Veneciafrenia

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.

As a huge fan of Alex De La Iglesia, I've had this film on my radar ever since I saw the "coming soon" trailer for this in a theater in Valencia, Spain back in early 2022...I waited and waited, hoping it would drop on a streamer in the U. S.... Finally the digital showed up on sale and had to snag it..mannnn, its about time!

Though nowhere near as great as some of my fav Iglesia flicks, like Day of the Beast (1995), The Last Circus (2010) or The Bar (2017), this Cult-sploitation/Slasher film delivers on a capable cast, a perfectly recognizable location (gorgeous Venice), eerie old building locations & plenty of blood & gore! The opening credits and final shot is reminiscent of a 60s/70s Giallo film. One of the final kills was especially creative (no spoilers). Sure, you've seen plenty of "annoying young people getting killed one by one" before, and the final FINAL act goes on a little too long, but Iglesia manages to put a hip, stylistic flare that I still enjoyed! No regrets blind buying this one!

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.

Thoroughly enjoyable, fun and very dark film.

The film follows a bunch of young tourists from spain as they venture in the magic and mysterious streets of Venice.

The film will have you laughing quite a few times but also it'll have you rooting for the main characters, who will become very human and close to your heart.

The photography and production design is superb as well as its original soundtrack.

Cosimo Fusco, the main antagonist plays two different characters and it's just delicious.

This is a great film that seems half role play game and half slasher. Contains elements of classic Italian and Spanish horror films.

Date to watch it, I promise it won't bore you at all.

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!