El Cuerpo (The Body) (2012)

You have to hand it to these Spaniards! Rarely does a Spanish thriller disappoint in delivering what is expected of it, and Oriol Paulo's "El Cuerpo" (aka "The Body") (2012) is no exception. This is the kind of film that does justice to the oft-used term, Hitchcockian.

The dead body of a very rich and powerful woman, Mayka Villavarde (Belén Rueda) mysteriously disappears from the morgue. The police officials and morgue personnel are all equally flummoxed by the bizarre happening, especially after learning that the woman apparently died of a heart attack and her body was awaiting autopsy. In fact, the incident comes to light, after the night security guard gets run over by a speeding vehicle when he runs for his life, apparently upon witnessing something frightful in the morgue that night. Did someone steal the body? Who would have anything to gain from doing something like that? Or could the dead woman have walked, scaring the living daylights out of the guard? Police captain Jaime Peña (José Coronado) attempts to solve the mystery.

Oriol Paulo plays it like a pro and structures his screenplay in a clever non-linear fashion just as any intelligent mystery film of the sort. Peeling off layers gradually, revealing in bits, he works like a magician, springing a surprise on his unsuspecting audiences periodically, and ensuring that they are locked in, in awe at his sleight of hand. Consequently, the central characters of this deadly puzzle are introduced to the viewers in a calculated manner, clearly gauging or predicting the kind of reactions they are supposed to elicit.

In a series of well-timed flashbacks that would remind the viewer of the recent David Fincher thriller "Gone Girl" (2014), Paulo throws some good light on the nature of his characters, especially on the kind of relationship shared by Mayka and her much younger husband Alex (Hugo Silva) who now becomes a prime suspect. Although, it is revealed early on that Alex is involved in the death of Mayka, it is also made clear that he is clueless about the disappearance of her corpse. It appears that Mayka has Alex under her thumb, and he is tired of her dominating ways. An affair with a younger girl is also brought to the surface in the beginning, so we are well aware of Alex's character.

While this early revelation could be deemed as a writing flaw, it is in fact, a wise decision on Paulo's part, because it does away with that one predictable angle associated with a murder plot such as this. By making us aware, Paulo compels us to lay it to rest that this is a mystery of Mayka's murder. It isn't! It is in fact, the mystery of her post-death disappearance! Or is it?

Clues begin to pop up out of nowhere, mysterious notes and messages reminding Alex of some secret conversations with Mayka begin to find their way to him (also similar to the "Gone Girl" treasure hunt, especially in the way these clues, almost always shift the narrative to a flashback). He figures that someone who's well aware of what transpired between him and Mayka could be doing this. But somewhere at the back of his mind that shred of doubt prevails; could she still be alive? Just when Alex thought he had erased everything to do with her, it threatens to come back, and as luck would have it, his attempts to flush out any last bit of evidence implicating him refuses to ..well, get flushed, literally!

While the audience is made aware of Alex's connection to his wife's apparent death, the police captain Jaime already has all his attention focused on Alex, owing to his body language and communication that's all wrong for a man whose wife died just a few hours ago. Paralleling Jaime's intimidating behaviour towards Alex, Paulo also makes us privy to the fact, that Jaime, isn't the invincible hero, or an epitome of perfection himself. He is a fragile, troubled man, battling with loneliness and a volatile temper, that presumably once, caused his suspension.

It is essential for any thriller to make sure that the tension in the narrative remains intact and never lets up. In this department, Paulo aces it almost effortlessly and dares you to even bat an eyelid! While the devious plot machinations keep you on the edge, Paulo throws in a bonus with some absorbing drama centered around the face-off of Alex and Jaime.

Thanks to the solid performances by the two actors, their confrontations and battle of words/wits are a treat to watch. The events take place over a few hours in the night, almost entirely in and around the morgue, with the setting shifting elsewhere only in flashbacks, rendering an aptly claustrophobic atmosphere. When the action rests easy in a few places (only tiny bits), Paulo allows you to soak in the seductive atmosphere of the stormy night with its moody lighting and brooding characters contemplating away while blowing smoke in the rain.

