Palabras encadenadas

Creepy Silence of the lambs feel in the beginning. The first third of the film does much to mentally horrify the viewer. Psycho guy reminds me of a creepy Kevin Spacey, Victim (girl bound & gagged in chair) reminds me of Jennifer Garner in Alias disguise...I really enjoyed plot & twists.

Spanish actors and dialog. There are only four main characters in the film and they all seemed to do a great job. Of course I do not understand Spanish so I can hardly be a critic of the acting. The film leaves you guessing throughout, but satisfies in the ending wrapping everything up nicely.

If "not seeing it coming" is your decisive criterion for which thriller to watch, then go ahead and watch it. Some say the twists were way too obvious whereas others say the twists were realistically smart. I, therefore, cannot tell what is in store for you.

If not, then carry on reading: I do not appreciate a movie that tries too hard to surprise and does that without a story. That keeps me asking "so what"? Personally, I didn't find the twists as realistic as some deem it to be, as realism, to me, has more to do with the tangibility of causes than the nature of effects.

Once I had realized the movie was all about twists rather than the story, I stopped caring about how the story told in flashbacks would unfold (because a partially hidden retrospection is what these movies are all about, most of the time).

So, there actually is a story, but the story pertains in the twists and I was expecting otherwise. It almost feels like the movie is saying to the viewer: "I want to surprise you so much that it is actually impossible for me to think of a captivating story with believable motives, see, a movie can only last this long and because I am filled up with twists, I cannot even build characters and back up my story, there is in fact no story even though it might seem otherwise, because there was no time to give you one." This is the single reason I rated this movie a 5. It is interesting enough to keep watching with an anticipation to see more of what is coming and then letting it all add up coherently, but, in the end, all I felt was that I didn't even care about what I had just seen. I couldn't find a single thing worthy of remembering in this movie.

Other than that... I liked the performances of the actors. I found the setting to be a little too nondescript for my taste; with nothing really sticking out in particular and setting a memorable atmosphere. Maybe I should have chopped more off the rating because of that.

Palabras encadenadas (2003)

Locked in a dark basement, Laura, a psychiatrist in her early thirties, contemplates in horror a video where a man confesses to be a serial killer. His name is Ramón, an apparently normal man in his forties, who seems to be quite harmless. Gagged and bound to a chair, Laura realizes that it's the same person who kidnapped her and who is now pacing in the shadows. Ramón continues to speak as he turns off the television. He walks over to her, takes off the gag and challenges Laura to play the "Word Game". If she wins, she gets to go free, but if she loses, he'll poke out her eye. Laura is terrified, but reluctantly accepts. The game begins. Laura makes a mistake. Ramón menacingly moves towards her. Laura's screams are useless.

She is his ex-wife.. She divorced him after knowing that he is a gay... In-between twists are unexpected and all are acted soo well.. One time watchable movie..!

I read everyone's reviews before watching this movie, everyone is so positive about it. But, I didn't somehow like it, kind of felt bored at some point because of the word games. However, the ending was shocking.

I had to import this DVD from Bangkok as I gave up looking for it elsewhere.

It was well worth the time and effort.

I've seen a lot of film over the years, and in recent history this is at the top of my "recently seen list". The movie had good acting, a good story, and to be honest all the elements required for a Hollywood remake. It's somewhat (and I'll use this comparison at a HIGH level) like a Silence of the Lambs meets OLDBOY. Fans of Haneke may also want to take a look.

While watching this film you slowly learn more about the characters, and why the women is being held captive. It keeps the viewer interested and helps keep the story intense. The characters are kept to a minimum and the focus remains on the story at hand. It allows the viewer to stay focused on the plot and not get lost in little sub plots that aren't required. The film is intense and will keep the viewer glued to the screen until the end.

The only bad part about this film is the fact the DVD is a bit questionable in terms of the subtitle quality. They were translated fine for the most part, but there were a few times in which they went off. Outside of that I can't find any other noticeable fault with this film.

I honestly suggest you see this film if you can.