Nos miran

Nos Miran is a very good and interesting film that has creepy elements but it is not the all-out horror some people do not like. It is similar to The Sixth Sense, and like The Sixth Sense it gives us something to think about for days.... or months.... or possibly years. I have watched it six times, and every time I like it a lot. It does not start very fast, but it is interesting from beginning to end. I enjoy it very much, and if you like films like The Sixth Sense, you cannot leave Nos Miran out of your life.

(This review was originally written by me in Spanish and then I translated it to English. Because of differences between the languages, some parts of the review may sound choppy.... I am not a professional translator, but I translated my original Spanish review to English to the best of my ability. I am putting this in the review in protest that IMDb.com would not allow me to submit a review that had both the Spanish and this English translation, despite the movie being in Spanish and my desire to allow people who may primarily speak Spanish to understand my review better.)

Spain's horror film industry had a huge comeback in the 90s with directors such as Alex De La Iglesia, Jaume Balagueró and specially, Alejandro Amenábar; a generation of young directors that demonstrated that there was a lot more in Spain besides Pedro Almodóvar's famous melodramas. The nightmarish nights of Spain's big cities, the grim Gothic memories of the country's past and that characteristic black humor that Spaniards domain very well, have become the ingredients of the dark fantasies of Spain's new horror films, and started a school that has begun to give fruits. Director Norberto López Amado is one of this fruits as "Nos Miran", his first film, is an excellent effort in the horror genre that shows the evolution to what Amenábar, Balagueró and De La Iglesia started more than 10 years ago.

In "Nos Miran", Carmelo Gómez plays Juan García, an excellent detective who has been assigned the Barreiros case, one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in the story of the Police Department: the case of a man who one day simply vanished without leaving a trace. While at first it seems as an easy case of a missing person, the mystery surrounding brings back Juan's memories of his own sister Sara (Eva Llobregat), who as a girl disappeared in eerily similar circumstances, and Juan begins to descent into an spiral of madness and obsession. As Juan's investigation takes him to the field of occultism, his wife Julia (Icíar Bollaín) fears that his husband will face the same fate as the previous Detective in charge of the Barreiros case, Detective Medina (Karra Elejalde), who is now an inmate in the local asylum, unable to say anything else besides "they are watching us".

Written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría (famous by his work with Alex De La Iglesia) and based on a novel by Javier García Sánchez, "Nos Miran" is at first a police mystery with noir undertones, but soon it begins to descent into darkness as the plot thickens and the horror elements begin to take over. While it may not be the most original mix, Guerricaechevarría offers an effective and captivating story that toys with the duality of sanity and madness, and where reality is never what it seems. Almost void of his usual black humor, "Nos Miran" is a serious Gothic horror where the very real horrors of the urban nightmare collide with the supernatural.

Director Norberto López Amado shows an amazing talent for a first time director, as everything seems to be in the right place to create an effective horror film. The remarkable use of the camera to create an atmosphere of dread is one of the film's main assets, as well as the eerie score (by Bingen Mendizábal) that almost always sets the perfect mood for every scene. While it's true that López Amado shows the influence of those who came before him (mainly Amenábar's), the touch of film noir he adds to film suits as a glove the police drama part of the story and truly makes "Nos Miran" to be something more than a derivative Gothic horror.

As many critics have said before, Carmelo Gómez is truly at his best in this movie, as he truly becomes this troubled complex character in a frighteningly believable performance that certainly is the highlight of the movie. As the film is focused completely on Gómez character, there is little room for the supporting characters to developed, however, some of the supporting actors do stand out, mainly the kids Carolina Petterson and the young Javier González (who is also in "El Espinazo del Diablo"), who give terrific performance for their young age. Icíar Bollaín also gives an effective acting, but she is definitely overshadowed by Gómez. The excellent Margarita Lozano appears in a small role, but her screen time is very limited and it could even be considered as a cameo.

While "Nos Miran" has apparently all the ingredients for an excellent film, it's main problem is the fact that it truly feels derivative and unoriginal. Guerricaechevarría's take on García's novel focuses more on the mystery instead of its effects (as the novel does), and the Detective's madness is an angle not fully explored (a missed chance, in my opinion). While the lack of Guerricaechevarría's usual comedy does help to enhance the movie's atmosphere, it also creates some tedious moments where the slow pace of the film feels unpleasant.