"El Cuerpo" is a classy noir thriller that creates intrigue by striking a neat balance between a riveting plot and fascinating characters. With its baffling twists, some genuinely chilling sequences and necessary red herrings, it boasts of nerve-shredding suspense right until the very end in a hair-raising climax, with a conclusion that may raise a few eyebrows of amazement, shock or even disapproval. Sure, when one thinks back and analyzes, not everything will end up tied in a neat little logical box. There are implausibilities, but they certainly aren't impossibilities. It is the craft that triumphs here and more than makes up for the plot deficiencies.

Queue this one up in your watchlist. Best watched on a cold, rainy night!

Score: 8/10

Shrew's Nest (Musarañas) (2014)

Nothing would quite prepare you for this dark, macabre story set in Spain of the 1950s. What begins as a quiet, but unsettling exploration of a not-so-perfect sisterhood soon turns into a disturbing, explosive tale of blood-soaked murder and mayhem, the kind of stuff nightmares are made of.

A freaky looking seamstress, Montse (Macarena Gómez) resides with her much younger sister (Nadia de Santiago). Montse suffers from a psychological disorder, possibly a form of agoraphobia, that prevents her from stepping outside her door. For years, the god-fearing, religiously devout Montse has lived within the confines of her moderate apartment and raised the sister single-handedly, for their mother died while giving birth to the younger one, and their controlling father left them for the war and never returned.

Montse's hard life and illness has clearly taken a toll on her being, something she manages to hide from her patrons, in particular, the kindly Dona Puri (Gracia Olayo). The sister doesn't like her domineering ways, but does not have much choice, for they only have each other as family, and all said and done, she owes it to Montse for taking care of her all along.

Chance brings a stranger to their door, a handsome young neighbour (Hugo Silva) residing upstairs, who seeks help at Montse's door after falling down some stairs. A reluctant Montse lets him in, and nurses him. His arrival creates ripples in the scheme of things, especially after Montse's altruism gradually takes malevolent form.

"Shrew's Nest" (2014), the title alludes to the way of life of certain rat species who hide away in underground burrows far away from other animals. They appear harmless but also possess some venomous glands. The lead character Montse is somewhat similar. In fact, this film is more a showcase of this woman's strange psychosis. She is quite protective of her sister and has raised her with care, despite her troubled state of mind. However, one glimpse of the sister with a boy invites her wrath and the girl is punished with a cane!

This wrath is much more than a product of mere protectiveness, as shades of jealousy are also seen in this woman deprived of any kind of healthy relationship with a man. The evidence of a life ruined under the shadow of a tyrannical father (Luis Tosar, in yet another chilling performance) is unearthed in the form of flashbacks that meld with Montse's present reality in intelligently filmed scenes that blur the line between hallucinations and memories. Her general attitude towards certain things hint at a stringent adherence to religious beliefs, but her views are definitely muddled and it is easy to see why.

We also learn that perhaps her agoraphobia stems from being denied the freedom to go out of the house from an early age. Montse is a character portrait that simultaneously evokes feelings of sadness as well as resentment. Montse's current existence is the unfortunate result of a family tragedy and subsequent affected upbringing. This plot development is not without some usual cliches associated with justifying the mental instability of certain dangerous characters in cinema, but somehow the handling of Montse's character is much more sensitive and hence perhaps, far more believable. She is a victim as well as a perpetrator at the same time, thereby making it difficult for the viewer to take sides. Macarena Gómez portrays Montse with a rare sincerity, in an act that is the backbone of this film. She delivers a powerful performance, that's aptly over-the-top and fitting the behavioural pattern; exactly the kind of reactive, nervous wreck that Montse is expected to be.

The root cause of the situation in the film is the neighbour, Carlos played by Hugo Silva. His predicament brings obvious memories of Rob Reiner's "Misery" (1990). He is no James Caan, but with whatever material the script offers him, he puts up a decent performance. Carlos also harbours a secret, and the events leading up to his falling down the stairs are revealed much later, again somewhat ruffling up viewer perceptions. The introduction of a character closely related to him leads to a major shift in the events and some very heart-stopping moments.

The ultimate onus is left with the younger sister who has to cope with something much more than what her sister has unleashed. The situation gets out of hand in the third act and we enter a territory that is darkly comic, violent and gory as hell! Surprises are thrown at the viewer at various junctures, although there is one major twist that one can see coming. No harm is done, however, to the momentum or the overall quality of the picture in any way.

"Shrew's Nest" is another solid offering from Spanish horror. This is delicious, wicked fun at its best; thrilling enough for anyone to have a bloody good weekend.

