TRAILER: Cinema Release: Leap Year

Film: Leap Year

SPECIAL FEATURE: Online Film Review: The Invisibles

Film: The Invisibles
Release date: 20th November 2010
Certificate: E
Running time: 22 mins
Director: Gael Garcia Bernal & Marc Silver
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal
Genre: Documentary
Format: DVD
Country: Mexico

This feature is available to watch online at: youtube.com/invisiblesfilms

Gael Garcia Bernal is probably better known for his Academy Awards than his political activism, and his co-director Mark Silver is not exactly a household name, but together they have created The Invisibles, a story of South American migrants. A documentary. These people, and these stories, are real. You can watch all of these films at youtube.com now.

Part 1 – Seaworld
In this first film, we are introduced to a group of migrants from South America who are stopping during their journey at a centre run by volunteers in Mexico.

There are single men and women and there are entire families, all searching for a better life over the border. Most poignantly, we are introduced to a little girl from El Salvador who desperately wants to see ‘beautiful’ America. Her youngest brother is only one year and eight months old. Their parents have risked everything to get their family this far, and the journey is far from over…

Marc Silver is an accomplished director and the precision of his opening shots is startling and stark. At first, there is no speech, just rolling music that washes over the men, women and boys who lie or sit against the concrete walls, listless in their anticipation of what the future may bring them. When the dialogue does begin, it is often in the form of a voiceover, leaving the individuals in shot to their own quiet dignity, while the tales of torture and death, destinies that could befall anyone of these people, are told in a calm and matter of fact manner. If people cannot provide the details of rich American family members, the tips of their tongues will be removed. If they have no money or information, they will be cut up and placed in 200 litres of boiling oil, sometimes while they are still alive, until the only thing left of them is old photos on posters of the missing.

By the time the film reaches the small El Salvadorian girl, the outlook is bleak, yet she is happy, and smiles at the thought of Sea World in America, a capitalist dream that she does not realise she is not entitled to. Captured in the name of this first instalment is the innocence of childhood.

Throughout the film emotions are kept at bay. These people no longer have the energy to express grief. The butchering of humanity becomes as regular as the chopping of the dark red beetroot in the centres’ kitchen. All that remains is a quiet sense of disbelief, which is transmitted to the viewer, that all this can happen to normal people, in the modern world, at the US border.


Part 2 – Six Out Of Ten
Garcia Bernal interviews three single mothers from Honduras. They have left their country to better provide for their children, but to do this they have had to leave behind the very people they love the most. Often the fathers of their children are dead. They see themselves as having no other choice than to travel to the US for work. Yet, on the way to America, six out of ten women will be sexually abused…

Silver uses a low camera angle to create intimacy in the first scene. Garcia Bernal sits with the women on the train tracks. For this moment, he has thrown in his lot with the people who have landed in his country of birth.

Through the hazy light of sunrise or sunset – the boundaries are blurred here for the migrant population who do not officially exist – the viewer finds themselves in a rubbish tip where people work, picking through the debris. A sun-bleached doll, discarded on the dry earth, is a reminder of the bodies found in the desert that borders Arizona. Sliver grinds this home with repeated cutaways to a barren tree in which carrion birds await their feast.

The human cost of this journey is made abundantly clear as a woman who works at the centre flicks through a book of names and tells some of their stories – a 14-year-old girl who asked for a contraceptive injection to prevent pregnancy if she was raped, and a 17-year-old girl raped while two months pregnant. The cinematography is sparse; there is no escaping from these truths.

The film closes with the very real tears of one of the mothers - she wants to provide for her child, but is aware of all that she has risked to do so.


Part 3 – What Remains
In the penultimate film, Silver and Garcia Bernal take a step back from the migrants at the centre and turn instead to the relatives of those who have left, and the stories of those who have been lost along the way…

Roses open the scene; perfect, pink and natural. The voiceover begins before we are shown the face of the woman who is speaking, giving, once again, a sense of absence. She has lost her son who, after having said that he would contact her twelve days after his departure, has never been heard of again. “I like plants,” she says, “they help me forget my worries.”

What remains is a collection of broken families who may never know the fate of their loved ones. Garcia Bernal is shown photos of the murdered migrants and then taken by a 16-year-old boy to a collection of unmarked graves. In this country, it is now the children who are the keepers of the dead. There is no official record of their deaths.


Part 4 – ‘Goal!’
The final film encompasses the political problems behind the continued migration, and the very real risks caused primarily by the imposed illegality of the journey. It tells the story of those who will keep trying no matter what the cost, and the Mexican people determined to help them, even though in doing so they place themselves at risk…

The film opens with a montage of shots - a man in a hospital bed, bandaged, heavily tattooed, and incapacitated by his ordeal, the ‘death trains’ on which crowds of migrants sit, exposed to the weather, and the gangs who make their livings extorting money from these people. It was on one of these trains that the young man sustained his injuries; he was pushed off by a gang member, and has had to have two fingers amputated as a result. There are men in wheelchairs, men being treated for the physical symptoms of sexual abuse; it is only here that the film suggests a sense of defeat.

Olga, a woman who treats the wounded migrants, lifts the mood with her deep respect for their efforts to better their lives, and the priest who ministers to them tells us they say, “God is with us.” Whatever might happen to them on the journey, they believe that this is their right.

The film’s title comes from a scene in which men and boys are watching football. They stand and shout at the goal, it could be any scene from any place, but here it is a cry of hope that life will one day be as normal and safe as the situation suggests.

Finally, Garcia Bernal uses a voiceover, while a train roles on into the dust, the migrants wave, and he tries to explain that this is not a problem that will go away - and that these people cannot continue to be invisible.


