30 Monedas

Plot holes abound but damn if the storyline isn't compelling. Just ignore how contrived it can be and you'll have a good time.

Also, little nitpick here, it feels as if the show has chosen the wrong main character. Clearly the most interesting person in the series is the Priest Manuel. With a dark past and plenty of secrets he's a solid type for the spotlight. But somehow he's the side character?? It's really weird. Makes the show feels off. Like I'm just watching a bunch a secondary characters try and carry the plot along while the main character just sits there and does nothing.

Anyway, still entertaining.

It is hard to explain what this is about. It starts weird and ends even more weird... But I need to know what is going to happen... As always Alex de la Iglesia does a great job to surprise the audience and in this case you end up saying "what the heck just happened?" If you like weird and extremely original series this one is for you. I really like the actors by the way, for the Spanish audience they are pretty recognizable.

First scene disappoints me a lot. Afterwards interest increases and makes it worth the watch. Good staff of actors and the world Alex de la Iglesia has previously shown is entirely on display here. Even there's some resemblance or homage to other films he shot in the past.

Father Manuel Vergara (Eduard Fernández), an exorcist by profession, boxer and former prisoner, lives in Pedraza, a town in Segovia, to forget his past and start a new life. However, paranormal phenomena soon begin to occur in the place and he will have to count on the help of Paco, the mayor (Miguel Ángel Silvestre), and Elena, the town veterinarian (Megan Montaner), to solve the mystery of a coin. Vergara could have part of the thirty with which Judas was paid for his betrayal of Jesus Christ. The three protagonists will end up at the center of a global conspiracy that involves the Cainites and that threatens to destroy Christianity.

Devilishly fun and entertaining terror series with some elements of black humor and wonderful performances. This is a full-on surreal terror movie that blends thriller, a lot of amusement , suspense, tension, an intriguing script full of underlying seriousness , horror, as well as comedy and embarrassing situations. According to the same director Eloy de la Iglesia himself: ¨the series is a demonic nonsense with blood, sweat, tears... and monsters, and feverish satanic sects, and couples destroyed by the hell of jealousy and also a final smile. The essence of the story really is that God is an author. God might not create reality, he might observe himself or exist himself surrounded by nothingness. But he decides to carry out creation, he decides that man exists and let's say that, in that divine plan, each of us plays a role. So we are all characters in a creation and, as Lucifer says, we are all a little bit of God and we are all a little bit of the devil. God is all the characters. Therefore, doing good is the same as doing evil, which is the idea defended by the Cainites, the cursed sect that liberates the rite at the end¨.

For the first season, the main setting of the series was especially on location in the town of Pedraza (province of Segovia), where most of the places were recorded. In addition, it was also filmed in the Aldeadávila de la Rivera (dam) , Salamanca, Castilla y León, the Calatrava La Nueva castle, the General Library of Salamanca, the Institute of Spanish Historical Heritage, in Alcalá de Henares and the Palace of the Marqués de Santa Cruz (Viso del Marqués) in Ciudad Real and Tenerife, Canary Islands. Likewise, it was recorded in the foreign cities of Jerusalem, Rome, New York and Paris; although Spanish scenarios were recreated for Aleppo. The second season was filmed in 27 weeks in Spain, Italy, the United States, France and the United Kingdom.

Adding a thrilling, suspenseful and evocative musical score by Roque Baños. And colorful, brilliant and dark at times, cinematography by Pablo Rosso, Jaume Balaguero's usual. The series was well written (along with his regular writer Jorge Guerricaechevarría) and shot by Alex de la Iglesia. Well known as the Spanish king of black comedy. He's a cool director who has got much successes as ¨Accion Mutante¨,¨Dying of laughter¨ or ¨Muertos De Risa¨ , ¨Baby's room¨ , ¨Oxford murders¨ , ¨Balada Triste De Una Trompeta¨ and ¨Perdita Durango¨, the latter is probably the weirdest Javier Bardem film ever made . And, of course , ¨Day of the beast¨ and ¨La Comunidad¨ obtained the unanimous praise of both the critics and the public and they result to be a lot of fun, especially for those who enjoy surrealist humor, won several Goya prizes and and turned to be a turning point in his meteoric career; from then on he became his own producer, beginning with '800 bullets' (2002) through the Pánico Films company . Winner of several Goyas (Spanish Oscars), however his movies have not yet reached box office in USA, but he has strong followers , as his films have a kind of comic edge to them. Nonsense, ridicule , laughters , absurdity , disturbing scenes and many other issues ; you can find everything in this series. Rating: 7.5/10.

Love the setting and the three main characters. The performances from the three main characters are excellent especially Megan Montaner's as Elena. The plot kept my interest and the setting was unique. I am not one of the people that are bothered by subtitles and I enjoyed the unique-strange atmosphere 30 coins provides. It won't be for everyone but I hope to see more.