La notte delle streghe

The IMDb listing for "Cosa de Brujas" offers up so many different genres that you'll probably think: Impossible. Or stupid. Well, it's possible and supremely intelligent. This amazing little movie manages to be funny, exciting, surprising, scary, and most of all a wonderful puzzle in which many of the pieces seem to be missing and then, suddenly, you realize that most of them are right there in front of you. By the end, every last one has moved perfectly into place. I have to admit I knew almost nothing about the film going into it. (If only we could have this experience with ALL films, we'd discover the surprise inherent in a good movie and wake up to what we really enjoy. We also might start thinking for ourselves, rather than parroting the critics.) If you don't stay alert, "Cosa de Brujas" can be confusing; my friend gave up on it a half an hour in. It appears to be moving in a linear fashion, but somewhere along the line you'll realize it's not, and that's when the fun (and the need to stay alert) really kicks in. In order not to spoil that fun, I won't say anything more except to comment on some performances: Manuela Arcuri is luscious as the femme fatale, a knock-out combo of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Diane Lane, and Antonio Hortelano as the messenger is so goofy, sweet and real that, even if this kind of shambling is his only "shtick," it's an absolute delight to see here. I thought of "Nadie Conoce a Nadie" while watching this movie, but it's nowhere as dependent on computers and paranoia and is much lighter on its feet--though every bit as much of a brainteaser. I suspect "Cosa de Brujas" was not a big hit in its home country of Spain (otherwise we'd have heard more about it). It's too intelligent and puzzling to be mainstream, even though its coupling of thriller-supernatural-comedy-romance certainly is. But I hope adventurous movie-lovers will take a chance. If so, they'll end this film with a big grin on their face.

The film takes on different styles as it progresses, revealing bits of a puzzle piece by piece. Not quite a RASHOMON, but as the protagonism changes and the viewer sees each characters' perspective s/he slowly fits together the role that the witches play and the complex relationships that tie all of the characters together. The suspense created lasts through to the end and is highlighted by the comic relief that the messenger's character provides.

In my opinion this is better than ABRE LOS OJOS because it has a stronger plot and does not rely on Twilight Zone type cliches.

This is a movie where the story is shown once and again from the point of view of different characters that have a part on it.

I ended up somewhat tired of this continuous going back. It seems that the director wants to show off how intelligent he is. However, the end is predictable and many of the details revealed by the successive versions of the story come as no surprise.

The movie is not that bad, nothing to write home about though...

Passable thriller with plenty of twists and turns ; being confusingly developed . Mystery , intrigue about bizarre facts happen various characters interrelated each other by dark forces . The night of San Juan, a Spanish Halloween day , Miguel Gironza (Jose Sancho) kills his associate. Two elderly people (Pilar Bardem , Saturnino Garcia) are witness to the killing and predict that all of his dreams will come true thereafter . Gironza will know the price he has to pay when he watches a black cat with a moon shaped mark on its forehead . Many years later a delivery boy named Serafin (Antonio Hortelano) carries a message and then Gironza begins to see all his dreams come true . Then the unfortunate messenger with respiratory and cardiac problems, has an accident with his bike . Amid the chaos, he finds a basket inside which there is a black cat with a white spot on the forehead . In the basket is an address , which happens to be the home of two elderly persons.

The film contains tension , thriller , mysterous events , plot twists and , adding decent action set pieces with tense sequences especially in its final part in a unexpected denouement , near of the end . Fantasy thriller filled with surprises and flashbacks and being regularly realized . The original as well as fantastic idea about witchery is overspread throughout the movie , but not totally satisfactory , including conventional pitfalls . The main cast is frankly fine , the recently deceased Jose Sancho , Alberto San Juan , a gorgeous Italian diva called Manuel Arcuri . However , the first starring , Antonio Hortelano , is mediocre and overacting , including excessive gesticulation and he holds silly faces . The support cast is pretty good such as Jorge Sanz , Saturnino Garcia , Manuel Manquiña , Aitor Mazo , Blanca Marsillach and Pilar Bardem , Javier Bardem's mother .

Colorful and brilliant cinematography , filmed on location in Somosaguas , Torres Alameda , Madrid and final scenes in Punta Cana , Dominican Republican . Suspenseful and thrilling musical score by Mario de Benito , a good musician expert on sinister and mysterious atmospheres as proved in ¨Caja 507¨, ¨Rigor Mortis¨ , ¨Al Limite¨, ¨A Ciegas¨ , among others . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Jose Miguel Juarez , a nice writer/producer/filmmaker . This is his third picture , he had previously directed a comedy titled ¨Di Laura Que la Quiero¨, and a historical film , ¨Hijos Del Viento¨ , starred by Bud Spencer .