The Invisibles is an important collection of films because the voices it gives have so long been repressed and ignored. The heart of their message is that the migrants are real people who have expectations of life very similar to your own. The only difference is the country into which they were born. Silver and Garcia Bernal are due to make a feature length film on the same theme, and I can only imagine that it will be a stunning piece of art, yet a horrific tale of the state’s lack of care for the people who need it most. EM

NEWS: Cinema Release: Leap Year

Official Selection at the 2010 London Film Festival and Winner of the prestigious Camera D’Or prize for Best First Feature at the 2010 Cannes International Film Festival, Leap Year is the shocking debut feature film of Australian director Michael Rowe, a character study on loneliness, featuring an extraordinary leading performance by Monica Del Carmen (Babel), supported by Gustavo Sánchez Parra (Man On Fire).

This highly charged sexual thriller, set within the small confines of a Mexican apartment, follows 29 days in the dispirited life of freelance Journalist Laura Lopez, as she moves from one anonymous sexual encounter to another.

Soon, Laura meets a man by the name of Arturo, and it is not long before she is submitting to demeaning sexual acts as part of their relationship - a tragic psychological reaction to a secret trauma from her past, which occurred on the previous leap year. When Laura marks a red square around an upcoming date on her calendar wall, the wheels are set in motion for what will turn out to be a startling conclusion.

Film: Leap Year
Release date: 26th November 2010
Certificate: TBC
Running time: 92 mins
Director: Michael Rowe
Starring: Monica del Carmen, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Armando Hernández, Diego Chas, Marco Zapata
Genre: Drama
Studio: Axiom
Format: Cinema
Country: Mexico

TRAILER: Cinema Release: We Are What We Are

Film: We Are What We Are

NEWS: Cinema Release: We Are What We Are

A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals…

They have always existed on a diet of human flesh consumed in bloody ritual ceremonies - and the victims have always been provided by the father. Now that he is gone, who will hunt? Who will lead them? How will they sate their horrific hunger?

The task falls to the eldest son, Alfredo, a teenage misfit who seems far from ready to accept the challenge... But without human meat the family will die.

Shocking, bloody and deeply moving, We Are What We Are is a remarkable reinvention of the horror genre - a visceral and powerfully emotional portrait of a family bound by a terrible secret and driven by monstrous appetites.

Film: We Are What We Are
Release date: 12th November 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Jorge Michel Grau
Starring: Francisco Barreiro, Alan Chávez, Paulina Gaitán, Carmen Beato, Jorge Zárate
Genre: Drama/Horror
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: Cinema
Country: Mexico

REVIEW: DVD Release: The Guillermo Del Toro Collection

Film: The Guillermo Del Toro Collection
Release date: 12th March 2007
Certificate: 18
Running time: 310 mins
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Ivana Baquero
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Fantasy/Horror/Mystery/Thriller/War
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: Mexico/Spain/USA

Guillermo Del Toro is easily one of the most imaginative, original and instantly recognisable directors working today. From his humble beginnings as an independent filmmaker, the Mexican has produced numerous classic films, and in recent years made the move to mainstream Hollywood. Always present in his work is a rich and iconic visual sensibility, relatable and sympathetic monsters and freaks, and frequent references to fairytale, folklore and religion.


Cronos (1994)
When Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi), an elderly antiques dealer, comes into possession of an ancient device in the form of a clockwork beetle, he is unwittingly transformed into a vampire as the device activates and stings him. He becomes more youthful, and far stronger, but develops an overpowering urge to consume blood. He is hunted by a dying millionaire and his nephew (Claudio Brook and Ron Perlman, respectively) for knowledge of the device and its promise of eternal life…

Cronos foreshadows many aspects of Del Toro’s career: it features a clockwork device in the shape of a scarab beetle (both insects and clockwork mechanisms have become instantly recognisable Del Toro visual motifs) and the film also features soon-to become-regular collaborators Federico Luppi and Ron Pearlman (the former would appear in The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth, the latter in the Hellboy films and Blade II).

The film has some undeniably memorable scenes, including Gris’ first experience of a vampire’s need for blood (he laps it off a bathroom floor) and his resurrection in a morgue moments before cremation. The film does, however, tend to drag a little (especially the lengthy prologue and build up to Gris’ initial transformation) – despite only being 94 minutes, it can seem longer.

While it’s very stylistically striking, and has some iconic scenes, Del Toro’s debut is easily the weakest of his Spanish-language films. Several ideas don’t quite work and the story loses its energy on occassions. However, Cronos is a perfectly respectable first film all the same, and Del Toro was just finding his feet after all. Even here you can find evidence of his future brilliance.

Del Toro’s big screen debut sets the tone for the rest of his career – it’s dark, imaginative and fun. After his career began in TV and short film production, Cronos is certainly a daring and exciting big-screen debut.


The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Far more than the standard ghost story, The Devil’s Backbone is a very tense and extremely emotional experience. It’s effectively atmospheric and creepy (it’s set in a rundown and isolated orphanage during the Spanish Civil War) and the cast all manage to get across the tragedy and horror of the events that unfold.

When young Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at a remote orphanage in the final stages of the Spanish Civil War, it is immediately apparent that all is not well. There is an unexploded bomb stuck in the ground outside, sinister relationships between the orphanage’s staff and children, and the ghost of a young boy wandering the corridors. What dark secrets will Carlos stumble upon?

