191) El Rey de la Montana (2007) Dir: Gonzalo Lopez-Gallago Date Released (DVD): January 2009 Date Seen: June 21st, 2009 Rating: 2/5
The promise that El Rey de la Montana shows as an obscure entry in the ever-burgeoning subgenre of "survival horror," is dashed by the film's final third, in which it becomes a petty and didactic slasher film. The revelation that the source of the bullets that rain down on Quim (Leonardo Sbaraglia) and Bea (Maria Valverde) like a force of nature is not just human but (SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERFUCKINRABBLEPLEXSPOILER) also a pair of kids pulls the film into deadly boring territory.
The fact that kids are doing the killing is apparently a big deal to Lopez-Gallago. He shows us events from their POV, even going so far as to show us what's going through their heads with a first-person shooter camera. They aren't just beastly little thugs, they're in need of rehabilitation. Just before Quim snaps one of their necks, he embraces his attacker, as if to show that he forgives him. After the film's preceding brisk and moderately enjoyed buckled-down tone, that kind of forgiveness is poisonous.
No comments:
Post a Comment