SomeoneMovie Review: Eskalofrío (Shiver)
June 22nd 2009 04:27
Premise: Santi (Julio Valverde), a boy with an allergy to direct sunlight, and his mother (Mar Sodupe) move to an isolated village, where the geography means less direct sunlight and more freedom. When they get there, Santi realizes that there is someone, or something, lurking in the woods. When it starts murdering people, Santi is accused, and must prove his innocence before either the thing in the woods or the villagers target him.
I'm not going to beat around the bush: This movie is fantastic. My DVD was shithouse, and didn't come with the original Spanish soundtrack, only the English dubbing. However, despite that, this movie impressed the hell out of me.
Acting: Hats off all round. Valverde does an excellent job as the protagonist, and we can clearly see the fear and determination in his character. Alot is asked of him, as his character carries the entire movie, but he is certainly up to the challenge. The supporting characters, while not as impressive as the lead, all hold their own, and provide convincing performances.
Normally, I tend to enjoy movies more if there is a certain level of visceral satisfaction. Don't get me wrong, I love tension in movies, but I am still a little bit of a gorehound at heart. That being said, this movie did not have much gore... and I wouldn't have it any other way. We get to see one disembowled animal, and that's about as gory as this movie gets. However, like I said, this film doesn't suffer for it.
There's a formula I have seen developing in run-of-the-mill horrors. For the first third-ish of the movie, we only catch glimpses of the killer/thing/whatever, as the director tries to create a bit of tension. Then, after it is revealed, all thought of tension is put aside and the creature/killer/whatever gets heaps of screen time as it kills off most of the remaining characters.
Thankfully, Eskalofrío avoids this formulaic approach. Yes, for the first portion of the movie, we only catch glimpses of the 'forest-dweller' (trying to be vague here), and the tension is almost palpable. However, once we've had a good look at it, we go back to just glimpses. This is a breath of fresh air, and helps to sustain the tension right up until the thrilling climax.
Also, I read a complaint about the pacing of the movie. I wish I could remember where, so I could tell the author what an idiot he is. By Hollywood standards, the movie is slow-paced. The action doesn't occur well into the second half of the movie. Clearly, the focus is on creating tension, which the movie does highly successfully. The slow pace helps keep the audience tense, and although there is a lack of 'action', this movie kept me engaged and, I have to admit, fearful, which I don't think has happened since I watched Alien for the first time a while back.
This movie manages to combine artistry and tension, and thus is able to shock and awe, which is what you want from a great horror. Pilar Revuelta (who shared in the Oscar for best achievement in art direction for Pan's Labyrinth) served as the production designer for Eskalofrío, so you would expect a good deal of artistry, which this movie delivers. As you might gather from the premise, the movie plays strongly on the struggle between light and darkness, both literally and figuratively. Also worth mentioning is the use of the scenery... this movie makes great use of the forest setting, which is so often under-utilized in the horrors I have seen.
Overall, as I said at the start, fantastic film. I haven't seen El Orfanato yet, but it looks like there are some fantastically artistic movies coming out of Spain (if this and Pan's are anything to go by), so it definitely won't be long 'til I do.
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