You have all the standard scares you’d expect in any horror film, but these are contrasted by tensely drawn out scenes - and the ghost itself, Santi (Junio Valverde), is brilliantly realised, managing to evoke the right mix of fear and sympathy from an audience.

The cast all bring a little something extra to their roles, and this helps them become believable characters, from Carlos’ inherent goodness and need to find the truth to the tragically lonely headmistress Carmen (Marisa Paredes), the kind and deeply philosophical Dr Casares (Federico Luppi), the emotionally unstable and threatening caretaker Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega) and the emotionally repressed bully Jaime (Íñigo Garcés).

“What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber.” This opening question urges us to look past what scares us, and conquer our fears. It fits in with Del Toro’s usual ethos - that his monsters are mostly sympathetic creatures, and should not be taken at face value, as simply ‘evil’.

The Devil’s Backbone is well written, well acted and extremely scary. Del Toro makes use of just enough horror clichés whilst adding his own take on the genre. It further cements his position as an extremely original and rewarding director to take an interest in.


Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth is a masterpiece of fairytale storytelling, effortlessly blending the real world with fantasy. Del Toro returned to his roots after a few years in Hollywood, crafting a believable fable full to the brim with emotion.

Set in fascist Spain in 1944, a young girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), is sent with her pregnant mother to live in the care of her stepfather Vidal (Sergi López), a captain in General Franco’s military who is fighting guerrilla rebels.

Ofelia loves to read and has a vivid imagination, and she frequently escapes the clutches of her brutal stepfather to explore her new surroundings. One such escapade leads to the discovery an ancient labyrinth within which she meets a mysterious faun who promises her eternal life if she completes three tasks for him…

Pan’s Labyrinth is a film of contrasts – we are shown the horrific brutalities of war one moment and truly beautiful fantasies the next. One minute we see guerrilla rebels being brutally tortured by Vidal, the next Ofelia is being guided down ancient corridors by fairies. We see these worlds through the eyes of Ofelia, through the eyes of an imaginative 12-year-old –the distinctions between fantasy and reality are not yet clearly defined. The director can really go to town with his distinct visual flair in this film – everything is beautifully designed, from the labyrinth itself to the ancient faun, the fairies and the horrifying array of creatures Ofelia has to face.

The cast are of the highest calibre. Ivana Baquero makes Ofelia a believable heroine, full of wonder and imagination, and ultimately guided by her need to do the right thing. Sergi López makes Vidal a truly despicable villain and Maribel Verdú plays Mercedes, Vidal’s housekeeper and secretly a mole for the guerrilla rebels with a dignified defiance. We should, of course, not overlook Doug Jones, an often unsung hero of film. Because of his highly physical acting style and slight frame, he more often than not performs under heavy makeup and/or prosthetics. In Pan’s, Jones plays the Faun and the Pale Man (the grotesque, skinny creature who wears his eyes in his hands in the dinner table scene) – he is responsible for the portrayal of both of the most memorable creatures in the film!

Pan’s Labyrinth is not only visually stunning, but can rely on the strengths of every single cast member to make fantasy believable. The plot is emotionally intense, gripping and tragic, and Javier Nevarrete’s haunting yet beautiful score effortlessly carries and reinforces the story. Guillermo Del Toro continues to prove that not only is he a master of visuals, but of character as well.


Guillermo Del Toro’s films have steadily improved over the years. From a daring but unremarkable debut with Cronos to the chilling and far more entertaining The Devil’s Backbone, and then the pinnacle of his creativity, Pan’s Labyrinth. These films are proof that Guillermo Del Toro has demonstrated more imagination, originality and technical ability in two decades than many Hollywood directors demonstrate in their entire careers. SSP

REVIEW: DVD Release: Cronos

Film: Cronos
Release date: 6th February 2006
Certificate: 18
Running time: 88 mins
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margarita Isabel, Tamara Shanath
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Horror/Thriller
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: Mexico

As the first feature of Guillermo Del Toro, Cronos has gained notoriety due to the Mexican writer and director’s more successful later films, including Pan’s Labyrinth and Hollywood blockbusters such as Hellboy.

In 1536, alchemist Humberto Oganelli creates the Cronos device, a small golden casing containing an intricate mechanism and an immortal parasite. The device, designed to bestow eternal life on its owner, is merely the stuff of legend until it is discovered by antiques dealer, Jesus Gris, in the base of a wooden statue. Gris accidentally triggers the mechanism within the device, which clamps to his hand and draws blood.

Agreeing with his young granddaughter Aurora to keep the Cronos device a secret, Jesus develops a desperate thirst, and later allows the device to feed on his blood. Jesus becomes noticeably rejuvenated but has develops a craving for blood.

The existence of the device is also known by the dying Dieter de la Guardia, who assigns his nephew, Angel, the task of locating the statue and its priceless cargo. Angel fails to recover the Cronos device, and later appears to kill Jesus in an attempt to beat him into submission. Jesus lies unconscious during his own funeral, narrowly avoids being cremated and escapes, although his body is rotting. He finds his way to his granddaughter’s rooftop den, where he avoids sunlight by sleeping in her toy box.

Jesus and Aurora search de la Guardia’s quarters for the manuscript explaining how to safely use the Cronos device. They are confronted by de la Guardia and Angel and become involved in a battle to escape…


From unquenchable thirst to slow realisation that he hungers for raw meat and then blood, Jesus’ descent into vampirism is gradual, affecting and, in context, forgivable. As the device rejuvenates the old antiques dealer, Federico Luppi (in a role originally written for Max Von Sydow) gives a portrayal of a man with a new lease of life that is heart-warming, yet tinged with sadness, as Jesus acknowledges the high price of this reinvigoration. The sexual nature of Jesus’ sessions with the Cronos device adds an uncomfortable element far removed from other vampire stories’ rape metaphors – Jesus’ lust for blood rarely involves other people, as he seeks to assuage his bloodlust in a non-violent manner. Scenes showing Jesus distressed over whether to lick spilt blood from the floor of a bathroom are upsetting and wonderfully staged.