Despite having these flaws, "Nos Miran" is another excellent horror film from Spain, and a proud example of what seems to be a Renaissance of horror in the land of Cervantes. Like "Romasanta", "Palabras Encadenadas" or "El Espinazo del Diablo", this movie seems to prove that modern horror not only comes from Asia. Hopefully, we'll be hearing more from both Norberto López Amado and Carmelo Gómez. 7/10

I was curious about this film, which I watched in DVD format. The film is based on a book by Javier Garcia Sanchez, "Los Otros", which by the way, it's the title of a better known film, "The Others", by Alejandro Amenabar. What I still don't know is whether Amenabar was inspired on this novel, or as the IMDb page indicates, he wrote his own screen play.

Directed by Norberto Lopez Amado, this film came out after the more commercially successful Amenabar's movie. It's strange to have two movies about more or less the same theme filmed by two totally different directors, giving also two different accounts. If you haven't seen the movie, stop reading right here.

"Nos Miran" is a horror story. It starts in a flashback when we see a group of children playing in a railroad yard. Young Juan loses a dare and must lie flat on his back while an incoming train goes over him. At the same time, his young sister disappears in mysterious circumstances. The story goes forward as we watch a grown up Juan, now married to Julia, with two children of his own, a boy, and a girl. Juan works for the police department where he is given the task of solving the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a wealthy man.

In pursuit of this goal, Juan discovers a link to the case when he is referred to go to an insane asylum to try to talk to the police detective that was involved with the case, originally, and now is a lunatic. The only thing he gets out of this person is: "They're watching us".

This is a Gothic tale where reality and the perception of life in other dimensions blend to give a spooky feeling that yes, we are in reality being watched. But is the director referring to an abstract idea, or is he giving his own input in why people in his own country disappeared because of political turmoil? Knowing that Spanish directors, in general, love to have their own input about how they feel about their country, one wonders if the "disappeared ones" are the ones that either had to go away for fear of their lives, or are they the ghost of the "disappeared" in the civil conflict?

Although the film has a vague ending, it creates an atmosphere of mystery and menace lurking behind everything in Juan's house. We don't ever know what really happened with Juan. All we know is that he has been wounded in a leg, but that is not the reason for his demise.

Carmelo Gomez does his best work, in one's humble opinion, in this movie. His performance is multi layered. He expresses his confusion and his fear in a way that he hasn't done before. Either he responded to the material, or to the director, or he liked what he is doing here. Iciar Bollain, has nothing to do in the movie. The veteran Margarita Lozano is also totally wasted, as she stays away from the mystery that is at the center of the action in her own house. The children, Manuel Lozano and Carolina Petterson, are good in their portrayal of Alex and Laura.

I've seen this movie twice and liked it a lot both times, even more on second viewing. It's definitely not for everyone, especially gorehounds. It's pace is deliberate and while you probably won't get any "jump out of your seat" scares you do get some spooky moments and an overall creepy atmosphere. I agree that the film starts out like a police drama but as Juan delves deeper into the disappearance of a married man, he uncovers the startling fact that thousands of citizens from Spain have disappeared throughout the years without a trace. From there, the story starts to take a different spin and we also are introduced to the former detective who handled the case. He just happens to be locked away in a psychiatric facility where he mutters just two words over and over again, "Nos Miran" or "They're Watching". I'm sure many will probably turn their noses up at the ending as it may seem "hokey" or too "hollywood" to them but I love it. I think it works perfectly and if I may respectfully disagree with the other review, I found all the questions neatly answered and resolved at the conclusion. I'm not sure I can recommend this one as I'm not certain it's everyones cup of tea, but I really like it.

Disturbing and somewhat weird. That's what I would say about this one. Carmelo Gómez is at his best, but there was something that I didn't like when the film ended around 03:00 AM... 'Nos miran' is one of the new terror spanish movies, with a similar atmosphere to 'The Others' by Amenábar or 'The Nameless' by Balagueró (both of them are must-see). But there is something about the script I really don't like... The story starts as a typical detective movie, with Carmelo Gómez trying to find out what happened with Barreiros, a married man who disappeared three years ago. After finding nothing, he looks for stories of other people who disappeared... and then his life turns weird...

The story is interesting. Bun when the movie ended, I couldn't help thinking "How? When? Where?..." The end is not well explained and that's why I think it could have been much better.