Eskalofrío - Shiver

[senusenu]

Today, my Netflix DVD arrived broken. There's a huge crack down one side of it, so I reported it and they are shipping me a new one.

This, however, left me without my desired entertainment. Since I've seen all my own dvds (what meager amount of them that I have, maybe 30 altogether) I hit up Netflix to look at their downloaded movies.

OH BOY! On my recommendations for horror is the movie Eskalofrío. (The US title is Shiver.)

I do like me some Spanish horror (The Devil's Backbone is another good one), so I decide let's have a go.

I found the movie incredibly creepy. It starts slow, letting you get to know the characters and the locations, and build up some sympathy for them. Santi has a real disorder called photophobia, he's hypersensitive to sunlight. To give themselves a change of pace and find a more hospitable place to live, they moved to a little village where there's less sunlight so it's easier for him to be outside and go to a day school.

Anyhoo, things start getting weird after there's a murder, and it just seems to be weirder and weirder. I thought I had it figured out at first- I mean, it seems so obvious, right? But the blatant supernaturalism never rears its head, and instead we're treated to something just slightly more real and vaguely possible.

I found it pretty chilling, and there's times during the movie I actually felt anxious and had to sit forward to take it all in. The actor who plays Santi gives a damn good performance as a very believable scared-shitless teenager (though I admit, sometimes it drags a little for my own tastes). And later, the bumbling female friend really grates on my nerves- why does it have to be the woman tripping all over herself?

I gave the movie a 5 star rating. These minors things are really only minor and didn't detract from my enjoyment at all. Besides, I find it kind of obnoxious dealing with half stars, myself :p

The movie is a Spanish film, so it is in Spanish with English subs. Having to read the lines is a little distracting, but once I got into the movie, I barely noticed it at all. My memories of the movie don't even include the text across the screen, though some people have differing tolerances for it than me.

This is the first movie I've seen in a long time that's really given me some tension and edge-of-my-seat thrills. I recommend it to people who enjoy horror that's not overly gory or standard Hollywood flare. Some gore, some language, no real nudity.

Comments

[theflutist.livejournal.com]

That title is SO in Euskara!

[styggian-nights.livejournal.com]

Euskara?

[theflutist.livejournal.com]

One of the four official languages of Spain, spoken only in the Basque Country region in northern Spain (El pais vasco). It's ancient and nobody knows where it came from. It's nothing like any other language we know of/surrounding languages. It's very strange. I have a picture in my photos from Bilbao of a sign that had bicycle in Spanish and Euskara with a picture of a bike. Bizarre, really.

[styggian-nights.livejournal.com]

Can you tell me what it means? :p I know frio means cold, but what does it actually translate to?

[ryvaendell.livejournal.com]

Sounds awesome. We've started back up on our Netflix as well, and we've been experimenting with the download option. I'll have to check this movie out.

[lost-dreamer44.livejournal.com]

Is this a vampire movie? If so, I may have to rent it. I love me some foreign vampire movies. You should rent "Let the Right One In" - it's from Sweden. Watched it last week, and after a pretty slow start ended up kinda messing with my head a bit.

[styggian-nights.livejournal.com]

Nop, it's not actually a vampire movie, though some of the other characters think Santi is. There's very little supernatural in the movie at all.

[acrorat.livejournal.com]

Guillermo del Toro is one of my favourite directors! Try the Orphanage in Spanish with Spanish subtitles!