IN Dinner table, most of the horror happens off-screen. This gives director Kay Casas the opportunity to innovate in the way he explores a horrific story that takes place primarily in the viewer’s imagination. The upheaval turns the premise—an unthinkable tragedy that devastates the couple’s lives—into a mystery to be solved. And also in dramas with horrific overtones that have become so popular in recent years. The result is a compact, smart and well-constructed film that combines scares with a touch of uncomfortable humor.
Showcasing the value of avant-garde and experimental cinema, the experiment is the latest addition to a new horror classic with a Spanish twist. Spanish cinema has given space and importance to new proposals that turn fear into a vehicle of interest, allowing nuanced stories to be told. But much more, which shows the growth of the genre as an offering. From success to cult REC To Veronica, which became one of the most watched films on Netflix. The truth is that Spanish terror has found its place. on the preferences of the public, whether in theaters or streaming.
To prove the above, we leave you with five Spanish horror films that you can watch if you liked The Dining Room Table. From a sequel to a recent classic to an innovative take on alienation, violence and dystopia. The selection ranges from amazing visions of evil to a mixture of horror and science fiction. The best chilling cinema has to offer today.
Sister Death (Netflix)
After success Veronica In 2017, director Paco Plaza decided to delve deeper into the universe presented in the film. Namely: in everything that concerns the mysterious blind nun Narcisa (Consuelo Trujillo). Moreover, try to create a link world that can gradually increase the likelihood a terrifying mythology that connects several stories with each other.
The result of the ambitious premise is Sister Death, which follows Narcissus (now played by Aria Bedmar) in her youth. And especially at the moment when he first encountered the supernatural. It forces us to delve deeper into the mysterious event that left her blind and turned her into the disturbing figure we will meet years later.
More sophisticated, elegant and, above all, more terrifying than its predecessor, the film combines religious terror with non-operation. And all this at the center of a grotesque scenario that becomes increasingly sinister and ominous. An ideal recommendation for those who liked the Caye Casas premises.
Malasanya 32 (Netflix)
In 2020, director Albert Pinto turned the story of an apparently real event that took place in Madrid into one of the greatest horror films of recent years. Exploring the theme of haunted houses, but in particular making clever use of the idea of the unseen as the enemy, Malasanya 32 plunges into horror. Moreover, based on what is hidden in domestic spaces and the growing sense of claustrophobia.
Manolo (Ivan Marcos) and Candela (Bea Segura) come to Madrid with the intention of finding a better life for their family. But gradually the dark apartment in which they live will become a terrifying prison, shrouded in a cruel presence that they will not be able to fight. What begins as brief appearances soon becomes an unclassifiable phenomenon that will lead the story to a tragic end.
Dark and eerie in its ability to delve into primal horrors through seemingly simple means, Malasaña 32 is a rare piece of horror that works because of the tension it carefully builds. In the final stage, when secrets are revealed, the film becomes a journey through the darkness of fear. The highest point of this unusual room.
Venus (Prime Video)
This film by Jaume Balagueró combines science fiction, cosmic horror and body horror into one setting. The result is one of the most curious premises of recent Spanish cinema and a work a horror film that explores new places without being afraid to experiment.
Lucia (Esther Expósito) is a nightclub dancer who goes on the run after being robbed by a gang of criminals. So he tries to take refuge in the apartment building where his sister Rocio (Angela Cremonte) lives. Todo, at the center of a cosmic phenomenon that is announced in subtext, but which will mark the milestone of an inexplicable supernatural event.
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Gradually, Lucia will discover that the building in which she is located is at the epicenter of ominous events, increasingly cruel and frightening. What will bring her to face not only the very root of evil, but also that which lies between the veil of death and life.
Wasteland (Netflix)
Director David Casademount mixes folk horror and history with moral overtones to create a dark script about the inevitable. Wasteland delves into the question of what lies hidden in the inhospitable landscapes, as well as the horror against a tense backdrop. This makes the director’s debut film a silent and tense canvas about primal evil and how people can understand it.
Lucia (Inma Cuesta) and her son Diego (Asier Flores) find themselves isolated in the middle of a desert valley in medieval Spain. Both will have to defend themselves from a creature born from Earth that will haunt them during the long days of isolation from which they suffer. Thanks to careful staging and brilliant use of silence, The film creates a kind of horror based on atmosphere rather than artificial jump scares.
This allows its grim premise to become increasingly unsettling. To its desolate end, Wasteland shows that Spanish cinema He is ambitious enough to carry out such risky experiments.
The Hole (Netflix)
Halder Gaztelu-Urrutia turns class struggle, fear and mass control in a dystopian future into a scathing proposal for dehumanization. And all this through a seemingly simple story. A facility about which little is known that can house both volunteers and prisoners. It extends for several miles underground.
This simultaneously sets in motion a terrifying mechanism for selecting survivors who must win, which is offered as a test of strength and will. This is the only opportunity to eat thanks to platforms full of food that will pass floor after floor. But it is unclear when they will stop at one of the levels or if those waiting will have to eat upon arrival.
Halfway between control method and mysterious punishment, the premise Hole It becomes increasingly tense and frightening. The ambiguous ending leaves many questions. Most of them are expected to be answered in the upcoming sequel, which will premiere on Netflix sometime in 2024.
Source: Hiper Textual
