The Spanish “Fermat’s Room” is the latest in the enduringly popular puzzle thriller genre, which sees characters trapped and being forced to solve enigmas in order to avoid inventively gruesome fates. Here, writers and directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña (previously better known for their...

Spanish horror has been prominent on the international scream scene of late, with the likes of “REC” and “The Orphanage” offering another alternative to the increasingly bland tide of remakes flowing sluggishly from Hollywood. “Sexy Killer”, from director Miguel Martí (previously responsible...

“Labyrinth of Passion” is a new Tartan release of an early 1982 effort from internationally acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. The film is a scandalous look at love and sex in early 1980s Madrid which throws off the shackles of good taste and proudly celebrates excess and the alternative...

One of the residents of a declining little village in northern Spain comes across an ancient cave in the nearby hills. Hoping to revitalize the town through the potential touristic possibilities of a prehistoric cave, the locals call upon Speleologist Esteban (Carmello Gomez), who arrives in the region...

The 1930s were a terrible time in Spain. Mired in a vicious civil war that saw both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia use Spain as a practice ground for WWII, the country descended into Fascist repression under Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Against this incendiary backdrop, we have Mexican director Guillermo...

I would guess that by now most of you caught the frenetic commercials for this unique horror “fest” that appeared to be a scary new ride at Great Adventure. The fest played at only 500 venues across the United States from Friday November 17th to Tuesday the 21st. I originally planned on seeing...

“The Deal” was shot mainly (if not entirely) in Spain with, in all likelihood, Spanish money, but stars a couple of somewhat well-known American actors in order to sell the film to American cable TV stations and Blockbuster Video. The presence of Penelope Ann Miller and Henry Thomas, though...

(Movie Review by Donnie Saxton) One of the most confusing things about “The Life,” a film fraught with confusion, is what to call it. Upon theatrical release it was called “Yo Puta,” presumably because the film is based on a novel of the same name. Between then and the recent...

The Mexican movie “Cronos” is undoubtedly one of the better horror films of the 1990s. At times unsettling, at other times moving and compassionate, this is a vampire film that never conforms to any of the given rules or wisdom regarding the genre. Beautifully made, this is a true gem; a...

The title of the Spanish film “Nobody Knows Anybody” is probably too appropriate for its own good. The movie, about a lonely man who gets drawn into a dangerous and elaborate game is reminiscent of David Fincher’s “The Game”, and indeed more than a couple of elements from...

The new horror movie “Darkness”, not to be confused with “Darkness Falls” (although both films share similar gimmicks involving darkness), stars Anna Paquin (”X-Men”) as a teen whose family moves into an old house in the Spanish countryside — or “the sticks”...

Having seen Cameron Crowe’s American remake of Spaniard Alejandro Amenabar’s “Open Your Eyes” first, it’s inevitable that I would make the mistake of comparing “Open Your Eyes” to “Vanilla Sky” and not the other way around (as is the correct way)....

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Devil’s Backbone” wants to be an old-fashioned ghost story, but it’s really just old-fashioned, with some excellent special effects making intermittent appearances to liven things up. For its first 50 minutes or so, “Backbone” plays...

Jaume Balaguero’s The Nameless is a stylish psychological thriller that owes more than just a cursory homage to the works of American director David Fincher, who has revolutionize the way films are shot with his neon colors and pale color-tinted gels. Fincher’s works on movies like Fight...

Spanish auteur Amando de Ossorio’s Night of the Blind Dead fits into a subgenre I like to call Schlock Horror. Schlock Horror movies are so bad that they’re…well, they’re just so bad it’s impossible to imagine how they could get any worst, although this doesn’t always...