Rocambola

The director wants, but cannot, build a thriller from few elements, only several characters in a house, reminiscent of Sidney Lumet's cinema. But in this creation of suspense and tension, it fails because the script is lost in characters whose motivations are unlikely, and whose actions are incomprehensible. There is an effort to create suspense even if it means betraying credibility. Nor do some actors lost in their characters help, especially one of the worst villains of recent years.

Rocambola is a low-budget film, shot in a single location and with just three leading actors . Stars Dante (Jan Cornet), he is a professional thief who makes expert robberies , through carefully selected, small jobs . His new target is a secluded big house which he thinks is unoccupied. But he's not alone, he will meet a strange couple , an eye-patched military (Juan Diego Botto) who fought in Irak war and his girlfriend (Sheila Ponce) whose reaction to his intrusion is to ask him for breakfast. They are hiding other schemes , then the game of hide and seek begins, a chase where the mouse and the cat will look for each other inside a labyrinthine house.

Rocambola in a Spanish thriller that combines the home invasion subgenre with black comedy . This is a violent picture about a hooded delinquent trespassing into a mansion , holding a strong confrontation in the mysterious home , packing shocks , die hard scenario , grisly killings , suspense and with unexpected discoveries will come to light , emerging twists and turns , at the worst possible time. The film contains a claustrophobic atmosphere , hair-raising frames and sinister happenings. After a fairly fun and original start, the film falls apart and suffers from a lack of internal coherence, both in the visual and plot treatment. The first half is passable and downright entertaining .However, halfway through the film, that escalation stops and the script twists stop surprising , as the possibility of creating a suffocating atmosphere disappears due to its own limitations. It begins as a home invasion that intelligently alternates the position between offender and victim. This is an intriguing film in which a burglar carries out a theft but then things collide in horrifying and criminal happenings . This nail-biting movie displays plot twists , action enough , thrills ride, strong confrontation , graphic violence, and is pretty entertaining. The amateurism of the proposal comes to light when the action increases little by little . It belongs to ¨Home Invasion¨ subgenre that has developed a long string of films of uneven successes , being filmed in similar naturalist and realist style to ¨Michael Hanake's Funny Games¨, ¨Secuestrados¨ by Miguel Angel Vivas , Enric Alberich's ¨Transgression¨ and especially ¨Trespass¨ (2011) by Joel Schumacher with Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman . It's also a tight and efficient , at times , reworking of this ¨Home invasion¨sub-genre that includes the following ones : ¨You're Next¨, ¨Preservation¨, "No One Lives" , "I Spit on your Grave , Don't Breathe !, Don't Breathe 2 ! , among others. The title of Rocambola, according to its author, refers to the character Rocambole created by Pierre Alexis, Poison du Terrail, a white-collar thief who left a jack of hearts at the place of his crimes as a signature . That name anticipates a bizarre events and, therefore, implausible and absurd situations. The film is divided by labels into three episodes: ¨Paradise¨, ¨Purgatory¨ and ¨Hell¨. The director Juanra Fernández uses the reverse order from Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy to structure his film. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the main thief is called Dante . But all that, are too brainy and cultured references for what Rocambola really offers, a film focused on pure passing entertainment. The best thing of the movie is the interpretation of Juan Diego Botto, with an eyepatch included, who brings out his side more fun and badass . Although his characterization with an eyepatch of Juan Diego Botto is fun , already tells us that the thing is not to be taken too seriously. With a villain who looks like he was taken from the cover of a comic, the film is expected to move along the lines of the histrionic . There's also a couple of surprise cameos, such as Elisa Matilla as a postwoman and Ana Álvarez as a cop , but overall, the cast does a mediocre job.

The motion picture was middlingly written and directed by Juanra Fernández (Para Elisa, Anima, De púrpura y escarlata , La Cena) , who takes the opportunity to pay tribute to other filmmakers . If you are looking for a small film you will have a good time. If you are looking for something else, you will not find it. A pure cinephile fun without any other pretense. Rating : Average, 5/10 and a bit boring .

Rocambola provides a solid thrill ride. Loved the opening overhead shots. Great small cast. Juan Diego Botto was effectively scary. Loved the character of the house it's set in. So many odd creepy little cubbyholes there.

If something about this new movie draws you in, don't be put off by the low view count or Spanish-only critic reviews. That's why this is here -- to encourage the English-speaking that this is a good movie, even if scary tales aren't your go-to, like me. Loved the way it finishes too!