30 Coins

Another intense horror intrigue suspense movie from Alex de la Iglesia. It reminds me of El día de la Bestia. Really good. Waiting to see what happens next!!

First, I'd like just to say that it speaks volumes about the credibility of most reviews on the internet that people are actually complaining about not understanding Spanish. There's always an agenda huh? Some of the best shows in the world right now are coming from other countries, while most American shows have started to become stale. Dark on Netflix is a perfect example of this, and it is the best show on the service. That's why the subtitles are there for you non-Spanish speakers. How do you in good faith leave a bad review because other languages in the world exist besides English? You people don't realize that you're only embarrassing yourselves? Why do this? You look moronic and the joke's on you.

30 Coins (30 Monedas) is a really interesting show. Reminds me of Penny Dreadful and Hellboy so far. Good concept with good performances, some pretty horrifying visuals, good pacing (so far), and weird stuff happening that I can't even describe. This show is cool and it's refreshing to see some of these actors in a horror show, as they're usually in dramatic love stories. Will keep watching and hoping it stays like this or gets even better.

First half of series 1 had good potential. The last 3 nonsensical episodes= Bad.. Truly! My 30 coins worth.

This is really a review of season 2. The first season was all the good things you've heard... I don't know what happened in between.

It's like the writer saw the difference between Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 and thought, "That's what I want to do!" So while the first season was serious horror based cleverly in Catholicism, the second season is horror comedy with a completely incompatible cosmology that brings in everything from Scientology to Lovecraft to Bosch. That's a shame on a couple of levels, partly because it undermines the first season, and partly because I would have loved to see these ideas presented seriously.

The characters' personalities have changed, too. Paco is now a bumbling goofball, Elena is relentlessly irritable and contemptuous, and Vergara... well, I can't tell you about him without getting into spoilers, but he's not the same man. The only character who seems consistent is Laguna, who's also the only actor who seems to be taking the story seriously. He almost manages to save it.

The basic lack of seriousness pervades the writing. Stuff happens without any attempt at plausibility... I'm not talking about the supernatural, I mean mundane things. People know things that happened in scenes where they weren't present, plot devices appear at impossible times. At one point a man who was strip-searched and dressed by guards moments ago suddenly has a cell phone in his pocket.

Ultimately, for me, having seen season 1 makes it impossible to really invest in season 2. It's not silly enough to feel like a completely different world, but it's not serious enough to take, er, seriously. I keep expecting the world from the previous season and being disappointed, which compounds the disappointment of seeing a great premise wasted. Maybe watch season 2 first? That might be a way to enjoy both.

First scene disappoints me a lot. Afterwards interest increases and makes it worth the watch. Good staff of actors and the world Alex de la Iglesia has previously shown is entirely on display here. Even there's some resemblance or homage to other films he shot in the past.