Volviendo a Casa en la Oscuridad

Easily the darkest and most intense road movie I've seen since Robert Harmon's The Hitcher. Great acting, cinematography, the lot. There isn't much light here, given the circumstance of the story. But it comes highly recommended, as it completely drew me in.

When a couple of drifters descend on the family outing, it immediately gets really tense and really ugly. Even though it's not really a 'horror' flick, it delivers on creating tension.

I really did enjoy this film. It was brutal, tension filled, and I liked the fact that these many acts of violence weren't just "cause we wanted too" but that there was an actual reasoning behind it.

The directing was brilliant, the sound design was spot on, the performances were top notch... my only complaint is the script. It starts off so strong but loses its way towards the end. I think for a film that answers most of your questions, the ending just leaves you with more that you didn't even know you had. I also think the running time was just a tad bit long.

But these are just my own opinions. I truly think if you love thrillers or slow burn horror (this film definitely gives off horror vibes) than it is definitely worth your time.

This film is one of those that is frustrating because it is so close to being great but it just can't get there. The majority of the performances are excellent, the cinematography is beautiful, the concept is intriguing, the biggest let down is the plot.

Whilst I have no issue with a slow burn plot, the issue I have with this film is the repetitive scenes that take place and cause the progression of the story to be unnecessarily slow. Basically there are 5 different instances in the film were a character attempts to escape from the two captors. Granted some of these scenes are shorter than others but as you can imagine, the failed escapes get rather dull fairly quickly.

I would have rather had scenes of plot progression, better dialogue scenes or more flashbacks examining the core point of the film. I think if less screen time had been spent on people running through forests or down dark roads I would have been more invested. Instead it was just frustrating. After the second attempt it became pretty clear the main character was not going to manage to get away, as then the story would not be resolved, and all the following escape scenes became redundant and therefore had no emotional impact.

Credit where it is due, the film wasn't bad and there were elements that were excellent. I just wish there had been more of those and less chase scenes.

The scheme of a couple abducted by a group of psychopaths reminds me OPEN SEASON and PENTHOUSE, in a disturbing, nasty, insane atmosphere, where audiences feel dizzy nearly all long the movie. It is not always very clear and fully explained, you have to watch and listen it very closely. Not for all audiences, not for Hollywood crap films fans. Don't watch it with your parents in law around the poultry, this is not entertainment. This is actually a complex psychological study which maybe needs to be seen several times. This is not a gore, horror movie, nor a thriller, perhaps more a bloody and brutal drama. There is also a bit of Michael Haneke's FUNNY GAMES, but just a bit.