Veneciafrenia

Álex de la Iglesia's Veneciafrenia, on paper, is a film right up my alley. It is one of those vacation-gone-awry films that works when it's being a pure slasher, and fails when it tries to be a lot more. As someone who lives on the other side of the world, the initial scenes centered around protests in Venice towards ocean liners (and the thousands of Instagram-happy tourists they bring) was news to me, which I had to Google more about. The concept is intriguing, and works fine for a slasher. The protagonists are your typical not-so-likeable tourists who'd do anything just to have a good time, and it was difficult to get behind any of their antics. At times, they're plain stupid. In a film like this, it's mostly the antagonists that you're eyeing. The creepy jester is a scary addition to that universe, and so are the rest of them in masks.

But I wish we didn't have to know so much about them. Retaining some level of mystery around these angry locals would have made it more enjoyable. There's a bigger conspiracy at play, and except for some of the jester's carelessly-yet-magnificently executed savagery, the thrills are lacking. Pablo Rosso's cinematography work captures Venice in darker tones, which is apt given the plot. The ending is also rather tame - you expect a BANG, but turns out, it's just a whimper!

Veneciafrenia (or Venicephrenia for the English title) might not be director Álex de la Iglesia's best but it is certainly worth a watch. I read from some other reviewers that they thought the acting wasn't good but I can't agree with that. I thought all the actors from this movies did a more than decent job. I had my portion of bad acting with the thousands of movies I watched but this was not the case with this one. That said the story is entertaining to follow, with a creepy Rigoletto as the villain. It made me laugh that the Spanish were the victims of the people protesting about mass tourism as they start doing it themselves in Spain. Countries like Spain need tourists so you can protest all you want but in the end you will regret it big time if tourists didn't come anymore. I get it that mass tourism can be annoying, I live in Andalucia myself, but let's not forget that without the billions they make of tourists Spain would just go bankrupt. Veneciafrenia, I get it that it's not the best horror movie ever but the slashing scenes were well done, the story was entertaining, and the acting professional so the negative reviews are not deserved.

Veneciafrenia works better when it leans into the slasher with the beautiful Venice and its costumes as backdrop, but falls hard when it tries to focus on the main conspiranoic plot of the film, becoming something completely different and far less interesting.

But not so bad as some reviews points. Too many loose ends asking to be developed. Yet thinking if this is some critic to Italian police. Lots of murders but they´re always one step behind. An interesting movie about globalization.

The worst? It´s almost impossible an italian policeman speaks spannish. And so passive.

The best. The concept. Scary. Indeed. Make us think twice if we should visit Venice.

That's a big point in favour of this movie.

I watched this while having the flu. I dont know how I watched the whole movie, I think only because the fever.

I dont understand how the use actual money to make things like this, give me the money and i´ll plant some really good peppers and potatoes on a field.

Its terrible.