Cronos has terrific production standards for a first time feature. Interiors are well-worn and grimy, Jesus’ shop is filled with authentic-looking antiques, and de la Guardia’s quarters above an industrial complex are sinister and sterile. Moreover, Del Toro draws horrific scenes from innocuous events and objects: in particular, the deadly Cronos device itself, with its intricate, syringe-like mechanism, produces some effective chills.

The film is notable for being dual-language – Ron Perlman switches between Spanish and English, and the opening narration is also in English. Del Toro’s disregard for filmic conventions in spoken language pervades other parts of the film, which is filled with pleasingly specific quirks, such as Aurora’s rooftop den, the grandfather’s miniature tea party with his granddaughter, and the grimy crematorium with its nonchalant worker.

Compared to many vampire films, Cronos is concise – thematically, as well as in terms of setting. There is a neat circularity to its features: for example, it is Angel who searches for the archangel, and the image of beetles recur throughout – first crawling out of the statue’s face, then mirrored in the appearance and piercing ‘attack’ of the Cronos device.

While Luppi appears in almost every scene, the supporting cast is equally dependable. Ron Perlman’s Angel De la Guardia is callous and self-centred, providing many of the comic moments in the film, as well as being the most repellent character. His grunting horseplay with Aurora at the beginning of the film is both humorous and deeply sinister, as is his bizarre preoccupation with cosmetic surgery. Jesus’ wife Mercedes is played by Margarita Isabel with sad-eyed humanity, providing naïve warmth to balance the coldness of the film’s villains.

Cronos include many themes that Del Toro would explore in his later films The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth, particularly the inclusion of a wise but innocent child. However, this film is notable (in Del Toro’s oeuvre - and horror cinema in general) for viewing events through the eyes of an elderly man, thus relegating the child to bystander.

Cronos doesn’t entirely break the mould of horror cinema, however. In particular, the exaggerated, slurping sounds of flowing blood are oddly conventional in a film that appears brave in many other respects, and Javier Álvarez’s score is effective but again adds little to the atmosphere.


It’s clear to see why Cronos secured Guillermo Del Toro’s reputation as an imaginative and resourceful director. It is easily one of the most effective horror chillers of the 1990s, and its casual disregard for cinematic conventions is welcome in a genre that too often veers close to pastiche. It’s visceral, affecting and unusual – and, in its small way, Cronos is a triumph of truly international cinema. TM

REVIEW: DVD Release: The Guillermo Del Toro Collection

Film: The Guillermo Del Toro Collection
Release date: 12th March 2007
Certificate: 18
Running time: 310 mins
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Ivana Baquero
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Fantasy/Horror/Mystery/Thriller/War
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: Mexico/Spain/USA

Crafting some of horror’s most unusual works, Guillermo Del Toro is first and foremost a horror fan, not prepared to simply get the job done – and boy, does it show. His works over the years have included the underrated Mimic, Blade 2 and both Hellboy and its sequel. This collection, released for the first time on Blu-ray, showcases his talent for producing poignant chills with his first feature Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone and the much-celebrated Pan’s Labyrinth.


Cronos (1993)
Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) is an elderly antiques dealer who happens upon an ancient mechanical device, shaped like a beetle, once belonging to a 16th century alchemist.

Housing an immortal parasite, which offers him the chance of eternal life, Gris readily agrees, at first not overly concerned about an extreme aversion to daylight and an agonising thirst for human blood – the pros far weighing out the cons as he grows ever more youthful with every sip.

That is until he yearns for the vital fluid of his innocent granddaughter…

With its plentiful supply of body horror and insects guaranteed to leave us insecure at the very least, Cronos is a neat vampire riff that’s imaginative, witty and right on the money.

If clamping the ancient device on Luppi’s chest doesn’t make you look away, or if beetles escaping from one of the holes in the statue fail to send a chill down your spine, the trashy image of Jesus licking blood from a white-tiled toilet floor will certainly affect you.

Federico Luppi and Ron Perlman are superb as the warring relations, with spot-on dialogue that requires little padding to move the story on at a satisfying pace. The special effects and locations still fascinate, and the gothic soundtrack compliments the former splendidly.

Dark, and in places extremely stylish, Del Toro’s first outing at the tender age of 29 is perhaps let down by a script that never really hits full throttle – yet its deliciously entertaining and frightfully scary nonetheless; certainly worth getting your teeth into.


The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Set during the final days of the Civil War, the young inhabitants of a Spanish orphanage are brutally terrorised by Santi, a decaying spirit who stalks the building’s dark, decaying hallways.

Carlos, a 10-year-old boy, and son of a fallen Republican hero, is badgered incessantly by the child-like ghost upon his arrival. Having to contend with a violent caretaker, a bully, and an un-exploded bomb that dominates the orphanage’s courtyard, still ticking away, Santi latching onto him is all too much.

The only way to rid himself of the spirit is to delve into the past and learn the true story of the child’s death, in turn revealing the real source of danger and interpreting the ghost’s gloomy prediction that “many of you will die”…

More than just a simple ghost story, The Devil’s Backbone somehow manages to pull its diverse sub-plots together in such an explicable and beautifully realised way that come the final third, you’ll be deeply moved and will completely forget about how terrifying the journey actually was.

