Sitges Dispatch. 3.

Director Jaume Balagueró scored critical and financial success with his first full-length movie, the chilly thriller Los sin nombre (The Nameless), an adaptation of a novel by Ramsey Campbell. Suffering greatly from the inconsistencies of a rather confusing script, the subsequent horror flick Darkness won over an audience but failed to impress critics who maligned the filmmaker in terms usually reserved for serial killers and killer tyrants. Obviously, Balagueró needed to refine his art, particularly in storytelling terms, but his respect for fantastic cinema deserved, well, respect (good or... not, his films are always ambitious). With his just-premiered Fragile, he's made what I think is a great leap forward - this is his most fully realized film to date and a really unique proposition in the stagnant landscape of Spanish cinema.

Although this new Balagueró has its problems - lack of originality in the plot, some clunky dialogue, some performances (not the one, though, by the amazing Calista Flockhart) and an unfortunate abuse of music and sound FX - it really has virtues to more than make up for them. The director takes a classic approach and triumphs, achieving beautiful work in his framing which pays off in sheer physical scares. The cinematography and editing are also superb and miles above standard national films. Everything works together here at the service of emotion - because Fragile is a horror film but also a melodrama, and one that can break weak hearts and draw tears. The backlash, apparently, has already begun, but any true genre fan should find something to rave about in this flawed marvel. Check it out, please.

Not nearly as rewarding is Shutter, the Thai entry in the Official Section of Sitges 2005. Technically competent and not entirely devoid of genuine shocks now and then, but ultimately rather boring, this is another forgettable immersion in the most blatant clichés of post-Ringu Asian horror flicks.

Posted by dwhudson at October 12, 2005 4:08 PM