Olhos do mal

It looks as if Spain ambitions to become the new Japan when it comes to unleashing atmospheric & convoluted ghost stories upon us horror-loving audiences. After the hugely successful "The Orphanage" last year (as well as "The Others", "The Devil's Backbone" and a couple of more earlier this decade), "The Beckoning" is already another brand new tale of the supernatural containing all the basic ingredients: ominous mansions with hidden attics, spontaneously appearing and disappearing ghosts, slowly revealing secrets from a distant past, suspicious links with the Catholic regime, characters who may or may not be dead for a long time already and completely unfathomable plot twists. I think we've all picked a rather skeptical attitude towards this type of films by now, as the vast majority of them unceasingly build up towards a climax that can't possibly live up to all the raised expectations. "The Beckoning" also somewhat falls into this category, but nonetheless it has a lot more merits than shortcomings. You certainly shouldn't expect a unique ghost-chiller that'll blow you out of your seat, but there's a fine balance between imaginative story lines and stylistic elements. In addition to the standard Haunted House fare, Elio Quiroga fascinatingly processed an authentic piece of obscure Spanish history into his screenplay. The No-Do's were a type of propaganda films, distributed by the Catholic Church during the reign of Franco, revolving on (manipulated?) miraculous occurrences and/or divine interventions. One specifically peculiar No-Do forms a very important part of the staring point of this film. The old No-Do reports about a Catholic orphanage were the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared and cured the ill. Several decades later, the large mansion is abandoned and the Catholic Church decides to rent it out. Pedro and his wife Francesca, who just gave birth to their second child, are very interested in the place and move in. Francesca struggles with a postnatal depression and is extremely sensitive to the gradually growing more mysterious occurrences in the house. She begins to have nightmarish visions, receive supernatural visits and discover hidden chambers that all indicating tragic and sinister events took place in the house rather than miracles. There are several more sub plots and additional story elements I could at, but they aren't all equally relevant and only raise unnecessary confusion. The scenes dealing with the mysterious No-Do movies are undoubtedly the best, but admittedly several of the spook-out sequences are admirably staged and moderately unsettling. There are, for example, rooms full of decayed old play dolls, creepy old nursery tunes and haunting images of deceased children. Nothing in this film qualifies as truly shocking and/or original, but I'm already very glad "The Beckoning" is never boring and overly sentimental. The conclusion is very satisfying, for once, albeit fairly predictable. Stylishly directed by Elio Quiroga, who previously made the oddly compelling and eccentric Sci-Fi/horror hybrid "The Cold Hour". Fans of European horror will also recognize leading lady Ana Torrent, as she starred in the Spanish 90's classic "Thesis".

In 1947, three little girls in a Catholic boarding school claim that they had seen the Virgin Mary and are capable to heal the needy people. Fifty years later, the local Catholic Bishop that lives in the old house dies and the medical doctors Pedro (Francisco Boira) and his wife Francesca (Ana Torrent), who is depressed and under psychological treatment, rent the isolated house from the Catholic Church to raise their baby Pablo in the countryside. However, the attic and the basement are locked but the Church promises to recover and deliver the rooms later. Francesca is obsessed with the safety of Pablo, having nightmares during the night. She is also haunted by noises and apparitions and is in the edge close to insanity. Meanwhile, the psychiatrist Priest Miguel (Héctor Colomé) discharges the patient Blanca (Maria Alfonsa Rosso) that had slept for fifty years from a Catholic institution. When Blanca meets Francesca in the real estate, she gives the name of Priest Miguel to the physician. Francesca visits the priest and discloses a disturbing secret about the old house.

In the period of General Franco's dictatorship, the news and documentaries NO-DO (Noticiarios y Documentales) was propaganda projected in the movie theaters before the movie. The film "NO-DO" is a messy ghost story with creepy moments, good special effects and performances that entwines many sub-plots in a confused screenplay. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Olhos do Mal" ("Evil Eyes")

Halloween evening and I was on flick two of Fangoria's FrightFest of which "The Haunting" was one of eight movies. To be honest, I'm a bit of a subtitle snob as I'm a very visual person and love to get totally immersed in the sound and images of a movie and hate reading. And since my Spanish does not extended to understanding an entire movie, I went with the English 2.0 sound of which there is an odd hollow phasing I presume is not in the original mix so be forewarned if this is the audio you are accessing. Despite that this is a chilling movie with some very effective special FX and a moving score. The use of the "No-Do" short docu footage works in well with the storyline. Performances are steady throughout. Again, it's the visuals including some nice cinematography that's most effective on this film.

I'm usually a fan of Spanish ghost stories but THE HAUNTING feels too familiar and derivative to truly be a success. It's another story about a married couple subjected to mysterious visions and hauntings in their own home. Unsurprisingly the Catholic church is somehow involved. The central character is the mother of a newborn baby whose post-natal depression seems to be having an effect on her mind. The film as a whole is very similar to THE BABY'S ROOM, a prior - and superior - Spanish effort released under a 'Films to Keep You Awake' banner.

As with many haunted house productions, THE HAUNTING is too dark and too slow for my tastes. The ghostly scenes make typical use of CGI effects and feel so ordinary that I wasn't scared once. The low key acting works in this film's favour and helps to bring some much-needed realism to the proceedings, but the events that play out are nothing special and I was often bored by the whole thing despite elements of interest in the back story.

Lately, Spanish cinema has toasted us with some interesting horror and thriller films. "The Orphanage" is an example that I can refer to and that I remember right now. So I was expecting more from this movie. The plot consists of the story of a family going to live in the countryside, to a house where a Catholic bishop lived. Of course, that house has a lot of obscure secrets, but this is quite evident from the start. Incidentally, the whole film is quite predictable and this spoils the potential pleasure of watching it. But the biggest problem is the amount of subplots that mix like the threads of a spaghetti, quickly causing such a confusion in the public's head that it simply loses interest in the story.

This film didn't create a continuous and growing feel of tension or discomfort, basing itself on scares to make "American style" horror. As for the actors, I don't know any of them, I'm not the greatest connoisseur of the actors in the country next to mine, but I felt that none of them stood out for the positive, even though everyone has done his work reasonably enough. Special effects and CGI seemed to me solid and decent.