It may build slowly, but the tense murder-mystery elements that keep you guessing until the very end, tinged with unspeakable brutality and fantastic performances from its cast of mainly children, will barely leave you time to breathe.

It’s because of the excellent performances that we do find enough empathy, even for the tormenting ghost Santi, and also why Del Toro doesn’t need to try too hard to scare us. Children are more likely to open doors they shouldn’t, after all. That’s not to say the chills are lazy, even if the finer moments take place in the basement - and when Carlos is hiding in the closet.

Atmospheric visuals and subtle special effects are enhanced by an eerie soundtrack punctured by mysterious noises that really add to the tension, but it’s the emotional finale that will really send a lump down the throat – an underrated horror classic.


Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
A companion piece to the Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth follows Ofelia, a young girl uprooted to a remote military outpost commanded by her new stepfather, a sadistic general in Franco’s army during the harsh realities of the Civil War.

Powerless and lonely, Ofelia discovers a neglected labyrinth behind the family home. Meeting Pan, a fantastical creature who challenges her with three tasks, which he claims will reveal her true identity as a princess, she lives out her own dark fable, confronting monsters both otherworldly and human, hoping to finally meet her real father, the King…

Without doubt, a fairytale for grown-ups, Pan’s Labyrinth steals cheekily from all those before it – whether it be Sergi Lopez playing the big bad wolf in the shape of Ofelia’s stepfather, the housekeeper’s fairy godmother, the movie’s haunted forests and rural setting, or its nods to other classics such as The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and The Wizard Of Oz.

Only, there are more than just devilish sprites, cheeky fauns and twisted witches on offer here. In fact, the real terror comes from the real world rather than that of Ofelia’s imagination – a place so violent and bleak it’s no wonder she so gratefully accepts the three challenges in order to prove her royal status.

The true monster is the sadistic general as he tries to stamp out the left-wing using whatever means necessary, revelling in scenes that are extremely difficult to watch as Del Toro charts the evil that men can do with look-away precision.

The scene stealer, however, is pure fantasy. One of the greatest ever horror scenes occurs when Ofelia is confronted by the Pale Man, a hideous monster with no eyes catching his beauty sleep until she awakens him by foolishly stealing some of his food. Timing is everything here. Even though the viewer knows it’s coming, they don't know when. Yet, even then, as the creature finally jerks into life, reaching for his eyes before inserting them into the palms of his hands, they still won’t be prepared for the nerve-shredding chase through the corridors that follows.

Del Toro refuses, once again, to go overboard with CGI, and the horror is more terrifying for it. Dark, delightful, bleak and beautiful, all at the same time, Pan’s Labyrinth manages to merge the horrors of real life into the fantastical world of imagination, leaving Ofelia, and the viewer, with no preferable place to hide.


Crafting some of horror’s most imaginative and terrifying works, Guillermo Del Toro manages to combine fantasy and supernatural dread with political commentary in a way nobody else can. A fantastic collection – one that truly delivers the goods. DW

REVIEW: Blu-ray Only Release: Guillermo Del Toro

Film: Guillermo Del Toro
Release date: 25th October 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 313 mins
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Ivana Baquero
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Fantasy/Horror/Mystery/Thriller/War
Studio: Optimum
Format: Blu-ray
Country: Mexico/Spain/USA

Covering the three most critically acclaimed of his works, this Guillermo Del Toro box set takes us from his directorial debut in the 20th century, through to his most recent pieces of the 21st. Each film carries and emphasises the hallmarks of what has made Del Toro one of the most popular, and followed directors of the modern era, with his self-confessed fetish for all things peculiar, haunting, mysterious and a painstaking attention to detail.

Cronos (1993)
Jesús, an elderly antique dealer living in Mexico with his granddaughter, Aurora, stumbles across a discovery in the base of a newly delivered statue: a golden scarab-shaped device. While attempting to uncover the secrets and history to this unknown item, it unfurls legs, to fully mimic a beetle, and without warning attaches itself to Jesús.

When the Cronos device eventually releases itself, Jesús finds that his health has improved drastically, he feels vigorous and full of vitality. With extended research, he identifies and dates the contraption back to a 16th century alchemist, who claimed it could gift immortality to anyone that used it. Unfortunately for Jesús and his family, the device’s existence is not exclusive to them - a band of American criminals are in search of it for their employer and dying businessman, Dieter de la Guardia.

Led by his violent nephew, Angel, the two factions come to loggerheads as they demand its possession and will stoop to any means to obtain it. However, this is the least of Jesús’ worries, as he slowly begins to discover that the cost for the eternal life is an extreme aversion to sunlight and a more disturbing need for human blood…

Del Toro’s debut is a startling affair that positions itself firmly in the horror genre, yet does so with great warmth and affection. Less associated with slashers and more with the psychological torment of films like The Shining, Cronos doesn’t offer formulaic scares, but proves to be frightening as a deeply unsettling study and deconstruction of our own humanity and mortality.

What is truly the emotional coup de grâce, and proves to be the cornerstone of its very success, is Del Toro’s focus on the human side of the story. Del Toro is equally as concerned by how the Cronos device is affecting Jesús, as he is with how this affect on Jesús is damaging his relationship with his granddaughter, whom he loves dearly. The director manages to show the young child as not someone who is naïve to the circumstances around her, but as a young woman who is very aware of the happenings in her life, yet still remains deeply loyal and devoted to her grandfather.

Cronos is a disconcerting experience, which harbours the very essence of what makes a horror film successful, yet, at its heart, remains an identifiable human tale; a gripping drama about a loving family in turmoil that once it has grabbed hold of you proves very difficult to shake off.


