Director: Guillermo Grillo
Release date: 2012
Contains spoilers
I’m never sure when going in to a horror comedy, the comedy genre is so subjective and, to be fair, in my subjective view many are just unfunny. However, this Argentinean release did amuse me. Very much character driven, one might call it a situation comedy that uses horror tropes (gently) to create the situation the characters find themselves in.
It starts with Juan (Benjamín Rojas) looking for an apartment. Later we found that his parents caught him cheating on his (now ex-)girlfriend, Florencia (Inés Palombo), and this move has been instigated because of that. We get a run through the apartments he views until he finds the one he wants. A note on the photography, which is black and white and sharply done throughout.
So his friend Pedro (Talo Silveyra) helps Juan move in – his possessions are few and mostly made up of comic books. He suggests beers with Pedro the following night but Pedro refuses, yet is evasive around the reason why. His friend gone, Juan takes a photo and posts it online. He immediately gets a message from Malena (Josefina Silveyra). He checks her profile and decides she is an attractive goth girl (he briefly met her at a comic convention). We note fangs in one picture. They arrange for her to come round the next night.
He is waiting for her to arrive when Pedro arrives. He tells Juan how – four weeks ago – he was walking from a party and became aware of a dog (he suggests wolf) and a man with a gun. He hid in a trash bin but, when he got out, the dog bit him. The bite mark has hair growing out of it. The moon comes out and Pedro changes – but he is more dog than wolf. Something smells tasty – it’s Juan. We then move into two dream moments – one of Pedro talking to his mom, who becomes a dog and one of Juan in his flat when Florencia visits and he tries to get back with her (the dialogue is repeated later when she does visit, but the scene becomes negative where his dream was positive). She eventually shows fang... He wakes and the doorbell goes – it is Malena, and he makes Pedro hide but she hears him (he goes to the toilet as he got an urge to mark territory).
The film carries on in that vein. Malena is a vampire and had come to feed on Juan. Her comment after meeting Pedro about what would happen if he bit her and then mentioning hybrids like in Underworld clearly declared that to the viewer before the reveal. This is obfuscated slightly with her confession that she is a furry, in a way to explain her sudden interest in Pedro. The characters are drawn through the situation and the comedy works well but gently because of this, but there is no huge plot, just reaction to the situation. I rather liked this. 6 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On Demand @ Amazon US
On Demand @ Amazon UK
Release date: 2012
Contains spoilers
I’m never sure when going in to a horror comedy, the comedy genre is so subjective and, to be fair, in my subjective view many are just unfunny. However, this Argentinean release did amuse me. Very much character driven, one might call it a situation comedy that uses horror tropes (gently) to create the situation the characters find themselves in.
 |
| Benjamín Rojas)as Juan |
It starts with Juan (Benjamín Rojas) looking for an apartment. Later we found that his parents caught him cheating on his (now ex-)girlfriend, Florencia (Inés Palombo), and this move has been instigated because of that. We get a run through the apartments he views until he finds the one he wants. A note on the photography, which is black and white and sharply done throughout.
.jpg) |
| Josefina Silveyra as Malena |
So his friend Pedro (Talo Silveyra) helps Juan move in – his possessions are few and mostly made up of comic books. He suggests beers with Pedro the following night but Pedro refuses, yet is evasive around the reason why. His friend gone, Juan takes a photo and posts it online. He immediately gets a message from Malena (Josefina Silveyra). He checks her profile and decides she is an attractive goth girl (he briefly met her at a comic convention). We note fangs in one picture. They arrange for her to come round the next night.
 |
| not quite a wolf |
He is waiting for her to arrive when Pedro arrives. He tells Juan how – four weeks ago – he was walking from a party and became aware of a dog (he suggests wolf) and a man with a gun. He hid in a trash bin but, when he got out, the dog bit him. The bite mark has hair growing out of it. The moon comes out and Pedro changes – but he is more dog than wolf. Something smells tasty – it’s Juan. We then move into two dream moments – one of Pedro talking to his mom, who becomes a dog and one of Juan in his flat when Florencia visits and he tries to get back with her (the dialogue is repeated later when she does visit, but the scene becomes negative where his dream was positive). She eventually shows fang... He wakes and the doorbell goes – it is Malena, and he makes Pedro hide but she hears him (he goes to the toilet as he got an urge to mark territory).
 |
| Florencia's dream fangs |
The film carries on in that vein. Malena is a vampire and had come to feed on Juan. Her comment after meeting Pedro about what would happen if he bit her and then mentioning hybrids like in Underworld clearly declared that to the viewer before the reveal. This is obfuscated slightly with her confession that she is a furry, in a way to explain her sudden interest in Pedro. The characters are drawn through the situation and the comedy works well but gently because of this, but there is no huge plot, just reaction to the situation. I rather liked this. 6 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On Demand @ Amazon US
On Demand @ Amazon UK
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