Director Jaume Balagueró's 1999 horror movie inspired by Ramsey Campbell's novel 'The Nameless' went out on DVD this year, trying to ride on the wave of relative success of the Japanese and Korean horror movies. The combination is not that bad, although the film is not flawless.
The story starts with a couple called to identify the body of their daughter, which is found in such a mutilated state that 100% identification is very difficult. Five years later, the marriage is broken, the woman leaves alone, on tranquilizers, seeming not to have really recovered after the loss. When a strange call seems to have her daughter calling for help at the end of the line, she is enrolling the help of the policeman who was in charge with the case. All traces lead to a esoteric violent cult, with some connections with the Nazis's medical experiences in WWII.
The idea of story is good, although story telling is too slow. Despite many things happening on the screen the pace is never satisfying. Another flaw is the tendency of the script and director to explain everything - in good horror movies leaving some stuff to imagination cannot harm. On the good side, I liked the acting, especially Emma Villarasau in the main role. The camera work is very good, maybe the strongest part of the film.
Overall, not a perfect movie, but still, quite a reasonable piece of horror, coming from an unexpected place.
The story starts with a couple called to identify the body of their daughter, which is found in such a mutilated state that 100% identification is very difficult. Five years later, the marriage is broken, the woman leaves alone, on tranquilizers, seeming not to have really recovered after the loss. When a strange call seems to have her daughter calling for help at the end of the line, she is enrolling the help of the policeman who was in charge with the case. All traces lead to a esoteric violent cult, with some connections with the Nazis's medical experiences in WWII.
The idea of story is good, although story telling is too slow. Despite many things happening on the screen the pace is never satisfying. Another flaw is the tendency of the script and director to explain everything - in good horror movies leaving some stuff to imagination cannot harm. On the good side, I liked the acting, especially Emma Villarasau in the main role. The camera work is very good, maybe the strongest part of the film.
Overall, not a perfect movie, but still, quite a reasonable piece of horror, coming from an unexpected place.