El horror detrás de las paredes

(2004) Chronicle Of The Raven HORROR

Co-written and directed by Daniel de la Vega and Pablo Parés centers on twin sister, Jennifer Cassi (Gina Philips) inheriting a manor after her twin had currently died. Upon hanging around there, also lives her aunt Emma (Hilda Bernard) who just lies in bed with a paralyzed stance on her face and her suspicious granny, Mary Ellen Cassi (Faye Dunaway). As soon as Jennifer finally decides to sell the manor is when when she begin to receive nighmarish dreams about ravens, making her life rather difficult! Another interesting premised with a twist from an idea thought up by Edgar Allen Poe but with plot holes as the film progresses.

What few actors that were in the movie all had a good feel for this deep, psychological horror story. It involves a family curse, that takes members of a wealthy family to a place worse than death. Faye Dunaway sells this perverted material but is at times hilarious, with flashes of campy brilliance, (especially near the end). If you like simple, inspired horror stories, a la Rod Serling, then this is for you. Its too bad our American audiences don't care enough about intelligent, disturbing stories like this one. The bitchiness between sexy Gina Philips and hot older mama Faye Dunaway is wicked and classic.

Imagine if you will that it's your birthday and you wake up and feeling exuberant thinking of all the wonders that today will offer. Then just as your leaving your house you get a phone call saying that your entire family was just killed by a freak accident. You ask what they were all doing together and the police say that all evidence reveals that they all secretly hated you and were planning a glorious murder to rid you from their life; and in fact that documents had been found in your mother's possession saying and they quote "my offspring is a horrible cancer upon this earth who I regret not drowning at birth." You break down in tears and stumble over to your car and just start to drive to the scene of the accident. While in route your sideswiped by a drunk driver. Waking up in the hospital three years later you discover that your paralyzed from the waist down, and while the doctor had you in the emergency room they happened to discover that you have a brand new type of illness, unique only to you. They don't know how to treat it and your death will be slow and painful, also your insurance has dropped you and their throwing you out. That night as you meekly wallow in terror and your own feces under your new underpass home you try to think of what went wrong, desperately trying to find something to give you hope. Then it comes to you lighting up your brain. At least you've never seen Chronicle of the Raven, realizing this you suddenly have nothing to complain about and drift off to sleep.

That said I watch of lot movies especially horror movies and this is probably the second worst i've ever seen. Don't let the premise trick you like it did me. I'm hear to warn you. Stay away! eating glass would be a better use of your time.

Jennifer Cassi (Gina Philips from "Dead and Breakfast") returns back to the house she grew up in which she recently inherited from her deceased sister, unbeknownst to her grandmother (Fay Dunaway) who's still living in it. Jennifer decides to sell it as she's in dire need of the money much to Granny's chagrin. She also begins to have troublesome recurring nightmares of a mysterious raven. There was really no one to relate to in this film. Jennifer seemed cold, distant, unsentimental, and narcissistic, whereas the grandmother seemed spiteful, sad, and also narcissistic. The film is good and well-made, but with no one to empathize with I found it hard to care about what happened to them.

My Grade: C-

The movie does fill the bill of a true horror movie in the old Gothic school of a haunted house slash conspiracy witchcraft theme.

The location and sets are spot on. The house itself lends it'self perfectly for what you would call a haunted house. It positively drips with a doom and gloom atmosphere which is what makes the movie worth seeing for this reason alone. I would love to own a house like this.

I did feel that the acting is a bit contrived leaving you with a feeling as if the actors are still rehearsing their parts instead of a leaving you with a polished performance.

I did enjoy the movie though. Maybe I'm just a sucker for this genre and that makes me bias.