Películas para no dormir: La culpa

Here's another entry into the 'Films to Keep you Awake' series but while its production values and its outgoing approach to one or two themes is very much present, La Culpa is nothing more than a short, sharp way to spend 70 minutes watching a horror film that although is foreboding at times, is nothing particularly special. La Culpa, I find, was written and directed by a Uruguayan man named Narciso Ibáñez Serrador; a man who has been writing and directing for decades so perhaps my reaction to the film being a little 'iffy' is down to a mere off day on the directors behalf.

La Culpa translates into the English for 'Blame' but from memory, I cannot recall any reason for anyone to be 'blamed' for anything and nor can I really recall an underlying theme based on the title to tie in with the film's story and developments. For the record, Blame sees a struggling female nurse named Gloria (Mostaza) and her young daughter Vicky (Lorenzo) move in with a fellow nurse called Ana (de Medina). But there is supposedly more than meets the eye to this person. She has an abortion clinic set up within the walls of the house, the house itself shares a through-door with the next door neighbours and Ana's sexual preferences seem a little ambiguous at best. The trouble is, I think the film liked to think that it had all these ingredients and ideas going for it when really they were merely a series of set ups and let downs to fill up time. In fact, I do not think La Culpa can even be classed as a horror film but a mere urban drama revolving around a financially struggling single mother and her hardships.

Take the abortion clinic for instance as an idea. Yes, abortions are always going to make for uneasy viewing when placed within the boundaries of a film but what do we actually get? Nothing of the frightening quantity. Then there is the door that leads into the adjoining house which for a horror film, is, I suppose a pretty good idea: 'where does this door lead? Why should the character's not go in? What's the knocking from the other side? But the set up and anxiety exists for only a mere scene or two – it turns out there is a logical explanation for the door, where it leads and what's the other side of it. Yes, a creepy looking old woman lying in a bed in the room through the door can be perceived as creepy but when the owner of the house shows up and sates that it is someone's bedroom in next doors house, are we really going to be so full of anxiety come the next uncanny set up? I for one was not and this is where La Culpa lost me as a horror film.

This idea continues on into one of the film's later scenes when Gloria approaches a 'creepy' rocking cradle. But by this point we are sort of confused; there is nothing uncanny in this film, right? This is taking place in the real world – the house is not haunted and there are no such things as monsters. What is actually in the cradle sums up not only the film's approach but how we react to the foreboding set ups in the sense it's an anticlimax. If anything, Blame borrows from To Let in the same way the film involves a seemingly psychotic landlady, they both centre around a young adult who is either in a crisis due to impending birth or already owns a young child and they both seem to want the ambiguity of their respective locations to generate half the scares for the film. But while To Let's location was actually quite eerie because we had reason to fear what was going on, Blame extinguishes fear and anxiety early on resulting in the later exchanges to become anti-climatic.

But La Culpa deserves credit for its general approach to its subject matter. I think the word 'blame' from the title has something to do with casual sex and unwanted pregnancy. I think the film is some sort of covert morality tale to do with sex before marriage – the young girls come into the abortion clinic and we generally get all the nasty, hair tingling build up you'd expect when the abortion is prepared and then followed through and the flushed away. We get the anaesthetic, we get the blood and the talk during the operation with the only thing that is missing being the 'nod' to the females amongst the audience: "You don't want this to be you, do you?" So Blame demonises casual sex which is fair enough if the director is going to make that statement but it does so with a supernatural approach which is something I cannot reckon the thinking behind. Blame is willing to be slower and more sedate in its setting up of the situation. Scenes involving little Vicky and her mother exchanging, being picked up from school, etc. are sweet and everything but then the film is supposed to be scary, isn't it?

La Culpa misses the mark as a horror film but as a vague statement on why kids should wait for marriage before sex I suppose it succeeds; but it does so through telling us how nasty abortions are and the how nasty the procedure is rather than giving us evil looking zombie babies and haunted houses – come to think of it, maybe that's a good thing. But if elderly women asleep in beds in rooms you should not enter and characters finding odd looking goo on the floor and leading upstairs sounds scary to you then by all means give La Culpa a go. Since there are explanations for these events, the film fails for me.