The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Written while he was in college, Guillermo Del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone is a dark gothic thriller set amidst the backdrop of the last days of the bloody Spanish Civil War.

Carlos, a young boy, is left at an orphanage on the outskirts of a remote village, awaiting the return of his Republican father from the conflict. Run by two elderly administrators and a couple of additional assistants who initially befriend Carlos, his life there begins to suffer, as not only does he find himself bullied by the other boys but by a malicious spectre that haunts the buildings decaying hallways.

As Carlos slowly awakens to the possibility that he may be a permanent resident, the orphans slowly come together, sharing resources and discussing the nature of this ghost, which many have either heard of or seen. It is concluded the apparition is that of a boy named Santi, who used to live at the orphanage before disappearing on the same night a bomb dropped in the forecourt.

The boys must work out who they can trust and find out the mysteries to the ghost of Santi and the undetonated bomb, which resonates as a constant reminder to the violent war that surrounds them...

Cited as Del Toro’s most personal work, The Devil’s Backbone builds on the themes and styles that garnered him such a reputation. The director skilfully weaves together the moments of dread, with an appreciation for suspense, and dramatic tension that would have impressed Hitchcock. He alerts the audience to the idea that something is amiss, and that something disturbing may be about to happen, but drip feeds the dread into our subconscious, proving to be a clinically arresting experience.

Del Toro makes expert use of his decrepit sets, taking the boys into dark alcoves, narrow corridors, enclosed rooms and skin-crawling situations but, as with Cronos, tempers the consternation with a great sadness. He reveals the trials and tribulations of the orphanage through the eyes of a young boy who is experiencing these events with little understanding of why.

As with Cronos, Del Toro’s true flair doesn’t come from lavish cinematographic landscapes, but from a simple, affecting and ultimately gut-wrenching emotional pull that is the human aspect of his creations.

Yes, The Devil’s Backbone is the chilling tale of a horror mystery, but alternatively it is an upsetting portrayal of a child, and childhood, amidst the atrocities and fallout of war.


Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Once again, written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is the spiritual companion piece to The Devil’s Backbone.

Set five years after the Spanish Civil War, a young girl named Ofelia and her pregnant mother arrive at the encampment of their military stepfather and husband, respectively.

Captain Vidal is a fascist charged with the eradication of Spanish Marquis guerrillas that are scattered through the area, and has little time for either Ofelia nor her mother, merely concerning himself with the imminent birth of his son who would become his heir apparent.

Ofelia’s pregnant mother, Carmen, is severely ill with her condition worsening, and with Ofelia feeling trapped and scared that she may be left alone with her stepfather, she delves deeper into her reading of fantasy stories to escape the harsh realities around her. Then, one evening, a fairy visits her and guides her to a labyrinth behind the house in which they are all staying. At the heart of this labyrinth is a faun who challenges her to complete three tasks, which if completed before the night of the full moon will result in her true identity being revealed...

An event, which had taken years to achieve, and had Del Toro carrying around a notebook which was filled with “doodles, ideas, drawings and plot bits,” Pan’s Labyrinth is widely regarded as the director’s magnum opus. Filled with fantastical imagery influenced by everything from Alice In Wonderland to the art of Francisco Goya, Pan’s Labyrinth is in itself a complex serpentine trail of symbolism that tackles the grim realities of war, while balancing that with fairytale creativity and a serious contemplation on religious death and rebirth.

Del Toro’s imagination is at its most poignant and powerful in Pan’s Labyrinth, with scenes and constructs that live long in the memory. Yet despite these whimsical and engaging distractions, the director once again focuses on the plight of the individual.

As the film progresses into darker more disturbing territory, the fantasy begins to give way to the harsh realities of the world in which Ofelia has to inhabit, and it is her reluctance to become a part of that world and her fear of such an existence that is the crux which binds all the elements together.

On repeated viewings there is an immense array of iconography and parabolic information that can be dissected, yet it is the emotional attachment, the sympathy and empathy, we develop with Ofelia that moves us, and, as always, Del Toro does so in such a subtle and masterful way.


An impressive array of cinema for which the Del Toro undertook the writing, directing and production for all three - perhaps giving us the most accurate and insightful look into his creative thought process, which, like many of his films, is deeply personal. For those wishing to delve further into the mind of one of Mexico’s finest, a little nod to the etymology of the names he chooses for his characters will not only heighten the experience but make you respect his absolute dedication to his works even more. BL

REVIEW: DVD Release: Y Tu Mama Tambien

Film: Y Tu Mama Tambien
Release date: 22nd October 2007
Certificate: 18
Running time: 101 mins
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Maribel Verdú, Marta Aura, Diana Bracho
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Studio: Icon
Format: DVD
Country: Mexico

Director Alfonso Cuarón made a welcome return to the cinema of his native tongue with his first Mexican film in a decade. Having tried his hand at big budget American productions, Cuarón went back to his roots with Y Tu Mama Tambien, a lucrative decision with the film grossing seven times its original budget worldwide.

Opening with a very personal goodbye, the audience is offered a voyeuristic view of Julio (Gael García Bernal) and Tenoch (Diego Luna) going at it with their girlfriends more aggressively than a Duracell bunny on speed before taking the girls to the airport, promising to be faithful whilst they are in Italy.

Realising how much they depend on their girlfriends to keep them entertained, their boredom is temporarily remedied by games of who can make themselves come the fastest. Little do they know that a boring family wedding will provide them with a chance meeting which will keep them amused for the rest of the summer.

