Shrew's Nest

And agoraphobia is the least of them.

This movie is worth watching just for Macarena Gómez's performance alone. Such an actress! Others in the cast pulled their weight as well. Some critics are dissing Hugo Silva, but an actor can only do so much when his or her onscreen time mostly involves just lying prone in a bed. Silva did fine in scenes when his character was more or less mobile.

Clearly this is a horror movie, but it has a low key comedic element as well. Only someone with Gomez's talent, and that of the director who turned her loose, could get away with the 'shenanigans' she portrayed (as Montse) and not have the audience simply shrug off the show as a silly slasher flick.

For those interested in making a low budget indie movie themselves someday, note how practically all the scenes took place in one apartment. Far less expense dealing with lighting, weather, set up time, transportation, etc. Lots of movies use one or two indoor sets for the same reason, but they rarely even approach the same energy level as Musarañas, aka Shrew's Nest.

Plot is centered about agoraphobia of the main character. She cant get out of house, but beware she wont let you leave the house too.

Some fine acting and tight script never let u off the hook. Go for it.

It really is amazing that producer Alex de Iglesia has gotten so far without being a world celebrity film maker. This one is a quickie directed by a couple of his colleagues with unfamiliar players (Mrs. de Iglesea, the striking Carolina Bang, has a quite small part) and while it has a personality of it's own we can still see the macabre, master-crafted Iglesea style in it.

We get one of his closed environments like the apartment block in LA COMUNIDAD or Resines' space ship in ACCION MUTANTE, here a flat in a fifties Spanish apartment block, which the camera never leaves. Shut in seamstress Gómez (who proves to have a scream queen background that includes a Stuart Gordon Lovecraft adaptation) terrorizes her younger sister, former child actress Nadia de Santiago, now at the age where getting out of the house to work has made her take an interest in boys. Then neighbor Silva falls down the stairs - and proves to have a secret of his own. Throw in religious fanaticism and morphine addiction.

Gripping, perverse, bloody but not without rounded characters in the confusion. The great Luis Tosar is particularly imposing in his small footage.

Giving us some idea of the shortness of the film critic memory a few writers have cited MISERY but no one seems to notice that it's retreading WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE.

It has an inventive plot that keeps you on your toes, sharing some beats with Misery, but never feeling derivative. It's slow build brings depth to the character's before erupting into disturbing violence. Most remarkable though is the clever way that the character of Montse becomes both the protagonist and antagonist as the film flops between humanizing and demonizing her. Macarena Gómez masterfully embodies this dichotomy, playing on the edge of sympathetic and loathsome. The disturbing twists continue up till the very end making for a very compelling ride.

I have to admit I was expecting a different type of plot, more psychological less psychopath, at least from the only synopsis i've read before watching it (my bad...sorry), but even though it was a great movie, it actually reminded me of Korean thrillers... you know, the type of movies that get's your attention and you expect more. Another thing that i liked was the color/camera approach... it blended correctly with the music, a peculiar old obscure environment where it should be. I would give this more if part of the plot wasn't obvious at some points, but was good most of it. Also after reading that this is a work from a new pair of director's then i just can't wait to see more of their work! Also i really liked the main actress performance and the great make up they did on her.