Kilometro 31

For anyone that doesn't know; the horror genre in Mexico has been in the limbo for years, the only Mexican horror movies we remember are horrible ones like: Vacaciones del terror, and all those silly scary movies. However when Kilometro 31 was announced I actually had faith in it. Would this movie revitalize the Mexican horror genre? Sadly know I can say that it doesn't.

The movie delivers some jump scenes, nice special effects, good use of sound and some impressive cinematography, but lacks entirely in story, originality and most importantly in the characters.

It follows the same clichés we've all seen in Hollywood's horror, it borrows elements from The Ring (Gore Verbinski), The Grudge (Takashi Shimizu) and even worst movies like La Monja (Luis de la Madrid) and Darkness (Jaume Balagueró).

It tries to make us care about its characters but it never does, you realize how empty the movie is then the horrible ending starts to roll, clearly making us feel like this was a waste of time and money, and feeling like they didn't even know how to end it, they just knew how to make it look good, focusing more in the effects.

I just expected that this would be in the vein of old good Mexican horror movies like: Hasta el viento tiene miedo and El libro de piedra, even though remakes of both movies have been announced, one hopes that they don't go for the same route, that Kilometro follows.

5/10

I believe this was my first experience with Mexican horror! Glad to add Mexico to my list of Horror contributors :) As a horror freak, I like to be exposed to all sorts and kinds of origins!

KM 31 is an intriguing collaboration of classic ghost-stories and the semi-supernatural bond between twins (two aspects that are commonly found in horror films). The entire spectrum of human emotions is portrayed in scenes that deliver fine acting and clever screen writing. The use of audio effects was also well done (when the film ended, I was really tired and went to sleep... at a certain point my cat climbed on the keyboard and the film restarted, and I awoke in terror to the bone chilling sound of Catelina's opening speech...)

There were, as in most ghost stories, some "cheats" (i.e. sudden movements in the distance with loud bass music), that these weren't overused, nor were they the main reason for the film's frightening ambiance. The ghost was very well made in my opinion, creepy and unnerving just as a ghost should be! In my opinion, the way a ghost looks/sounds/moves/behaves says a lot about a ghost-film. Another point for Mexican film making!

All in all, I can't say this was the best ghost film I've seen, but it followed through on everything it should have, and in a non- disappointing way. Recommended!

I went to see this movie with high hopes on the back of a good rating from this very site...that rating has since dropped dramatically.

I must say i was disappointed and a little confused by what i saw. It all starts off well enough, gripping and engaging horror elements - a spooky child has caused many accidents at a section of the road KM 31. A twin is hit by a car on her way to her sister's house and they and their boyfriends become drawn into the mystery surrounding this haunted road.

There are some genuinely creepy moments as the story unfolds. The problem i had was that as the history is revealed, the situation becomes more confusing than explanatory. Somehow the sisters and their dead schizophrenic mother are connected to a weird back-story of why the road is haunted in the first place. I began to flag halfway through and must admit to not understanding the connection properly, but my friend afterwards also found it a little confusing.

Then it ends very stylistically but still with little actually explained. I don't really mind that, but all style and not enough substance do not a great horror movie make. You can leave much to the imagination, but there must be some comprehensible way of connecting the dots for your watching audience.

And the over-used child figure of recent horror films from around the world has become old hat. Horror fans will find things to enjoy here but most will be left scratching their heads and lamenting a missed opportunity of originality and revival of Mexican horror.

After the death of their mother when they were children,twins Agata and Catalina develop a psychic skill allowing them to communicate over great distances.But Agata falls into a coma after an accident on kilometer 31 and Catalina experiences all her pain.Tormented by Agata's psychic screams for help,Catalina sets out to find what really happened to Agata and finds that her twin has fallen victim of the ancient and terrifying curse of La Llorona,the screaming woman.The main problem of "Km 31" is that the film is heavily americanized.Sure,it utilizes some old-school Mexican folklore tales as the back-story,but the filmmakers just don't do enough with it.The acting is solid,the film is beautifully made and some moments are mildly creepy,but horror fans expecting something gruesome should really give this one a pass.

Quite an interesting film; quite dark with some nice special effects; although nothing ground-breaking. It's pretty gory in places so it's definitely not one for the squeamish. All the performances were very good, although I'll put my usual caveat that it's sometimes quite hard to judge a performance in a foreign language. I thought Iliana Fox stood out as the most praiseworthy though. The film does, however, fall a little into cliché here an there; it must be hard to find new ways to scare people these days. It just about have enough 'creep-factor' though to keep me interested, so it's not all bad. Over all, worth a look if you're a horror fan; otherwise, I'd probably give it a miss. Personally, I pretty much enjoyed it.

SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 6.2/10

You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.