6 Films to keep you awake La culpa(2006) Narcisso Ibanez Serrador 9/10 Gloria a homeless single mother and nurse is given a lifeline by a female doctor Ana Torres at her hospital who allows her to live at her home. In return she must work for her in her private practice as an abortionist. Gloria soon finds out she isn't the first girl to take up these duties and believes there is more to her host than meets the eye. After finding out she is pregnant again by an errant boyfriend, Gloria agrees to allow Ana abort the child for her, the foetus mysteriously goes missing which corresponds with some very eerie goings on within the house, it also triggers some strange behaviour from her young daughter. Regreso a Moira(2006) 10/10 Days after the death of his wife, Tomas receives a tarot card in the mail postmarked from his former home town. The card does have meaning to him, but the only other person who knew of it is dead over 40 years, a former lover of his, Moira, who was burnt to death by locals who believed she was a witch.. Tomas returns home to find out who sent it, he digs up many disturbing old memories both for himself and those who once knew him. Adivina quién soy (2006)Enrique Urbizu 7/10 A lonely young girl, addicted to horror films, strikes up a relationship with a vampire and Leatherface, much to the chagrin of her mother, who doesn't believe they exist. Tha vampire is more sinister than she first believes and she soon regrets welcoming him into her home. Para entrar a vivir(2006)Jaume Balagueró 9/10 Clara is picked up from work by her boyfriend Mario, he tells her he has found the perfect apartment at a fantastic price, they head off into a dodgy part of town unknown to them where they meet the creepy estate agent. Soon they find themselves trapped in the apartment block and in fear of their lives. La habitación del niño(2006) Álex de la Iglesia 10/10 A married couple buy a large old house at a seemingly knock down price, they can't believe their luck, that is until the husband Juan begins to hear and see strange things, he believes their child is at risk from an horrific apparition. Using technology he finds he can track the movements of the spectre within the house, but the reality of what he finds is unimaginable. Cuento de navidad(2005)Paco Plaza 7/10 A group of school kids stumble across a female bank robber Rebeca, dressed as Santa in a hole in a forest, the police have a country wide search going for her, the kids decide to keep her there until she tells where the 2 million pesetas are. Rebeca won't tell where the money is, so they starve her into submission. One of the boys with a fascination with a Zombie film, puts a spell on her, but if it works she will turn into a zombie and lay waste to civilization. 6 films to keep you awake was a blind buy for me based on the high quality of recent Horror releases from Spain, i wasn't really expecting anything of real quality as it was a Spanish TV series, but what a pleasant surprise to find that it was a wonderfully sublime viewing experience, certainly my best TV experience of the last 30 years. All the films are slow burners, that are totally engrossing character driven Horror's, that are quite terrifying when the scares do come. The acting and production values are exceptionally high in all the productions. I advise all fans of Spanish Horror to seek out this set and to ignore the low IMDb ratings and user comments.

Part of a six-part series of Spanish made-for-TV movies entitled SIX FILMS TO KEEP YOU AWAKE, BLAME is a hard-hitting ghost story about an abortionist. It's a film that's light years ahead of current Hollywood competition and has more in line with the creepy, slow-moving perils of modern Asian horror cinema. That's right: despite the disturbing subject matter, this is an old-fashioned film through-and-through in which the scares come from noises in empty rooms and inexplicable occurrences rather than any shocking killer babies a la the IT'S ALIVE films and their B-movie ilk.

Blame benefits from a uniformly excellent cast that includes a young child actress whose fragile yet sinister performance recalls Heather O'Rourke of POLTERGEIST fame. The direction is assured and confident, leading to a beautiful looking movie that makes the best out of its rather mundane, otherwise nondescript locations: the run-down house, for instance, in which much of the film takes place, is almost a character in its own right. In the end, this is a film about the difficult topic of abortion and all the complexities that go with it: it's utterly moving, sometimes heartbreaking and very upsetting. By the end, it's become a far more intelligent and mature reflection on the topic than we, as viewer, had any right to expect, and I can't recommend it enough.

This is probably one of the lesser movies from the "6 Films to keep you awake" series of Spanish horror films.

The theme of the film reflects social biases from the 1950's era Spain. It is a mild horror film, overridden by its social themes.

The all female cast is excellent. The story is sound, with some red herrings.

Basically, the director drives home his social commentary through a supernatural intervention near the end of the film.

A unique, targeted message.

In 2006, "Películar para no Dormir" - roughly translated as "Films to keep you Awake" - was sort of the Spanish answer to "Masters of Horror". They were six relatively short (between 70 and 80 minutes), dark, and sinister thriller/horror movies, directed by the nation's most prominent and acclaimed names in the genre. Alex de la Iglesia participated, but also Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. This installment, "Blame", was even written and directed by one of the founding fathers of Spanish horror cinema, and creator of bona fide classic genre movies like "Who Can Kill a Child?" and "The House that Screamed"; - Narciso Ibáñez Serrador!

While "Blame" isn't the best project Serrador linked his name to, I'm sure it was a very personal and relevant film for him. The plot deals with a handful of very delicate and courageous themes, like abortion quite obviously, but also the financial struggles and loneliness of being a single mother. Like some reviewers righteously pointed out, "Blame" isn't really a horror movie, but more of a drama and psychological study. Suffering single mother and nurse Gloria is happy and grateful when the hospital's resident gynecologist Ana offers for her to stay, together with Gloria's six-year-old daughter Vicky, at her house and some administrative tasks in her private practice. However, she quickly learns that Ana is very pro-abortion and a lesbian who makes her affection for Gloria abundantly clear. When Gloria then gets pregnant unplanned, Ana puts her under pressure to perform an abortion.

Although primarily a drama, there are many uncanny aspects and mildly shocking sequences in "Blame". Nieve de Medina's character of Dr. Ana, for starters, is a very unpleasant person that gives you shivers. The explicit abortion moments are mentally challenging to sit through as well, and the climax - albeit foreseeable - is hauntingly tragic. The story supposedly takes place in the 70s, and in Spain's underbelly of society, and this is very well-reflected in the overall grim atmosphere of the film. Also, peculiar but very effective, Serrador chose not to include any male characters in his film at all. The patients come to Ana's depressing practice alone, and the men in Gloria's life - regardless of their bond with her - remain completely anonymous. "Blame" certainly isn't without flaws (for example the sub plot with the nosy neighbor is utterly pointless), but it's an impactful tale you won't forget easily.