La llamada

The title of these strange movie, "La llamada", that means the calling, alludes to the phone calling by Dominique, the French girl who was in love of the Spaniard Pablo. In fact, it´s a calling from the dead´s limbo. Their love was too strong to die: an airplane crash has ended with his life, but she refuses to disappear from live´s world. In a script that would remind to the horror fans to a film shooted some years after, "Neither the sea nor the sand", the action begins with the couple and their naive love (perhaps too naive, too much sugar). Then, the film changes and all is weird, very, very ambiguous. We don´t know, as the main character, the real truth. Some readers would remember the pace of the soft fantasy and horror tales by Julio Cortázar in a hard to see film, even in its original country, that deserves a chance (enjoy the interpretation of Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, a very well known actor in the spanish theater scene). Photographed in glorious black and white, contains a superb climax where Pablo goes to France and meets the Dominique´s haunting house and their ghastly relatives. Beware of the ghosts!

I only knew this 75 minute obscurity existed because it's a featurette on The Hanging Woman DVD released by Troma. After watching the excellent extras including an interview with Hanging Woman director Jose Luis Merino and Ben Tatar, director of dubbing for Sweet Sound, I decided to watch the film,produced by Sid Pink during his Spanish period. It turned out to be one of the best ghost movies I've ever seen, incredibly creepy, disturbing and chilling. I thought it was better than any ghost story I've ever seen including The Univited and The Haunting; very close in a way to the Euro equivalent of the original Carnival of Souls in style and mood. The black & white location photography is perfect and the music score during key moments is equally chilling. Without violence, monsters, gore or editing/camera tricks, Sweet Sound creates an unsettling, spooky ambiance that clings long after the troubling ending. I don't recall reading about this movie in Sid Pink's autobiography. Thanks to Troma for finding a good print and including it.

Weird movie about life after death. Very surprising with a good photography in black and white. In the first part, the picture is about a love story, very tender (perhaps too much), suddenly an air crash breaks this history between an Spaniard and a French girl. Later, the boy ask about she is still alive. Ghost apparitions in a haunted house are great!

I saw this movie in its Americanized version titled "Sweet Sound Of Death" with some pretty horrendous dubbing but was still hypnotized by its enchanting spell. A young couple make a pact to love each other even after death and that whichever dies first should contact the other. Thus begins a very unusual ghostly love story where that iron wall between life and death becomes nothing more than a translucent curtain. The two actors in this film who play the couple (Emilio Gutiérrez Caba and Dyanik Zurakowska) are so strikingly beautiful that, coupled with the atmospheric settings and stylish shots, make this creepy love story a very gratifying site for the eyes. I would really like to see this one in its original language with English subtitles as I did feel that the bad dub job detracted from its overall intensity.

Pablo and Dominique are two crazy kids in love. Really in love. A love so intense that they cannot bear to be apart. So in love in fact that Dominique takes Pablo to a cemetary and makes him swear on graveyard dirt that even if one of them dies they have to return from the grave or continue their love for all eternity in the afterworld. Pablo of course agrees (eventually), so of course life delivers a kick in the teeth to Pablo when Dominique is seemingly killed in a plane crash.

Pablo learns that there were two survivors of the crash that haven't been identified yet, and after driving himself insane with worry he receives a phone call from Dominique stating that she's okay, and she's coming to visit. Things seem to return to normal but then Dominique starts acting strange and secretive, and can apparently put her hand into flames without any pain. With the help of a college professor, Pablo starts to do some digging...although the professor begins to get more concerned with Pablo than anything else, seeing that there's an empty space where Pablo claims Dominique is standing...

Enough plot! I can see why this gothic horror would be popular among fans, as the mystery of whether or not Dominique is a ghost takes up the bulk of the film, and although the film is set in modern France, things get very gothic when Pablo goes to Dominique's house. The whole film plays out like a bizarre dream (you can read that as 'not very eventful') but if you like atmosphere you should get a kick out of this. The film did catch me out when the sound totally dropped out while Pablo with driving for about a minute before Pablo himself reacts to it, which was a nice trick.

Victor Isreal appears as (what else?) the creepy caretaker, with eyes set to 'really goggly'. You can add this to the pile of gothic horrors that warn the youngsters never to get too deep into a relationship, and to indulge in unprotected casual sex instead.