Coisa Ruim

A biology professor, his wife, their three kids and their grandson reaches a small village, totally lost in time in the middle of Portugal, with a few old inhabitants, like there are so many in Portugal. The village people take their myths, ancient legends and folklore very serious, but the couple are skeptical (especially the husband), highly intellectual and with very scientific thoughts and ideas, and they are no prepared at all to what they are going to face. That's when strange things begin to happen... It is an horror/mystery/suspense/spiritual movie, but the horror is only psychological, and all the fear that you can feel during the movie comes from your perception and understanding of the story, and not from what you are eyes are watching. There is Death, and there is Rape, but you don't see those images, you just know it happened, and the story goes on, in a crescendo throughout the movie, until it reaches the final climax. This suits perfectly... if there were some physical violence or gore, the movie would loose its personality. The story follow its line from the beginning until the end. growing up in fear... Really, I don't remember ever seeing something like this! The stories are all based on the Portuguese myths and folklore, not on some external influences. There are beautiful landscapes, an old Portuguese village which suits as a perfect background for an horror movie, very well written script, good performances of the characters, good directing, perfect soundtrack. And there is a strong feeling throughout all the movie... this is really a masterpiece, made with the usual financial difficulties of the Portuguese cinema. But this one came out to see the light of the day, and it is the best ever made in Portugal, and one of the best I've ever seen in the genre in all cinema history. If you are just into "American Horror Blockbusters", full of special effects, screams, blood and gore, and physical violence, this is probably not your movie.

A well respected academic inherits a beautiful country home.He packs his wife,children and grandson and moves to the country area.One must say that the country has many hidden and disturbing secrets:it's a place where superstition runs rampant and the local priest still performs exorcisms."Coisa Ruim" is a big horror surprise from Portugal.This atmospheric chiller offers well-written and carefully nuanced script and strong performances from all involved.The tension rises very slowly creeping under your skin and there are some truly creepy moments.It's beautifully shot in a magnificently decaying old country home.Give this lovely and intelligent film a look.9 out of 10.

Plot is about biology professor Xavier Oliveira Monteiro (played by Adriano Luz think a Portuguese Kevin Spacey) who takes his family back to the village and home his ancestors are from. Only its not the lovely picturesque area it seems on the surface, there's a lot of old folk tales the locals are only more than happy to share with the Monteiro family. To prove himself right and the locals wrong Xavier and wife Helena agree to take part in a séance that ends in terror when a part of his childhood is brought up no one alive could possibly have known. This all happens at a point the oldest son returns home from studying, who as some kind of incestious hold on his sister who's got a baby child of her own to an unknown father. The films true beauty is that it lets the viewer fill in the gaps themself something which may be off putting to people who can't accept ambiguity in what they view.

First horror/supernatural/psychological/spiritual (call it what you want hehe even its genre is ambiguous) film I've seen in ages I've been totally captivated in. Everything works well, the music mostly light almost indie guitar based rolls along perfectly with the beautiful yet washed out look of the locations, just the way it blends with the fog rolling along a field or dust blowing during one of the period funerals.

A much deserved 9/10 from me, if I had to give a flaw it would be it was a little slow to get going but so hope Frederico Serra & Tiago Guedes choose to do more creepy films and not switch genres. Also if Portuguese cinema is this good, please distributors start subbing and releasing it so the rest of the world can see it.

Coisa Ruim is, indeed, a movie that makes us believe that the Portuguese film industry is finally reaching for the audience, without compromising the quality of their productions.

I think enough was said here about this movie's main theme and plot, so I'll just emphasize (in my opinion) its main positive/negative aspects:

+ acting was well above average + beautiful photography and careful set selection + simple interesting plot understandable by all (not like most Portuguese movies)

• over-articulated dialogs, sometimes people seem to talk like if they all add degrees - too much usage of focus/defocus effects (it becomes a bit boring...) - over-saturation of the image, sometimes you can tell it was really sunny when the scene was shot, but in order to maintain the dark tone in the movie you get over-saturated colors and too much contrast

All in all, a good movie. A promising debut for this two directors, and a new breath for Portuguese movies.

A man brings his wife and kids to their ancestral home in a superstitious village…

As soon as the movie began, it was clear writer Rodrigo Guedes de Carvalho was going to exploit all the trappings of his culture. Roman Catholicism, possession, exorcism, village mentality versus city dweller mode of thinking, spiritualism, ghosts, family and superstition versus reality all come into play. The only problem is that we've seen these stories unfold in horrors repeatedly from a slew of other Western, as well as Asian, nations.

He does one thing, however, that is wonderful. The stereotypical villages that tell the city folk they don't belong – or hate them outright – isn't necessarily prevalent. Thankfully, with that hackneyed element not in the picture, I was able to indulge.

The acting was fairly strong, especially by Adriano Luz and Sara Carinhas, though Manuela Couto succumbed to be being far too melodramatic. The story maintained a solid pace with exceptional cinematography by Victor Estevão, capturing the atmosphere of the Monteiro homestead as beautifully as he did the lush countryside. Sadly, suspense and scares were sorely lacking and the end came as no shock.

Tag team directors Tiago Guedes and Frederico Serra have definite talent, and I hope they pick a stronger tale for their next outing.