Score: 8/10

The Uninvited Guest (El Habitante Incierto) (2004)

And so we stumble upon yet another less known Spanish gem of a mystery thriller; one that, from its title may give off the air of your average home invasion story. But rest assured, any similarity to past home invasion flicks ends after the stranger enters the house. Thereupon, Guillem Morales' "The Uninvited Guest" (2004) is one hell of an unpredictable ride into its twisty narrative that will suspend you in a state of constant anxiety.

It all begins one fateful evening, when a man whose face we do not see, enters the plush home of Felix (Andoni Gracia) on the pretext of making an urgent phone call. Felix is living alone ever since his girlfriend Vera (Mónica López) breaks up with him. The stranger requests privacy as he attempts to make the call, and Felix obliges. As the call appears to stretch longer, an impatient Felix returns to the living room to find the stranger missing and the door shut. An inherently paranoid Felix begins to believe that the stranger never left, and is still inside the house, inhabiting it in secret, hiding from plain sight! His fears begin to magnify as he starts to experience sporadic occurrences of strange noises from some corners of the house.

Guillem Morales turns the familiar home invasion genre on its head by making the supposed perpetrator disappear early in the film. Thereby, the stranger isn't physically present in sight, but makes his presence felt; invisible, but tangible enough to mess with the protagonist's psyche, making him restless and giving him sleepless nights. An occurrence such as this, makes way for several questions that give the film its greatest strength. Is there really a presence in the house? Or is Felix just obsessed with the idea, unsatisfied that he never actually saw the stranger leave?

It is common knowledge, that the mind plays tricks, especially when one is alone in a large house. A sound heard quite close by could actually be an amplified version of something far away or in the opposite corner. Sometimes it's the plumbing, and other times, the hollow areas in the construction. Sometimes it is the neighbours upstairs moving their furniture, and when there's a sudden thud, it is only natural to check to see if something fell in the adjacent room. Likewise there are visual false alarms; a shadow here, a reflection there. Foreign presence? Or figment of imagination? 

Morales' play on the matter from a psychological perspective is brilliant and wholly believable considering Felix's personality and the condition of his nerves. But just as we wonder where this would head or how Felix would get out of this situation, another huge surprise is thrown in the unsuspecting viewer's lap as Felix practically walks the footsteps of the invisible stranger in another situation that mirrors his! It's an amazing example of a circular narrative, the kind attempted by the modern master of surreal psychological thrillers, David Lynch. Through these unforeseen events, a lot is revealed about the inner workings of the minds of some of the primary characters, their basest instincts, and morbid ideas of thrills. It is like the whole range of the shades usually associated with an archetypal psychological thriller are explored within a single narrative.

A predominant theme in the film is that of duality. There are recurring events, and sometimes there are shadows of certain occurrences. Events mirror themselves or follow in succession. There's even a doppelganger of one character thrown in. Mónica López plays two characters, Vera and Claudia. This brings to mind the Patricia Arquette dual role in Lynch's "Lost Highway" (1997). It is possible that the purpose of casting the same actress to play these characters is to accentuate the psychological aspect of the story. This doubling up along with the fact that we are perhaps dealing with an unreliable narrator, and the claustrophobic elements associated with an indoors setting, a la Hitchcock, make "The Uninvited Guest" a very interesting mash-up of Lynchian and Hitchcockian ideas.

The result is satisfying enough to keep the viewer enthralled and sufficiently breathless throughout, until some cats are let out of the bag. It is true, that some big revelations give rise to more questions. There is one instance of a gaping contrivance which didn't go down too well with this reviewer either, but it was a necessary evil for Morales to further the plot and compound the intrigue. Not that Morales gets excused, he does lose a point for it, but it isn't any cause for alarm and doesn't reduce the weight of the film to an extent to disappoint the viewer. Moreover, some of the withheld information works in the film's favour, thereby leaving certain bits to interpretation. It's a good move by Morales to not wrap just about everything up in a neat package, which perhaps, would've done the film some disservice.

Credit must be given where it is due, and there is no denying that Guillem Morales has delivered a highly original feature length debut that is brimming with confidence and his command on the craft shows. Well done!

