Sobrenatural

The makers of this film have confused the horror genre with one all their own; the Horrible.

I was initially very intrigued by the synopsis for this film. Witches, voodoo, Latin America, and a secret cult provided many interesting possibilities. However, one immediate preoccupation dominated the film. The director seemed engrossed with creating "inventive" camera angles. All of Them Witches/Sobrenatural is the antithesis of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in this respect, and places style above substance, which I in fact have time for when there is style in the first place. For example, the aquarium in the psychiatrist's office released a small eruption from time to time, perhaps trying to underscore the volatility of the situation, but in effect resembled underwater flatulence, such as children are wont to do in the bath after a meal of baked beans and stewed prunes.

The performances by the two lead actors was wooden, for lack of a better word, so bland that I won't even go into it.

Both Ed Wood and Roger Corman proved that even bad films can have endearing qualities. The fact that this doesn't, makes it beyond bad.

I saw this film at the 1997 Taos Talking Pictures Festival, and, for lack of any better words, it scared the hell out of me. I talked to a number of members of the packed audience afterwards, and we all agreed at how intense, psychological, engrossing, and just generally well-made this film was. The story begins when Dolores, while alone in her apartment, hears her neighbor murdered in the hall of their apartment building. The police have no suspects, and no motive for the killing is apparent. The story builds from this as Dolores becomes obsessed with solving the murder, and as her life and everything around her begin to change. The suspense builds gradually and steadily toward a terrifying climax, and the film had moments that are comparable to any suspense or horror film that I've ever seen. I would also like to complement Daniel Gruener (whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the festival in Taos) and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto on the beautiful and almost surrealistic look of the film. All I can hope for is that this film receives the U.S., or even world-wide distribution it deserves, and that it has the chance to satisfy audiences of a much larger scale in the future.

I never saw this movie with English subtitles, and my Spanish is not the best, but Telemundo ran this on Halloween a few years ago and I taped it. I would put this film in the very top tier of horror films, as gripping as Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" and Romero's "Night of the Living Dead". Director Gruener gets to the real root of the horrific; that horror is not some lunatic standing outside your door with an axe, per se, but a human reaction to trauma and isolation. He emphasises this idea by frequently contrasting the wealth of the young couple at the center of the action with the poverty, misery and superstition found in any Third World country. As the young woman decends to the verge of insanity, she finds herself more and more in contact with this gutteral, almost bestial world that all their luxury cannot protect her from. The shattered fishbowl of the opening scene is used as a metaphor(I think) for the narrow margin between these two worlds; wealth and poverty,the beautiful (Suzane Zamora is an eyeful!) and the grotesque; the sane and the mad. A great film, thoughtfully and sensitively presented!

Another study in the dreadfulness of closeted urban living, the gnawing fear of what threat lurks on the landing outside the door, up the next bend of the stairs, or, oh my God, inside, this is in direct line of succession from The Seventh Victim, Rosemary's Baby, Sleepwalk, Nomads, Blue, and so on. The character hides inside, runs outside, trusts and distrusts. The first scene, which sets her off, is one of the simplest frightening scenes, or most frightening simple scenes, I can remember. The performance of the distraught and helpless heroine teeters on the edge of absurdity all the way through, but the two characters she is torn between--which should she trust? which is the threat?--are so ambiguously sinister (the fortune teller is especially well played), one understands her erratic behavior; I'd be in a state myself. The movie is modestly scaled but well sustained, with a reasonably satisfying conclusion to boot. Nice job.

excellent film making. Very effective interweaving of psychological and supernatural effects that keep you wondering about what is really going on. Very strong, intelligent visual style. Only the very best quality films, like this one, can keep you engrossed through long sequences with no dialogue with only the power of images, thrilling you without any gore whatsoever. none. the subjective camera angles produce such a feeling of terror and uncertainty, you don't need any gore. The main actress gives a great performance. I would rank this up with Cronos, but Cronos is more unique, "fantastical" and bloodier. But the same level of excellent film making.