sgbreton77

WHAT A GREAT SURPRISE! engaging story, with likable characters anyone can relate to, fantastic performances pretty much by everyone involved and great chemistry specially between the 2 leads, Miguel and Sastre. Oh, and an IMPECCABLE cinematography, beautifully shot, every frame carefully composed. I would really rate this Spanish series as an absolute TOP, however, I must say there is just one thing that let me down a bit, and that's how the story is resolved, pretty much what happens in the last chapter. ** SPOILER ** The moment Sastre appears alive after being wounded and shot was a let down and just not logical . How did he survive and how did he make it to the cellar of his bar? Never explained. And the fact that the body found could not be properly identified as his after days makes no sense either. The way Miguel tricks Chatarrero at the end was also not quite convincing to me. This was disappointing as everything before was perfectly assembly. The only explanation that i find is that they decided to keep both main characters alive at the end so that there could be a second season. But if that's the case they should have developed certain events in a different way. But overall, it was a great ride and a truly worth watch. Congratulations to the team. Great work.

I usually agree with IMDb ratings, but with this one I could not disagree more. 4.5???? Ridiculous. Yes, It's certainly not a masterpiece, and doesn't have an incredibly clever or elaborate script, however it has a lot of virtues that deserve a whole lot more than a poor 4.5: First the visual effects are really, really good. Second: the acting in my opinion was also very acceptable, very natural and according to the situation, the way normal humans would react to an extraordinary terrifying situation, an alien invasion; a few cliché dialog but nothing really to be annoyed for. Another plus is the end: incredibly bizarre and surprising, didn't see it coming. Finally and most important, it kept me interested all the way till the end, which is what a movie should do. Now, knowing that the budget for this movie was $10 million I honestly think the producers and the whole team did an excellent job. 7/10 seems a fair rating for me and I truly recommend it to sci-fi lovers despite the bad ratings.

This is the story of a 23 year old girl from Tijuana named Laura who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets involved involuntarily with a drug lord who forces her to take part in his criminal activities for the following days.

There are two things that really surprised me while watching this film. The first is the directing style, quite unusual but with a purpose I must say: a lot of panning, traveling and sequence shots, to give a certain sense of a documentary type of film. In many scenes, the director lets the camera still with the main character while we only "hear" what's going on around her and also a slow paced direction to allow the viewer get a more personal approach to the main character and what she is going through (I believe). The second one is how realistic it all seems, the language, the characters, the locations and especially a shooting scene between cops and narcos that is just breathtaking.

Of course this wouldn't work so well if the acting wasn't first class, and it is indeed, Stephanie Sigman what a fantastic job, really makes us care for the character.

Like "El Infierno", it reflects a sad reality of what Mexico is currently going through with the fight against drug trafficking, and it isn't pretty at all. However I consider this little gem an essential viewing for movie fans and even film students. Highly recommended.

I just got back from watching this movie, and I feel like a just got a beating, unfortunately, it's a beating of reality, and it's not pretty.

First of all, it's a raw human drama that grabs you right from the beginning and doesn't even let you breath right until the end. It pretty much portraits the dark side of the human soul: violence, corruption, greed, murder, revenge etc. everything under the sad reality of the narcos and drug trafficking in Mexico. It's interesting that you see this from the point of view of the narcos. And it even has the virtue of using some dark humor that doesn't make the viewing more comfortable.

Script, production, cinematography and acting are wonderful, especially Joaquin Cosio, absolutely brilliant (no wonder why he was picked as one of Bond's villains in Quantum of solace). I found valuable the fact that it is a hard criticism to the government, the authorities, the police, the justice system, and not just the actual ones, but the ones we've had in the past 80 years, and that, in a way, it's a slap in the face to the celebration of the 200 years of independence.

That said, it has to be understood that it reflects only a part of Mexico's reality, though it's a brutal one. Just like after watching City of God you can't assume that Brazil's whole reality are the favelas, the same way it'd be wrong to assume that Mexico is just narcos killing each other.

Powerful and brutal, not an easy watch, but, in my opinion a must see for any movie fan.

Very good suspense movie that keeps you at the edge of your seat most of the time. The characters are sympathetic and believable, the creatures are pretty frightening. There is a good deal of gore. The human-behavior-under-extreme-circumstances concept is well exploited. There are some plot holes that can be forgiven because they work in favor of the suspense. My only big complain would be the end. Tom Jane shoots dead his 3 runaway friends and HIS OWN SON as soon as they run out of gas on the road. This is a guy who shows a great bravery and hope all along despite their difficult situation and looses it in a minute when they get stuck on the road even though there is no imminent danger right in front of them. Simply not believable. And even worse, as soon as he gets out the car in desperation to get himself killed by one of the creatures, the sky clears up and salvation shows up with some military guys. Cheap unnecessary soap opera drama that just don't fit and partly spoils the good story that had been constructed.