Score: 8/10

Sleep Tight (Mientras Duermes) (2011)

Spanish filmmaker Jaume Balagueró, the helmer of such horror films as the excellent Rec (2007) and the hilariously bad Fragile (2005), dabbles with the voyeur thriller genre this time around and proves that with the right material he can pull off a reasonably taut and disturbing nail-biter.

"Sleep Tight" (2011) is as dark as they come. A creepy-looking, balding and thick-browed Cesar (Luis Tosar) is popular with the occupants of the apartment building where he works as a concierge. He is the ultimate helping hand, the friendly neighbourhood fixer, who would tend to the nice old lady's dogs, fix clogged drain pipes, water plants, and deliver mails among other things. With his convenient presence, he has won over most of the tenants.

But little do they know that there is sickness brewing within and Cesar is really up to no good. Behind those kind gestures is a psychopathic mind at work, out to make life miserable for others, for Cesar is a depressed loner who doesn't know what it is like to be happy. Misusing their trust, he is quietly executing his malicious little plan of creating trouble for the tenants. 

His prime target is the comely young Clara (Marta Etura), who is blissfully unaware that Cesar actually enters her apartment each night, and engages in subtle mischief, including spiking her cosmetics with irritants and even going so far as to molest her as she sleeps, after administering chloroform on her! Life goes on, Clara wakes up all groggy, not realizing why she oversleeps. And in the meanwhile, Cesar is also sending her anonymous hate mail, sometimes with lewd content.

Cesar's malevolent mission appears to develop cracks when the preteen girl Ursula (Iris Almeida) who is on to his sickening deeds raises her price for keeping her mouth shut, and Clara's boyfriend Marcos (Alberto San Juan) gives them a surprise visit.

Balagueró is in assured form here and maintains a firm grip on the material. The casting of Luis Tosar is perfect, in the sense, his very appearance makes us sense something creepy and sinister lurking beneath that smiling exterior. While Tosar's assumed gentlemanly mannerisms exude a kind of warmth, he follows it up quickly by a nuanced change of expression that would make you loathe the guy! 

At various junctures, Cesar's voiceover narrates his worthless state of being, and the desire to give meaning to his life. He regularly visits his old mother who appears to have lost her speech, and updates her about his developments. This is a welcome move, for it adds some kind of mystery to Cesar's motivations. Apart from his obvious pathological state of mind, one can't help but think of a class conflict angle, a la Claude Chabrol's "La Ceremonie" (1995), although this can only be inferred.

In many ways, Cesar's character and the film itself, brings to mind Hitchcock's famous "Psycho" (1960). And why not, considering there's a caretaker/concierge with voyeuristic tendencies, and even an old mother that's mostly there to mystify! In fact, "Sleep Tight" has Hitchcockian written all over it. Balagueró manages to build and keep the tension intact, with an interesting character, and an unsettling, claustrophobic atmosphere of an apartment building. What adds to the scare element considerably, is the fact that the most trusted man, the caretaker, the protector, is actually an antagonist, a trope used to a great effect in Kubrick's "The Shining" (1980). 

Unlike Kubrick's classic however, in an amazing twist to the proceedings, much to our surprise, Balagueró successfully manoeuvres us into rooting for Cesar when he is danger of being caught red-handed. It's a masterstroke that actually makes us skip a beat for a guy who disgusts us for most of the film! The suspense is killing in the said scene and it's a sequence very deftly handled, hardly insulting the viewer's intelligence, as is the case in most such situations.

It's a pity however, that in an attempt to manipulate the script to darker territories, Balagueró and crew resort to the stupid person syndrome; that age old cliché in which there's always at least one character who has to behave in a manner so dumb, as to invite obvious harm. Thankfully there aren't too many such moves and distraction is provided in the form of an ultraviolent, blood-soaked final half hour, complete with a tub and shower, again, reminding of "Psycho" (1960). It is the kind of stuff that will please the gorehounds and disturb the hell out of the squeamish.

It would've been better, had the film not entered slightly melodramatic territories in the culmination, but everything that precedes it successfully keeps us engrossed and thrilled. Balagueró also makes us aware and provides food for thought, albeit in a rather harsh way, about the sad reality of those who are lonely and aging. As Cesar puts it quite bluntly to an old lady in a chilling fashion: "There's no remedy for it"!

Obviously inspired by the Hitchcock brand of suspense, "Sleep Tight" is a terrific psychological thriller well worth your time for its absorbing screenplay and a cracker of a lead performance. 

Score: 8/10