A
teenage girl by the name of Regina (Anna
Paquin) moves into a remote countryside
house in Spain with her family but her
family doesn't behave normally while
living there.
She realises that their new home has a
gloomy and terrifying past that threatens
to destory her family.
Her
father Mark (Iain Glen) has been behaving
crazy and abusive and also goes to the
hospital twice from having head problems.
Her little brother Paul (Stephan Enquist)
is drawing artwork with pencil crayons
and sometimes his pencil crayons rolls
under his bed and are apparently eaten by
some force under there.
Not only that, when his room is dark, his
toys turn on and he sees zombie like
children.
He also draws artwork of his family being
killed.
Regina
also sees dark images of people and
deadly pictures.
Plus their power goes out while the evil
happens. Then Regina and her boyfriend
tries to find out some missing clues
which is explained about the eclipse of
the sun that will occur a week before she
moved into the house with her family.
This
Spanish film is
in terrific and strong taste making it
very psychological as well as
supernatural at the same time!
The young lead characters Regina and Paul look
good together having a nice sibling
conversations towards one another as it
looks heartwarming.
There was a nice and suspenseful moment
that involves Regina taking a
bath and putting her head in the water
and Paul drawing a picture
with his pencil crayons and then the
lights flicker and both react to
something that almost happens
supernaturally.
There was a brief and powerful discussion
between Regina and Maria as they have a miscommunication with
one another.
Other scenes looked great like with the Paul's pencil crayon rolling towards under his
bed and then something terrifying happens
as well as him in bed looking a
little spooked in the dark with his
belongings and other stuff moving around.
We spot an intense conversation sequence
between Maria and Mark as he shows perfect attitude and
expressions as well as his energy
constantly cutting and dicing up a potato
as the camera shots on him and the potato
cutting was extremely suspenseful looking
and then there's deadly shots on other
events happening during this moment too
which adds well to this scene.
There's a perfect camera shot on Mark holding a sledgehammer showing good
aggressions while we see a great
monologue tale with Villalobos telling him and Carlos about the tale of the house as it gives a
good haunted feel to the plot.
There's a scene that will make you jump
as a phone rings loudly and Regina reacts to it spooked.
There is also a nice setting when Regina is standing in a dark hallway of the
house as well as string at an old odd
looking picture.
We also see a great and horrifying camera
shots on a subway streaming along the
tracks as well as Villalobos inside
it with the lights flickering and his
reactions to it.
We spot a nice dark setting with Carlos standing somewhere near a
corner and then charging towards Regina.
Regina looked good crying while being tied to a chair with the
madness she is about to encounter with Carlos about to do something to her as it looks
very cold.
There's a perfect shot on Paul with
his bruised face and upset emotions when
he asks for a glass of water.
We see alot of insanity, haunting and
posessive moments in the house that
involves all of the main characters quarter
way through the movie when an eclipse
happens which is the story's most
strongest efforts in this film.
Bottom line is that this was a well
done film but what a terrible ending! This film borrows alot from Stephen
King's The Shining as well as Dante Tomaselli's flicks. Truly creepy and disturbing. There's some good drawing cards in the story like a little kid doing sketch art with pencil crayons and they roll under his bed. It's every child's fear wondering if something creepy is underneath a bed since it's so dark down there and alot of the terrors like in those moments starts to occur big time.
Although this was made on a low budget,
it is better made than most Spanish
flicks which was where it was shot in.
The acting is very
good, especially by Canadian actress Anna
Paquin (Regina) as she shows terrific
character and energy as a confused but a
caring teenage kid.
Lena Olin (Maria) plays off perfectly as a
mother who doesn't know how to cope with
the terrifying events happening. She shows nice
and stern actions towards one of her fellow actors which
looked good too making it almost look
believeably strange and slightly wicked.
Iain Glen (Mark) plays a good troubled
parent in the film losing his sanity and
has the perfect energy when he shows his
anger, frustration and abusive behavior
on set. In a certain scene reacts well in his car during a
traffic jam during a stormy weather
making out as if he is having a seisure. In another moment looked believeable
flying off the handle cussing someone out. He's perfect going crazy hitting
someone's door demanding to have it opened.
Child actor Stephan Enquist (Paul) was
perfect as a nice typical kid with an
artistic ability to do sketch art with
his pencil crayons as he brings perfect
chemistry to his role.
Fele Martinez (Carlos) played a perfect
mysterious Grandfather in the film as you
wonder what he is all about in the story.
Supporting actor Giancarlo
Giannini (Albert Rua) was perfect as a wise old
man knowing about the legends surrounding
the house as he shows perfect seriousness
to his part of the movie.
The music was composed by Carles Cases and he did a descent
job with it having fine classic violin
playing and hissing and windy sound
effects too.
Mark
and Paul (While in a traffic
jam): Get-Your- Ass-Out-Of-My-Face
Mark: In other words FUCK YOU right???
Carlos:
Where is Regina?
Albert Rua: At her house. In hell.
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