"The Nameless" is a Spanish chiller from the director of 2002's "Darkness" (but this film was released a few years before and is in Spanish). The film is about a mother named Claudia, who is still suffering from the horrible memories of her daughter's brutal murder. Five years ago, the savagely mutilated body of her daughter, Angela, was found in a water hole - punctured with needles, tortured, and burned beyond recognition. Then one day, Claudia receives a bizarre phone call from someone who claims to be Angela, saying that she's been alive this entire time and that somebody is holding her against her will. With a detective to try and help her, Claudia searches for her possibly-living daughter before something horrible happens to her - but ends up involved in occult practices and unearths the history of a cult that originated from the Nazis forty years ago.
I first watched this movie on DVD in the English dubbed version, and it was awful. The dubbing wasn't convincing by any means and it made the actors appear to give beyond terrible performances. So, I re-watched the film in it's original language (Spanish) with subtitles, and the acting was much better that way - the performer's tones in their natural language fit much better and made more sense. Trust me, if you're going to watch this movie, please watch it in it's original language, subtitles aren't that bad. So, with that cleared up, I'll discuss the good and bad things about this film. For one, it's slow. Quite slow, actually. So people who are all about fast-paced, bloody slasher films will more than likely despise this film - because it's not really exciting. But while it may not be 'exciting', this slow pacing builds a sense of unease and dread along the way, and that is a major positive for the film. It's atmosphere is beyond gloomy, and the slow pacing makes things even more unsettling and more eerie. The story (based on a British novel by Ramsey Campbell) reminded me of a cross between "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Wicker Man", but that's just how I see it, I'm sure that can be arguable from person to person. But all in all, I thought the story was really interesting and well woven, especially when the information about the cult begins to surface. The interlacing of the Nazi involvement was intriguing also. You have to let yourself become involved in the plot, and from that standpoint this is a really interesting movie.
Now, the negative aspects. While this film is technically a horror movie, it fails to give very many scares. There are a few weird shots of the little girl that are randomly scattered throughout the film, but they fail to jolt or get any effect out of me. They're a little spooky, but weren't really needed. But, this film is scary on a different level, because of how subtle and atmospheric it is - most horror fans won't be scared by it though. And then there's the ending. I don't want to spoil it so I'm not going to give everything away - but it was a little bit predictable during the last twenty minutes or so. And then there's the final moment of the film, which ends far too quickly and was just much too abrupt. Everything is just beginning to come together after the considerably lengthy build-up, and then bam! It's over. The credits roll. All that build-up and all that tension that results in something that ends way too fast. Some falling action to conclude the story would've been nice. But I can't hate the movie just for that, because besides that there are so many really good things about it.
Overall, "The Nameless" or "Sin nombre, Los" is an interesting movie. I love the story and the film escalates an impending sense of doom and is very unsettling. But there are some problems that keep it from being perfect. If you enjoy significantly slow-building horror films, you'll like this. But in my opinion, the ending could've used a little work, because it left me feeling kind of empty. Besides that though, everything that lead up to it was very stylish and very spooky. I understand it that many people can't stand this director (Jaume Balaguero), but from his two films I've seen (this film and "Darkness"), I like him. His movies are unusual, but that doesn't make them bad. 7/10.
I first watched this movie on DVD in the English dubbed version, and it was awful. The dubbing wasn't convincing by any means and it made the actors appear to give beyond terrible performances. So, I re-watched the film in it's original language (Spanish) with subtitles, and the acting was much better that way - the performer's tones in their natural language fit much better and made more sense. Trust me, if you're going to watch this movie, please watch it in it's original language, subtitles aren't that bad. So, with that cleared up, I'll discuss the good and bad things about this film. For one, it's slow. Quite slow, actually. So people who are all about fast-paced, bloody slasher films will more than likely despise this film - because it's not really exciting. But while it may not be 'exciting', this slow pacing builds a sense of unease and dread along the way, and that is a major positive for the film. It's atmosphere is beyond gloomy, and the slow pacing makes things even more unsettling and more eerie. The story (based on a British novel by Ramsey Campbell) reminded me of a cross between "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Wicker Man", but that's just how I see it, I'm sure that can be arguable from person to person. But all in all, I thought the story was really interesting and well woven, especially when the information about the cult begins to surface. The interlacing of the Nazi involvement was intriguing also. You have to let yourself become involved in the plot, and from that standpoint this is a really interesting movie.
Now, the negative aspects. While this film is technically a horror movie, it fails to give very many scares. There are a few weird shots of the little girl that are randomly scattered throughout the film, but they fail to jolt or get any effect out of me. They're a little spooky, but weren't really needed. But, this film is scary on a different level, because of how subtle and atmospheric it is - most horror fans won't be scared by it though. And then there's the ending. I don't want to spoil it so I'm not going to give everything away - but it was a little bit predictable during the last twenty minutes or so. And then there's the final moment of the film, which ends far too quickly and was just much too abrupt. Everything is just beginning to come together after the considerably lengthy build-up, and then bam! It's over. The credits roll. All that build-up and all that tension that results in something that ends way too fast. Some falling action to conclude the story would've been nice. But I can't hate the movie just for that, because besides that there are so many really good things about it.
Overall, "The Nameless" or "Sin nombre, Los" is an interesting movie. I love the story and the film escalates an impending sense of doom and is very unsettling. But there are some problems that keep it from being perfect. If you enjoy significantly slow-building horror films, you'll like this. But in my opinion, the ending could've used a little work, because it left me feeling kind of empty. Besides that though, everything that lead up to it was very stylish and very spooky. I understand it that many people can't stand this director (Jaume Balaguero), but from his two films I've seen (this film and "Darkness"), I like him. His movies are unusual, but that doesn't make them bad. 7/10.