Anguish

While the Americans made endless variations of Friday the 13th during the 1980s, the Spanish geeks went about it differently. A film within a film, masterfully intertwining and linking two timelines makes this one of the most original slashers ever made. It would seem that the premise of the hypnotic mother and her repetitive speech to her killer son would be exhausted after half an hour into the film at the latest, but you'd be wrong – Bigas Luna has many surprises up his sleeve, and in the second half it all builds up in a masterly and bloody way. And the way the film also tingles on the human subconscious makes it a beautifully unsettling experience. (01/18/2021)

An excellent and yet unknown Spanish horror gem from the late 80s. What most surprised me was the flawless technical aspect – I could’ve easily believed it’s only a couple of years old. But the plot is also very interesting, almost like a blend between Lamberto Bava’s Demons and the slasher cult Maniac. And it’s interesting also on a cinephile meta level: there are two stories, with one taking place within the other (which takes place in a cinema screening the first one) and they mutually affect each other. For me, the most pleasant old horror discovery this year and I wholeheartedly recommend it. (12/14/2012)