Blind Alley - Im Schatten lauert der Tod

Gory and spooky horror film is entertaining for fans of the genre . This exciting picture contains thrills, chills , graphic violence , action-filled with fierce attacks and loads of gore and guts . It deals with an attractive young dancer, Rosa (Ana De Armas) comes home from an audition at a public stage . Just as she arrives , her mobile phone rings , to tell her she has a call-back the next day . Later on , she visits the nearby laundromat to wash her dresses , where she is harassed by various members of her neighbourhood . The appearance of strange characters , some nightly denizens (Alfonso Rojas , Diego Cadavid , Leonor Varela) deliver the goods, plenty of screams , shocks and tension .

The horror and action moments are fast moving and compactly realized . This is an effective and simple movie ; it results to be an acceptable Spanish horror , including functional special effects realized in traditional style, including brief C.G. , but also some plot elements are plain stupid . The creepy images of wide range from the genuinely horrifying to the bizarre along with scary and amazing frames . It is a great roller-coaster ride, from beginning to end , though action and terror starts when rare roles show up , as the young girl quietly confident about getting a break and then spends a night trapped inside a laundromat with a serial killer and other attackers . At the beginning of the movie takes place a charming dancing by the gorgeous Ana De Armas that comprises the background for the opening credits . The picture displays shocking and well-crafted transformation in charge of expert make-up artists. The make-up assistants create truly horrible attacker monsters . The picture is really influenced by terror films of the 80s , Giallo movies , and especially by ¨Demons 1¨ and ¨Demons 2¨ by Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento .

It packs suspenseful and thrilling musical score by Alfons Conde . And colorful and glimmer cinematography by Javier Salmones , including splitting image , and elegant camera movements in the eighties style . Salmones is considered to be one of the best Spanish photographers with notorious titles as Thirteen Chimes , Los Borgia , Finisterre , Lengua de Mariposa , Rottweiler , Noche de reyes , Dama de Porto Pim , Romasanta and many others . This violent and bloody film was well directed by Antonio Trashorras and in which he shows nice visual style . Antonio Trashorras was born in Madrid and he is a prestigious writer , director and producer, especially known for El espinazo del diablo (2001), Raices de Sangre , Agnosia , Campamento Flipy , Sangre , Los Totenwackers (2007) , Anabel and this El callejón (2011) , or Blind alley .

This little known film came as a bit of a surprise for me. Not knowing what to expect, I had the expectations of the usual Spanish horror fare, but what I got was something a little bit different. Its a very simple film, done in a very stylish way. The soundtrack and camera work was reminiscent of Italian giallo, so fans of this will be pleasantly surprised by what you get. The build up was very good and relies on solid tension and suspense, over character development. It all unfolds in a very satisfactory way that will please most horror fans. Don't go into it expecting something brilliant. Just be prepared to leave your brain at the door and go along on the ride of terror as our main character tries to find a way out of her dilemma.

Blind Alley is an apt title for this silly thriller that is not scary or even well thought out. It begins with a beautiful girl, Rosa(Ana de Armas) dancing in booty shorts and mini skirts at a photo shoot audition for some unknown reason. Next up, she is in a house cleaner's uniform talking with a coworker as they clean hotel rooms. On her way home she stops at a 24 hour laundromat with flickering lights, in the middle of the night, with no one around. A young man walks in and they seem to connect until he behaves strangely and she barricades herself inside the place as he taunts her. The storyline is not worth the paper it was written on. The one positive is Ana de Armas, a gorgeous young actress. The negative aspect is that Ana keeps her clothes on, which is a shame, because at least I would have one reason to recommend this film. Do not waste your time on Blind Alley.

I do believe this one could have provided a lot more and also, faster. Sure it doesn't even hit the 90 min mark, so I get it, they had to fill that little time, but come on, either go a more complex plot, or make a great short horror.

Reasons to like it? The story is not the worse out there, a lot of similarities with "ATM" even a little "Penny Dreadful", provides some interesting things but those never ending flashes just got me out of my mind! You can't show a flash of something that happened 5-10 minutes ago, it is just wrong! Let us think a little too, we're not all brain dead here. Scares? Can't really call them that, still, a little bit of tension does exist, but it is ruined by the "grand" finale, where everything is just too easy to anticipate.

So, all in all, for a lazy late night, it could work. But if you want something fun to watch, or share with some friends, don't let it hit your screen. Takes forever to get to its destination and then makes itself too obvious.

Cheers!

Blind Alley (El Callejón) is a work of art. Such well made movies don't come by very often.

The plot is straightforward yet works perfectly well. Actually it's a lesson in screen writing.

Ana de Armas shines as an actress, since the whole movie is on her shoulders. She makes you care for the fate of her character. And, of course, she's absolutely gorgeous. The two qualities (great acting and great looks) make her a very rare actress.

The photography is amazing, perfect. Furthermore, it's packed up with very interesting tricks such as multiple perspectives in split screen. These tricks actually help the narrative.

The director and writer, Antonio Trashorras, is someone to keep an eye on, for he surely will do other great stuff.

The music is really good, way above average. Plenty of cool songs.

Some trivia: there are a couple of scenes in which people change their accents, from Spanish accent to Cuban, from Argentinian accent to Chilean, etc. The movie is full of such original resources.

Do yourself a favor and go watch this movie. Even if you're not a horror fan, you'll be delighted.