La comunidad

The last movie I saw directed by Alex de la Iglesia was the disappointing 'Perdita Duranga', which had very little of the inspired invention and originality of his brilliant horror comedy classic 'The Day Of The Beast'. It always felt like a bit of a compromise to me - Iglesia takes on Hollywood and loses. 'Common Wealth' sees the director back in Spain, and back in complete control, and what we end up with is a first rate thriller cum black comedy. Almodovar regular Carmen Maura leads a great ensemble cast in this hugely enjoyable movie. In some ways reminiscent of other "unexpected windfall" movies like 'Shallow Grave' and 'A Simple Plan', Iglesias then takes the basic plot premise in new, unforeseen directions. The viewer is left constantly surprised, and the film is engrossing right until the very end. Highly recommended!

Alex De La Iglesia is one of a triumvirate of Spanish directors whose deliciously black comedies have found a sizeable audience outside of Spain (the other two being Bigas Luna and the master Pedro Almodovar). Iglesia's debut ACCIONE MUTANTE was a wonderfully perverse low budget sci-fi parody, but it was his super-dark horror comedy THE DAY OF THE BEAST that first brought him international recognition, and a brief and unlikely stab at Hollywood with the entertaining PERDITA DURANGO.

LA COMMUNIDAD shows that Iglesia has matured a *lot* as a film maker, and feels much slicker and more accomplished than his earlier films. Carmen Maura (Spain's finest actress) plays an estate agent with a gift for telling lies, who discovers a stash of money in an appartment she has to show to some clients. She thinks this is what her life has been waiting for, but she doesn't count on THE COMMUNITY that inhabits the appartment building.

LA COMMUNIDAD is a wonderful thing - a horror movie about ordinary people. Forget mutants, satanists or the devil himself - none of these are as scary as the guy next door! Iglesia brings out the darkest side of our human nature, bringing out delicious black comedy, horror and thriller elements without the need to invoke anything supernatural or fantastical.

Iglesia's direction is assured - helped no doubt by having a veteren like Maura in the lead role. The pacing of the film is spot on, and the atmosphere and tension is built to great effect. The film is creepy, crazy and builds to real edge of the seat tension. The characters are all wonderful, and the cast give great performances. A great piece of work!

9/10

I watched Alex de la Iglesia's 'La Comunidad' on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. This black comedy farce may bear some resemblance to films like 'Le Lòcataire' and 'Apartment Zero' but the only similarity is that all three films take place in an apartment building and the story involves the tenants. While the aforementioned examples are far darker in tone and disturbing to an extent, 'La Comunidad' is more satirical and comic.

To get the minuses out of the way, the first half is quite slow but I'd suggest that one be patient because what follows is both chilling and funny. The suspense is brilliantly maintained.

Jorge Guerricaechevarría and Álex de la Iglesia have penned a fine screenplay. The sometimes-subtle sometimes-not-subtle humour works on various levels. The laughably pathetic tenant characters are a delight and the protagonist Julia is easily recognizable. The score fits well and the lighting is exceptional. The art direction deserves special mention. The apartment building in itself is a character and the interiors look authentic.

Carmen Maura is remarkable as her performance is completely natural. Plus, she looks very hot too. The actors playing the neighbours do a terrific job too.

In the end, I'm pleased I saw this as I can always enjoy a good black comedy.

A terrific dark tale by Alex De La Iglesia with a phenomenal Carmen Maura. The film is a crazy relative of Polanski's "The Tenant" and Donovan's Apartment Zero" It takes the sinister neighbors from those two masterpieces and creates something unique. Tension and laughter alternate and commingle in a constant state of euphoria. Compelling viewing for lovers of dark comedies, this is one of the most surprising and entertaining I've seen in a long time.

I saw this movie on Tv last night where it was called "Common wealth"

It is really a movie that has it all...Suspense,drama,action humor and a little bit of love. There is no movie even remotely comparable to this, but if movies were cars I would say that this would be a collision between the Matrix,Rosemary's baby, Clerks and in a way maybe Run Lola run. It is one of those headturner movies that proves once more that European filmmakers are brilliant at making films and having said that, I personally LUVED this movie.