Cheekily flirting with a beautiful older lady, Luisa (Maribel Verdú), the boys think they are on to a good think until they discover that the mystery Spanish lady is in fact the wife of Tenoch’s cousin Jano. At this point, the double act seem even more determined to impress Luisa, and begin creating an imaginary beach, la Boca del Cielo (Heaven’s Mouth), in an attempt to seduce her into taking a road trip with them. An apprehensive Luisa politely declines until she receives a drunken phone call from Jano while he is away on business, tearfully admitting to having cheated on her.

The three of them set off through rural Mexico, Luisa blissfully unaware that these boys have no idea where they are going. As if Tenoch and Julio need anything more than the presence of Luisa to keep their spirits high as they aimlessly drive around, the boys boast about their sexual experiences and conquests, pausing to high five each other. Bemused by their comparatively modest exploits, Luisa begins her subtle seduction telling them about her relationship with Jano and her first love. The reality of bedding Luisa is more sexual humiliation than fantasy, shattering the grand delusions they hold about their sexual abilities, and ultimately turning them against each other.

They continue their road trip in absolute silence only talking to throw an underhanded remark at the other until they stumble upon a beach - both surprised, they can’t believe their luck. When they meet a group of locals, they discover that Heaven’s Mouth really does exist, and Luisa remains none the wiser about the lies they told to get her there. When it’s time to leave the beach behind, Luisa announces that she wants to stay, leaving the boys to travel back alone with a now awkward and frosty friendship…


Interestingly, the film is set two years in the past, in 1999, showcasing the realities of living in Mexico both economically and politically. Most notably this era is recognised as being the time when Mexico’s longest political reign was brought to an end when the Institutional Revolutionary Party lost the election to the National Action Party after 71 years. Throughout the film, issues of economy and politics are subtly raised, but always presented as background information rather than having a direct impact on the plot. Tenoch’s father is a political official, important enough to have the president of Mexico as a guest at his daughter’s wedding, and although Julio gets on well with Tenoch’s family, they are political polar opposites. It is revealed at the end of the film that some of the things which the audience have seen during the film have been affected as a result of the change in political power, coincidently it is also noted that Tenoch and Julio are no longer friends. Cuarón has created a powerful backdrop for his film and the imagery of poor, rural Mexico serves to enforce the reality of the boys’ lives.

At the heart of it, Y Tu Mama Tambien is essentially a coming of age story, detailing the, literally, emotional journey of best friends Julio and Tenoch. The film opens with a shot which illustrates both the grounding and the destruction of the boys’ friendship - sex. Cuarón is fearless in his choice of opening shot, which places the audience voyeuristically sneaking into Tenoch’s bedroom as he is having sex with his girlfriend, with a sweaty recklessness which sets the tone for the entire movie. Cuarón certainly took a risk when he made the decision to show such unabashed scenes of sex, although his choice was no doubt influenced by the fact that he had such an attractive cast to work with. All immaturities to one side, Cuarón has pin pointed the attitude most young people have towards sex, the disposability of it, and the way that emotions are ignored until it is you who becomes hurt. Tenoch and Julio are the ultimate horny teenage boys, bragging about their sexual exploits and trying to outdo one another, but their friendship is put to the test as a result. Neither one shows any signs of growing up or taking responsibility, and they are doubly put to shame when Luisa tells them that their manifesto is as meaningless as the sex they have.


Genuinely moving and humorous, but, at times, cringe worthy, Y Tu Mama Tambien reaches beyond its expected audience of young hipsters with a relevance which spans a multitude of ages. Cuarón has managed to present pressing issues in a way which retains a light hearted and enjoyable viewing experience whilst making you think. JHA

NEWS: Blu-ray Only Release: Amores Perros

Centred around three different stories, this film is set in the heart of the troubled and ever-changing Mexico City.

Octavio is unlucky in love and has a major crush on Susana, who is married to his abusive brother Ramiro; Daniel is a successful editor who has left his wife and kids to live with Valeria, a supermodel, in her penthouse apartment; whilst El Chivo is an ex-con turned hitman who is being paid to kill a rich businessman, against the wishes of his scared young girlfriend.

Film: Amores Perros
Release date: 18th October 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 155 mins
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring: Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Studio: Optimum
Format: Blu-ray
Country: Mexico

TRAILER: Cinema Release: Alamar

Film: Alamar

NEWS: Cinema Release: Alamar

Jorge and Roberta have been separated for several years. They simply come from opposite worlds: he likes an uncomplicated life in the jungle, while she prefers a more urban existence. He is Mexican and she is Italian, and she has decided to return to Rome with their 5-year-old son, Natan.

Before they leave, Jorge wishes to take young Natan on a trip, hoping to teach him about his Mayan origins in Mexico. At first, the boy is physically and emotionally uncomfortable with the whole affair, and gets seasick on the boat taking them to their destination. But as father and son spend more time together, Natan begins a learning experience that will remain with him forever.

The film received award recognition, including: the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival 2010; the Audience Award at the Morelia International Film Festival 2010; the Feature Film Competition Award at the Morelia International Film Festival 2010; the Jury Award at the Miami International Film Festival 2010; and the New Director Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival 2010. The film also received Official Selection at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Minneapolis International Film Festival, the Sarasota Film Festival and the Washington DC International Film Festival.

