El rey de la montaña

It's always fun to watch unsuspecting travellers encounter the horrors of the back-roads, so I was rather looking forward to King of The Hill. We follow Quim, on a mission to get back together with his girlfriend but put a little off track when an impromptu gas station tryst with a mysterious lady ends in her stealing his wallet. They meet again, but not before both have come under fire from a sniper, and the movie proceeds with the two of them trying to evade their unseen antagonists. Director Gonzalo Lopez Galego keeps things tight and mysterious for much of the time, concentrating on pace over character and attractive visuals and periodically jolting the viewers with short sharp bursts of action, skilfully turning the heat up moment by moment. The mountainous setting, trees, slopes and blue sky are well captured by the gorgeous cinematography of Jose David Montero, a picturesque setting at interesting odds with the impersonal menace that lurks within. Happily, the setting isn't just used for prettiness but excitement too, with rivers, trees, pitfalls and bushes all obstacles to navigate, there's an adventurous spirit to goings on that takes the film closer to classics like Deliverance than the more clichéd back-woods nastiness that tend to dominate films of this type. Stars Leonardo Sbaraglia and Maria Valverde make for a sympathetic pairing, wisely the film doesn't stop to long to give them a relationship but they have a certain mild chemistry that makes their bond under adversity a compelling one. For around two thirds or so of its length King of The Hill is rather great, hardly earth shattering in its events or approach but sufficiently well handled that it really stands out, unfortunately it doesn't end the same way. Like most films of its mysterious ilk, there's a "big reveal" here, and it's deeply ill-advised, an attempt at sombre significance that flops hard. A turn in events that would be unlikely and fairly tricky to pull off even if it were a significant part of the film from the start, here the film expects us to just buy the plot turn and then continues in the same uncompromising vein as before. To say much about why it doesn't work would be going into spoiler territory and since other have enjoyed this much more than I and not been troubled by the finale I won't divulge events, but for me it was daft verging on laughable, it not only took all the wind out of the film's sails but also rather tainted what had gone before. A saddening turn of events, as I wanted to dig this one and it came close to being a winner, but I can only go by my final impression, which was one of disappointment. A 5/10 then, even though for a fair amount of the runtime this is more like a high 7.

A young attractive pair of angsty travellers meet exceedingly cutely in a service station toilet, and mishaps, cruelty, duplicity, and violent bloody slaughter ensue, as our querulously conjoined protagonists are sinisterly stalked by maddeningly elusive, increasingly psychopathic gunmen! The nerve fraying, ruthlessly pared to the bone King of The Hill remains a bullet-paced, diabolically effective viewing experience. Lean, and scalpel-edged, Gonzalo Lopez-Gellego's exhilaratingly mean-spirited Spanish shocker is a brutally direct, grimly effective, wildly compelling thriller. Once the beleaguered couple Quim (Leonardo Sbaraglia) and Bea (Maria Valverde) run pell-mell for their very lives, massively hindered by an unforgivingly raw, yet ruggedly beautiful mountainous landscape, the already stark film takes an enjoyably grisly turn into warped 70s video nasty territory! Electric performances, an atmospheric score, Lopez-Gellego's muscular filmmaking, and a twisted climax make this nigh on essential viewing.

It doesn't take a huge amount of money to make a really great film. We've seen great low-budget movies develop out of a few simple ideas, a twist or two, and a little bit of solid acting. I'm thinking of movies like "Duel" - or the latter half of "Apocalypto". These suspenseful chase pieces featuring a good guy we can all relate to, caught in a very bad situation, can be thrilling. At first, El Rey de la Montana (english title: King of the Hill) suggests we are in for such a treat. Unfortunately the storyline never really develops to the point where we feel a connection to either the hero(es) or villain(s). There seemed to be some undue secrecy surrounding every character in the movie, preventing the viewer from fully understanding or appreciating the gravity of the situations that they found themselves in. Perhaps this was the point. When we don't know enough to trust others, we can't fully care about others. If this was the point, it was also the movie's biggest flaw.

And I'm not talking about the movie, but about the main character. I'm not sure if that was the intention. Of course he is portrayed as a coward. But all his actions and of course his back story lead to the fact that you most likely will hate his guts. Or at least I did, I heard from others that they didn't mind that much or didn't really bother to think about it.

The theme (and a bit of a surprise if you will), is the big selling point of the movie. But it only works the first time you watch it. I "had" to watch it a second time, when they showed it at the Fright Fest in London (I had watched it earlier on DVD). I have to admit, that I only realized how much I hated the main guy, when I watched the movie the second time. So maybe you should only watch this movie once and be done with it. It's more than good enough for one watch :o)

Brilliant. Gripping, and not at all predictable. Not simply a violence-in-the-wilderness thriller, characters are developed and both sides of the story examined. The hero is flawed, and the whole movie feels "real", like you're right there with the protagonists.

The use of first-person-shooter angles was a stroke of genius, and showed the shooters' mindsets.

Cinematography was great, editing perfect, acting very good. Very engaging, solid script.