Aftershock

Aftershock (2012)

* (out of 4)

Set in Santiago, Chile, a group of people are traveling around partying and having a good time but that all changes when an earthquake rips the city apart. The worse has yet to happen because soon a group of people find themselves being tortured by a gang of escaped cons. EARTHQUAKE meets THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is pretty much the only way to describe this awful movie that starts off bad and just gets worse as it goes along. Director Nicolas Lopez co-wrote the screenplay with Roth and it's clear that neither of them had much to say as there's really no story to be found here, horrible dialogue and absolutely no character development. What we basically have is thirty-minutes of partying, thirty-minutes of the earthquake stuff and then about twenty-minutes worth of violence. The entire film is just so pointless that for the life of me I can understand how this thing actually got a theatrical release. The performances are all pretty forgettable but you really can't blame the cast because they were given nothing to do. I really do mean that nothing happens in this film. There's a big twist at the end that you'll see coming from a mile away. None of the characters are likable so I'm not sure why the writers decided to make them so hate-able. Did they want us to enjoy seeing them tortured? Perhaps but even the death/torture/rape scenes are so tame and boring that they add nothing to the picture. The special effects aren't believable during the earthquake scenes so there's yet another thing that doesn't work. The only thing that keeps AFTERSHOCK mildly entertaining is that you keep sitting there thinking that something's eventually going to happen so you hand onto hope that things are going to get better. Sadly, they never do as the picture just continues to get worse and it leads up to a very lame climax. I'm really not sure what the point of this was unless Lopez and Roth just thought it would be cool to mix the disaster and rape/revenge genres. Either way this here is a complete misfire that should be avoided.

A group of friends in Chili hit up the night clubs for some fun. A massive earthquake hits and destroys half the city, releasing the prisoners that end of unleashing more destruction and hell in the streets.

An interesting concept that tries to blend the disaster genre with the horror genre. The result is a mixed bag of depravity, low budget effects & set-ups and hatred for the so called characters we are suppose to engage with. Aftershock doesn't care about much, it wants to throw everything and the kitchen sink at you. This film reminds me a lot of Kevin Smith's "Red State" in that it subverts genres and goes in different directions just when you think you know what is going to happen next. While I admire Smith's pulling of the rug from under our feet, Aftershock never manages to reach the same level. Instead it is stuck in this redundant pool of lukewarm unnecessary-ness.

Eli Roth produces and stars in the film, I've always said he should stay behind the camera because his on screen talent is severely lacking. Yet he always finds himself in front of the camera, making himself seem more important than he should be. Roth has some good films under his belt, he without a doubt knows the genre of horror. He needs to stick to producing and directing. Get more unique horror films out there, stop worrying about the Roth who acts, cause no one cares.

What the film lacks in special effects in makes up for in absurdity. Here is a film that is about destruction, yet it chooses (mainly because they have to) showcase the aftermath. The scenes of chaos happen in tight close ups, shaky cam and whatever else they can think of to disorient the viewer from seeing anything. It seems they saved the budget in the special effects department for the final shot, which one can see coming once the character gets to that location, yawn.

Aftershock loves to put characters in bad situations, then kick them when they are down. It might be hard to watch for some people. The film has no problem having one character be raped twice, then shot. This is after another one has been burned alive. This is the so called twist in the film, when we stop focusing on the destruction from mother earth and are focused on human nature. These characters aren't even the prisoners though, these are random street thugs or what have you, that see the women in the streets and decide to chase after them, thus ensuring a lot of death and sorrow for the characters the film has taken so long to set up.

No, we don't get any prisoner action until the final act of the film, which takes another turn with another twist. One that will have you scratching your head in confusion, but Aftershock is too crazy and absurd, that you end up just going with it.

This isn't much of a disaster flick, nor does it seem to be good horror. It's a low budget miss- match of bad taste.

A bunch of tourists are in Chile to party, but when an earthquake hits the city, they need to fight for survival, not only against the natural disaster, but also against criminals who seized the opportunity to escape from prison.

I would have rated 'Aftershock' higher than 6 of 10 if it wasn't for the boring first 30 minutes. We get introduced to characters who are so dumb that we really wouldn't care if they all get buried by the earthquake. This lengthy introduction turns out to be a waste of time, anyway, because some of them are killed off early, while other characters who are more important for the movie get 3 seconds of back story ('Trust me, I'm a firefighter').

However, after the quake it gets thrilling, violent, suspenseful with a lot of action, which made the movie worth watching after all. I was not surprised to learn in the making of (watched on DVD) that several of the makers of 'Aftershock' have previous experience in comedy rather than horror, it's the timing of some scenes that tells it. For example the lady who shows the tunnel and then makes the mistake to stick her head first - that's the 'oops' timing of a comedy, not a horror movie. But it works and makes the movie more original. Also the background with a catastrophe that destroys the usual human behaviour so quickly is believable. Not too bad after all, but I recommend to press fast forward at the beginning.

I won't recap the plot, because other reviewers have done it much better than I could. But I do want to express that I feel this was an absolutely brilliant movie by a wonderful and talented newcomer, Nicolas Lopez, with the collaboration of established master Eli Roth.

We'd all like to think (or hope) that everybody will be philanthropic and kind in the face of disaster, but this film shows us the frightening reality of human nature. When you're injured and in pain and terrified you maybe won't meet kind helping hands - you could just as likely meet looters, sadists and rape squads. I've been a traveller my whole life, and I know from personal experience how close the border is between middle-of-the-night drunken fun and horrifying death when you're far from home.

I'm very conservative with my grading at IMDb, but I think this film deserves a rare 10 out of 10.

On their last night out a group of travellers find themselves fighting for survival when an earthquake devastates South America.

Probably due to an abundance of sub-par modern style horrors debatably 2012's Aftershock is sorely underrated and overlooked. Reminiscent of the character build up that came with Eli Roth's own Hostel director Nicolás López delivers a hard hitting freely traditionally shot (no found footage here) well executed, gritty disaster film which successfully shocks with its unnerving set ups and exceptional special effects.

The cast are on fine form Natasha Yarovenko as Irina,Lorenza Izzo (Kylie) and Nicolás Martínez and Pollock re notable with with Roth himself putting in a good innings as a nameless dad referred to as Gringo. While it is gratuitous it's fitting to the story and tone as with the aforementioned as the leads try to survive the earthquakes aftershocks falling buildings, collapsing tunnels and the social unrest which ensues by escapee prisoners before a tsunami hits Chile.

It's well paced with fine cinematography by Antonio Quercia and music Manuel Riviero helps it capture some of the original magic which Roth's first outing did. Even though the ending scene may come as no surprise there are a few twists to peak interest.

While not a horror in the traditional sense with graphic amputations, rape, drugs, a human torch, shooting and murders to name a few, granted it will make the regular viewer wince but it's well written and sharply directed by López - forget the endless copycat films of the same sub-genre if you rated Hostel and part 2 this sleeper isn't one to miss.