A true gem. This Spanish suspense horror film is one of the best in 2007 and certainly one of the finest in the genre. Brilliant well crafted script, excellent direction, very well acted: Belen Rueda steals the show. A story that keeps you constantly guessing and interested, and a very satisfying finalé, that makes perfect sense to everything that is presented along the ride. Everything fits at the end, nothing is out of place, enough thrills but there are no cheap non-sense gore scenes that usually appear in this type of movies. El Orfanato was the best Spanish movie in Spain at the box office in 2007. Well deserved.

If the director's idea was to show the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe (which is a great story) and Mexican customs, he should have made a documentary instead of a feature film.

This simply doesn't work as a film: First of all there is no main conflict. The characters spend the whole movie either trying to find out or explaining what the Guadalupe legend is about. There are a couple of personal redemption conflicts that we never really care about. It is too explanatory therefore it becomes boring.

Characters that have no impact or importance in the story whatsoever but to explain part of the Guadalupe story (for instance Armendariz, Del Castillo and Aragon characters). Add to this corny dialogues and unconvincing acting.

It could have been a great intriguing movie about the mystery surrounding Guadalupe. Instead you just get too many explanations and no true involvement with characters or story.

What I liked: 1) Great atmosphere created by excellent settings, precise lightning, clever camera angles and cool sound effects. 2) If the goal is to keep you at the edge of your seat, it definitively accomplishes it, there is a continuous sense of threat and tension is there all along. 3) The way it ends, not nice, just like horror movies should end. 4) It's a good ghost story, even though you don't quite get it till near the end.

What I did not like: 1) very few things, just some of the actions of the main characters do not make a lot of sense: ¿why go into an isolated and abandoned house in the middle of the night? ¿why follow a ghost into an empty room? There are some free spooks there with the obvious intention of keeping the tension.

But... if you can live with a little bit of nonsense and are looking for just a horror ride, believe me ,this is one hell of a ride.

Technically it is a very good movie, the cinematography is excellent, the camera shots were carefully designed, the sound is top notch. It also succeeds in portraying the life of a medium-low class Mexican couple. And in my opinion the main character's performance as a dull individual with a dull existence is great.

The problem is that not much happens. The same story could've been told efficiently in 20 minutes (I don't see the point in investing 3 to 4 minutes of film time in watching the wife getting the table ready for breakfast and frying a couple of eggs). It has interesting elements but as a piece of cinema is way too slow and sometimes boring.

An intriguing ghost story that keeps you at the edge of your seat.

Good direction, the story flows at a very good pace, descent dialogues, very good acting and character development and excellent special effects that compliment the story without feeling overloaded. Tell me, how can this be considered a bad movie?? Sure, it has elements that cannot be consider original, SO WHAT?? as long as they make a good whole (and they certainly do).

Predictable?? I had no idea where it was going and was surprised a few times, and the end is very good.

Solid ghost story that may not give you nightmares but certainly deserves the ticket price. It has been already a box-office hit in Mexico and there is a reason for that.

In my opinion and outstanding achievement by director/writer Rigoberto Castañeda.

Why I think this is a bad movie?

a) A bad script, you never really understand what the real purposes of the characters are. The lead, Demian Bichir (Marlboro) spends the whole movie with this silent attitude, barely speaking, just watching and not allowing the audience know what's going through his mind.

b) illogic situations, illogic reactions, you never really get to know why things happen the way they happen. SPOILER: You get to believe that Marlboro wants to reform his spoiled brother, by correcting him every time he gets into a fight, but it's OK when they both rob a car and kidnap the owner. What was the purpose of that ride in the night in a stolen jaguar with your lover's daughter and your brother's stripper girlfriend? It felt as just to fill in the running time of the film, it got boring, the story could have been resolved a lot sooner.

c) The dialog is sometimes sooo cliché and so predictable.

d) Loose ends. The story of the daughter with cancer, the story of the uncle, the story of the kidnapped senator, all left in-concluded.

f) The end is terrible, so cliché again and so non-sense. SPOILER: The lead throws himself off a bridge to a certain death in front of his nemesis, a corrupt cop. Why the hell did he commit suicide in the first place?? And even worse: what does the cop do? Shoot him 6 times while he is falling. What the hell was that for??? But...yeah, it was really dramatic and REALLY stupid.

e) An overall feeling that everything that happens you've seen it before.

The only plus of this movie is Armando Hernandez acting, but not much use with such a bad script.