1974: La posesión de Altair

Celebrating their newfound marriage, a man and his wife move into a house where his obsession with documenting everything on video camera allows him to witness her slowly deteriorating state being in the house and eventually uncovers the deadly secret that puts their lives in jeopardy.

Overall, this was an incredibly enjoyable and thrilling effort. One of the strongest elements present here is the rather strong aesthetic style present throughout here which gives this a highly engaging look to the film. This one manages to readily capture the look and feel of the time-period, which is not only done in-camera with the way the film-stock manages to effectively mimic the type of home movies shot at that time but also manages to really evoke the setting with the decorations all throughout the area which helps give it a fine power here. Once the film moves into the hauntings, this one really picks up considerably. The types of attacks here are generally limited to only a few different types because of the format being filmed, but this does manage a few effective moments including a stellar sequence where a previously-experienced flock of birds that were flying over their house all suddenly drop dead out of the sky at once and the sight of the raining birds over their house and belongings outside the house is quite an effective visual and concept. Other great concepts, from the silence and general apathy she exhibits almost immediately to the eerie growling sounds of some unknown force moving throughout the house that they capture which adds to the thrilling atmosphere here. Even beyond the hauntings, the plot about their missing dog out in the woods, the series of scattered and burned video-tapes he finds or the way she would continually stand in one spot ignoring everything to laugh in the face of others around her also give this one a rather enjoyable presence that gets featured here and give this one the type of thrilling atmosphere that's really required of this one. This is all due to the film's rather strong and relentless pace here, giving up very little downtime and constantly building things along. This is a rather enjoyable tactic to see in this type of film where it gives this one a really fine feature here to lead into the truly dark finale where the spiritualism and the religious connections are played up even further into an action-packed finish with some chilling ideas involved. This one does have a few minor flaws to found here, most of which come in the form of the truly inactive characters here who don't really have much of a reason to be here. The film relies on a central four-piece of characters and none of them really do much throughout the film, letting things happen for the sake of moving the story along when in reality they're too passive. Had they done something to stop what's going on, it might've done even better but overall, that's really the main issue with this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Violence and mild drug use.

Director Victor Dryere's horror proposal is gritty, tenacious and bold. Just when the audience was starting to get bored of the narc-crime and poverty Mexican themed films that populate international film festivals, comes a new perspective from a filmmaker that is a part of a new generation of Mexican auteurs. Even though some will say that it is too early to refer to Dryere as an auteur, the fact remains that through the (almost) 5 years it took him to finish this piece, he remained true to his voice and maintained creative control over his work; and it shows. The fact that he pushed the boundaries of a somewhat overused narrative tool (the found footage) by enhancing it with detailed sound design and unsettling music, makes the audience overlook the slow pace of the first act and the simplicity of the script, by taking us onto a full cinematic and sensory experience; well acted and thoroughly rendered. The result is more than fulfilling. Once the film is over and the enigmatic mystery that surrounds the characters is finally unveiled (won't spoil the ending for you), one is left with the satisfaction that comes with good storytelling, plain and simple. The moments of horror are few, but well constructed, both visually and aurally, with a quality that is uncommon in Mexican thrillers and horror films in general. And the fact that the film was actually shot in crude 8mm film gives it an authenticity that is rare and extraordinary. All in all a well constructed, powerful first work, which produces the sensation that this filmmaker is for real, and that we better be on the lookout for what he comes up with next.

The trouble with the constraints of Found Footage is the difficulty of coming up with anything original in what is undeniably a flooded - and largely uninteresting - market. I wasn't expecting much but this film surprised me by going a long way towards delivering something different. Firstly the lo-fi video made a pleasant change and the lack of clarity was used to great effect for background menace in one or two scenes. Secondly, while the fate of the protagonists was made clear at outset per FF convention, the plot took some unexpected turns to arrive there.

It has a few flaws and evidently the budget was limited for special effects but this didn't detract from the experience. I would recommend this as a superior example to anyone with an interest in the Found Footage genre.

I just saw it yesterday and it is one of those movies that are original and to the point, as it was filmed on a 8 mm camera it looks kind of dark and mysterious and it works perfectly with the movie, it is the first film by this director and I would say that he has a lot of potential, it is actually the first Mexican-Horror movie that I watched and I definitely give it two thumbs up!

I'll be thinking about this one for a while. Very creepy. Well done. Definitely top 5 in the found footage horror genre.