Les disparus

I really loved this movie. Not your typical horror spooky movie, and I still get chills from it. I saw this movie three times. Loved the soundtrack, loved Ruth Diaz in this movie. Every emotion she felt, I felt. Talk about fear. This movie haunts me daily. In order to appreciate all that this movie has to offer, you should first learn more about the actual horrific crimes against the 30,000 people that disappeared in Argentina from 1976-1983. Knowing this first will make your heart ache and jump as you watch how this movie unfolds, untwists and as it opens up to let you in and keeps you there. That is what I felt the director was trying to do but for some people, they may not know of the horrors of the forced disappearances that happen in many other countries around the world. This movie really opened my eyes to these horrors.

A sincere political horror film -- pretty much one of a kind -- that tries to highlight the tortuous past of Argentina's "missing" period. Unfortunately, the horror elements don't work too well, though there are some scares. The biggest fault is the protagonists acting even more implausibly than in your run of the mill Grade B horror flick. That said, the film effectively conjures the horror of the many disappeared in Argentina in that period. And I guess if you're making a film to condemn the torturers who ran Argentina at the time, having "Saw" like gruesomeness is understandable. The final shot of the film is truly haunting, but it's a long road getting there.

Following a visit to their comotosed, estranged father, brother and sister, Pablo and Malena, find an old diary which in turn leads them to strange and haunting discoveries and situations.

This co-Argentine-Spanish offering (translated as The Appeared) falls into similar territory as Los Cronocrímenes, Intacto, and Fermat's Room, in the fact that the viewers expectations are stretched, the narrative constantly changing. What is fun, if somewhat frequently implausible, is the many situations the protagonists get themselves into. Each set piece covers familiar ground to standard horror conventions (we get the slasher-killer; the road chase with the 'unseen' driver; haunted house scares), yet always done with the reign pulled tight as not to fall into parody.

Add into the mix historic elements, where we discover the truth about the people and locations that Pablo and Malena find themselves involved with, as well as a truly haunting ending, and you have a neat, ambitious ghost story which although may not fully succeed, in the most part holds the viewers interest throughout.

If you want something different than the usual horror genre, this is the movie for you. I would personally describe it as horror with a supernatural twist/thriller within a mystery. Long description, but that's what it is. I wanted to see it first and foremost because it was filmed in Madrid, Spain (having lived there, some things were recognizable), and I am a fan of supernatural horror flicks. The plot of this movie was NOT predictable whatsoever, which is good. I hate movies you can figure out in the first five minutes of watching them. I was so engaged in the film that I did not move from seat for fear of missing one little detail. There are some parts that made me gasp even, and what you find out in the end is really disturbing,intriguing, and extremely unexpected. Oh, and just a further note, the Spanish they speak in the movie is a castilian dialect, but that's why they have English subtitles.

It is such a good production from all points of view! Excellent director, actors, camera work, locations, editing and everything else that involves the making of a picture (the sound effects and the music are superb).

Unfortunately the weak point is the storyline.

The plot is so convoluted and totally implausible that only the excellency of the acting and the good tempo of the movie gets you in your seat till the very end of this picture. If you don't question all the time-jumps, time traveling and confusing apparitions it makes a fun movie to pass a couple of hours, but if you are the analytical type... forget it.

It's a real pity because the premise is very interesting --the Desaparecidos during the military dictatorship in Argentina-- in fact it is an Argentinian chapter as interesting as the civil war in Spain during the 1930s, but getting dead people appearing and floating in midair takes the whole thing to an Exorcist atmosphere that takes away all credibility.