Film: Alamar
Release date: 10th September 2010
Certificate: U
Running time: 73 mins
Director: Pedro González‐Rubio
Starring: Jorge Machado, Roberta Palombini, Natan Machado Palombini, Néstor Marín “Matraca”
Genre: Drama/Family
Studio: New Wave
Format: Cinema
Country: Mexico

REVIEW: DVD Release: Silent Light

Film: Silent Light
Release date: 23rd August 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 136 mins
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Starring: Elizabeth Fehr, Cornelio Wall, Miriam Toews, Maria Pankratz, Jacabo Klassen
Genre: Drama
Studio: Palisades Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany

Carlos Reygadas’ multi award-winning picture has found worldwide critical acclaim and can count Martin Scorsese, who described it as “a surprising picture, and a very moving one as well,” amongst its admirers. The film deals with immediate impact that an affair has on a family, as well as the deeper moral implications that choosing one partner over another can have.

Silent Light tells the story of Johan (Cornelio Wall), a Russian Mennonite living in Mexico with his wife Esther (Miriam Toews) and their children.

From the beginning of the film, it is apparent that there is a tension between Johan and Esther, and we soon learn that Johan has been conducting an affair with a woman named Marianne.

Johan is a deeply religious man, but his faith in God is called into question as he begins to wonder whether it is morally correct to stay with Esther and honour his wedding vows, or to follow his heart and be with Marianne, who is better suited for him, and for whom he has deeper feelings of love.

Torn between his love for his family and his love for Marianne, as the story develops, we discover that it is not only Johan who is so deeply affected by his dilemma…


What is initially so striking about Silent Light is its subtlety. In the opening moments, we see a sky gradually turn from night to morning, as the sun crawls up from beyond the horizon. These opening shots provide some insight into what makes Silent Light such a beautifully visual piece of cinema - Reygadas’ use of natural environments means every shot is rich with stunning Mexican countryside; its harsh, uncontrollable wildness mirroring the feelings that penetrate each of the main characters’ thoughts. The cinematography is stunning, with each shot carefully considered and effective.

To frame a film with such deliberate and apparent symmetry can often lead to the world of the film seeming unreal, but Reygades manages to create several shots in which the focal point is perfectly centred without seeming contrived, adding to the aesthetic beauty of his piece rather than detracting from it.

The camera is not used simply to create a visual work of art, however, as it also expresses feelings which the characters clearly struggle with, such as a conversation between Johan and his father in which neither man can look the other in the eye. In a film with so little dialogue, such moments are vital insights into what the characters are feeling.

The camera is also used to instil in the viewer the general feeling of awkwardness that surrounds the film, and shots will often last just slightly longer than we feel they should in order to make us feel uncomfortably voyeuristic. This can be seen at the beginning of the film, when a shot of Johan crying seems to go on for a very long time; or in a kiss between Johan and Marianne, which not only defies filmic conventions in the length of time it is afforded on screen, but in its strange passionlessness.

Subtlety is key not only to the success of Silent Light as a visual piece, but to its storyline as well. With subject matter such as this, the possibility of dialogue lapsing into the melodramatic always remains and this is something Reygadas is keenly aware of. In many scenes, characters say very little to one another, and the hurt that Johan causes his wife is felt, for the most part, as a haunting presence which affects her very soul, sapping any energy and rigour from her, and transforming her into a shell of a woman. This actually proves to be more affecting than if she reacted angrily or with violence.

The uniqueness of Esther’s reaction is suggestive of the uniqueness of their situation as, unlike most films which centre around an affair, Johan is completely open about his transgressions, letting his wife know each time he has been unfaithful. This leads to several heart rendering moments when the viewer cannot help but sympathise with Esther, such as a scene when they are giving one of their children a bath and Johan tells her that she is always good at making the soap that they use, which leads to Esther almost breaking into tears. It is in moments like this that Silent Light is at its most emotionally resonant, displaying how simple, everyday events become so irreversibly transformed when a wife’s faith in her husband is lost.

The only drawback of Reygadas’ refusal to ever allow his characters to raise their voices or express themselves emotionally is that this can occasionally lead to a detachment from what is happening, and cause us to feel strangely unaffected at what would seem to be critical moments in the film’s development. However, this possible stylistic flaw can be overlooked, as it is his avoidance of the sensational for the majority of the film that makes the ending one of the most surprising and powerful moments of any film in the last few years, one that immediately makes Silent Light demand to be seen again.


Beautifully shot and exquisitely framed, Silent Light is a visual masterpiece, one which is also ripe with subtle and touching displays of the pain and confusion of infidelity. The story may seem to drag towards the closing moments, but it is more than worth persevering with to feel the impact of its sensational ending. PK

NEWS: DVD Release: Los Olvidados

It is now sixty years since Luis Buñuel’s visceral depiction of life in Mexico’s slums stunned audiences at the Cannes Film Festival in 1951, winning Best Director and relaunching the filmmaker’s career after a twenty-year hiatus. "3DD Home Entertainment is proud to bring Los Olvidados to UK DVD" with this 60th Anniversary Edition.

The film tells the story of an unloved teenage boy, Pedro, who fights to turn his life around against the circumstances of extreme poverty, and the sinister influence of an older boy, El Jaibo.

“Unflinchingly honest, at times surreal and ultimately heartbreaking, Los Olividados is a transcendently original, game-changing piece of cinema from one of the medium’s true masters who was praised by Alfred Hitchcock as the best director ever.”

Film: Los Olvidados
Release date: 13th September 2010
Certificate: 12
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Luis Buñuel
Starring: Estela Inda, Miguel Inclán, Alfonso Mejía, Roberto Cobo, Alma Delia Fuentes
Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: InD/3DD
Format: DVD
Country: Mexico

DVD Special Features:
• A specially commissioned interview with internationally renowned film critic, Derek Malcolm