Les témoins du mal

A couple move to a former school and call on the help of a priest when and old woman's warnings who has recently awoken from a coma become relevant.

Also known as No-Do, The Haunting or The Beckoning it's a paint by numbers story but a creepy effective well made Spanish horror/thriller. Reminiscent of The Haunting (1963) with elements of Rec 2 and The Orphanage.

The characters are well written and some of the performances are outstanding with Ana Torrent as Francesca, fantastic Héctor Colomé as Miguel and notable María Alfonsa Rosso as Blanca.

Director/writer Elio Quiroga delivers some great visuals with excellent ghost effects that are complimented by the sound design and score. Again its perfectly acted with some genuine looking actors (Western casting agents may want to make note).

It doesn't matter that you can guess the connections, it's an old style ghost story wonderfully shot that keeps you interested to the satisfying conclusion.

Moving into a new house, a young woman learns that her increasingly paranoid reactions and psychotic breakdowns are the results of the lingering ghosts left in the house by it's concealed history from the Spanish Civil War and tries to end the curse left by that tormented history.

This one ended up being a surprisingly fun and decent Spanish haunted house film. One of the more enjoyable features found here is the rather fun and spirited storyline which manages to maintain it's sense of fear and thrills throughout here. The multitracked story manages to include a rather fun amount of thrills here by readily engaging the multiple storylines including the connection to the Spanish Civil War in the continuous newsreel footage or home videos showing the different treatments that befell all the prisoners which comes through well enough here to give this one the kind of setup for later. That backstory sets this one's best aspect, as there are some rather impressive hauntings here which make for a rather fun time when it starts to let them go in the middle half and the visuals that accompany them are a lot of fun. From her dreams and hallucinations of the ghostly figures in her bedroom taunting her by sleeping with her husband to the violent acts she believes she commits against her baby as well as the manifestations of the ghosts around the house, this one generates the appropriate atmosphere with plenty of creepy scenes. The other scenes, featuring the sounds over the baby monitors which ties the backstory into the ghostly actions plaguing the house, her hallucinations of the ghosts appearing as her children or the sounds of creaking floorboards or rattling doors, are far more traditional haunted house style shocks. These also help give this one a far more chilling atmosphere which helps to even out the religious imagery that gets incorporated into a rousing finale that evokes the best of the old-school burning-down-the-house styles so often employed before. This makes for a great ending and raises this one pretty high, although there are a few problems. One of the main issues is that it's too complicated for this type of haunted house story to make sense. This is a case of having way too much going on for its good, as there are three different backstories from the Civil War in the house, her backstory of the family troubles and the later talk involving the Church's actions here all being played out trying to piece together what's going on, and it eventually gets frustrating trying to keep everything straight. What also holds it back is that it has some rather troublesome CGI that looks bad here when it's being used despite not having a lot of opportunities, and although the film doesn't exploit it this stands out for the use overall. That said, it's not as bad as the other issues here.

Rated R: Language, Violence and Nudity.

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.

Spanish terror movie that explores the psychological disintegration of a possessed woman well played by Ana Torrent . It deals with Francesca (Ana Torrent) , a hard-working as well as stressed pediatrician who is dedicated to both motherhood and her job , married to another physician called Pedro (Francisco Boira) . Following the birth of a new child and the advice of a councillor (Rocio Muñoz) , the couple rent an isolated house from the Catholic Church . She attempts to retrieve peace and serenity in a new home away from the city , but in this recent house happens strange events and things go wrong . As they move an impressive and solitary mansion that results to be haunted by ghosts . As the the attic and the basement are locked and they hide awful secrets . She soon starts to communicate with invisible dark forces and it is from both these places that Francesca puts on the edge close to insanity . Meanwhile , a major priest (Francisco Casares) assigns the case to a miracle investigator , Father Miguel (Héctor Colomé) . The film finishes with a Philip K. Dick quote: "If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others".

Melodramatic ghost story about a woman , Francesca : Ana Torrent , with tortured soul who brings her family into a ghostly mansion where is starting to hear and see fantastic , creepy things . It gives a terrifying and disturbingly adult view of fears in which posses an element of melancholy with a upsetting woman who seems to drift dangerously close to madness . Influenced by Bayona's The orphanage , Polanski's Repulsion , Amenabar's The others and Del Toro's Pan labyrinth , it has a forensic eye for the eerie atmosphere which wreathes itself around dolls , everyday objects and domestic settings . Interesting screenplay by Elio Quiroga himself , revolving the mental disintegration of a woman overwhelmed by weird figures and ghostly shadows start tormenting her , as the protagonist receiving visits by night that are slowly driving her insanity . Director Elio Quiroga wanted the film to hark back in tone to 40s and 50s NODO trailers that turn out to be the best parts of the film . There are lots of shots with visual effects in them feature across this picture . Good performance from main protagonist Ana Torrent as Francesca , a woman who suffers from postpartum depression and takes on terrible ghosts . Torrent has developed a long career from little girl as ¨Espiritu De La Colmena¨ or ¨El Nido¨ to adult woman as ¨Thesis¨ , ¨Yoyes¨, and international films as ¨The other Boleyn girl¨, ¨The Tulse Luper suitcases¨ , among others. Support cast is pretty good , such as Héctor Colomé as a miracle investigator , Maria Alfonsa Rosso as a rare old woman and Rocio Muñoz as psychiatrist Jean .

Colorful and evocative cinematography by Juan Carlos Gómez , being skillfully cameraman , shot on location in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands and Torrelodones, Madrid . Thrilling as well sensitive musical score by Alfons Conde . The motion picture was well directed by Elio Quiroga . Here he offers an emotionally overwrought story about ghosts in unashamedly melodramatic style . Although it failed at the box office opening for a film in its native Spain . Quiroga is a good writer and director , here displaying genuine chills , suspense , mystery and dark atmosphere and twisted finale . It resulted out to one of the most unusual Spanish thrilling movies of 2009 and certainly one of the most unsettling . Quiroga is a nice filmmaker , known for ¨Fotos¨ , ¨Nodo¨ and his most successful film , ¨La Hora Fria¨ ; he also directed shorts and documentary . This film NODO is dedicated to the memory of Joaquim Jordà (1935 - 2006), Spanish filmmaker. Rating : Better than average , worthwhile watching .