what each member of the special unit sees. In practical terms, this allows for a perspective similar to first person shooter video games, which works pretty good in the context of the new tone the film has, which has traded suspense for action (though the result is as tension-filled as the original "[Rec]"). In fact, the change from suspense to action is comparable to what James Cameron did in his sequel to "Alien". Once again cinematographer Pablo Rosso is placed inside the action, this time as a member of the special units (naturally, the one carrying the bigger camera), and while his work is perhaps difficult to appreciate (given the fast rhythm of his shaky cam), once again he has constructed a somber claustrophobic atmosphere in this apartment building.

Acting in the film is effective, though nothing really surprising. Perhaps it's because the characters aren't well developed, or the fact that now many of them have a camera, but there isn't really any performance that could leave a lasting impression. That is, only until Manuela Velasco returns as reporter Angela Vidal and steals the show. As Dr. Owen, Jonathan D. Mellor is good, though perhaps a bit overacted in his role of the Vatican agent willing to do anything to complete the mission. Óscar Zafra, as the leader of the Special Units team, has a commanding presence but the rest of the team members lack a personality of their own. Pep Molina fares better as Jennifer's father, desperate to save his family, not knowing about the horrors that have been unleashed inside the building. The three teenagers, Andrea Ros, Alex Batllori and Pau Poch are pretty poor in their performances, and represent perhaps the weakest element in "[Rec]²".

While in many ways Balagueró and Plaza have succeeded in this expansion to their original hit, "[Rec]²" has also some flaws that bring it down a bit in terms of quality. Certainly, the expansion to the "[Rec]" myths that the film does is a pretty clever twist to the zombie concept, as the religious themes of demonic possession make for pretty interesting interpretations to the movie. However, the inclusion of the three teenagers subplot is somewhat tacky, as it breaks from the mood established in the film, not to mention that the characters are poorly developed and badly acted, ending up as an annoying addition to the plot. Truly a tragically failed attempt at comic relief, as the film would be a lot better without them. As written above, the characters aren't that well developed, a trait it shares with the predecessor, though at least the first "[Rec]" had an iconic figure in Angela Vidal. Sadly, "[Rec]²" isn't that lucky in this aspect.

Despite its problems, "[Rec]²" is a worthy addition to the series, specially due to the fact that directors Balagueró and Plaza have managed to expand their concept without losing the edge and intensity the original had. The change from suspense to action is a nice move, and given the fact "[Rec]²" is about expanding the rules set by the first film, it was perhaps the logical development of the first person concept. Granted, the film is a tad inferior to the original, but it's still a powerful and captivating experience that continues the storyline and unveils more information about the virus. With a claustrophobic atmosphere and fast-paced action, "[Rec]²" is a worthy entry in Spanish horror.

7/10
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