La abuela

Written by Indie Provocateur Carlos Vermut (Magic Girl) and directed by Horror Veteran Paco Plaza (Rec), expectations are pretty high going in.

And La Abuela delivers the goods. For the most part.

The cinematography is exceptional and really helps create a sense of mystery and foreboding.

Almudena Amor and Vera Valdez are perfectly cast as granddaughter and grandmother, bound together in a Madrid apartment after the latter suffers a stroke.

Essentially a chamber piece, the story plays like a dark, modern day fairy tale - a satanic retelling of Little Red Riding Hood perhaps.

While La Abuela might not surprise the audience (the twist being fairly predictable), that does not take away from the overall experience.

It is genuinely creepy and unsettling, in a way that most horror films are not.

It's like an old movie on late night TV that isn't worth changing channels for.

A Parisian model is called back to Madrid after her grandmother has a stroke. But as she starts taking care of her elderly abuela, mysterious things begin happening.

This feels like a remake of The Omen, but at the opposite end of life. It has the same slow beginning, the same weird events, and the same predictable climax.

I expected more from the director of Rec.

The scariest thing about this movie is thinking about how people are going to have to change your diapers one day.

I stumbled upon the 2021 Spanish horror movie "La Abuela" (aka "The Grandmother") from writer Carlos Vermut and director Paco Plaza here in 2022. I had not heard about the movie prior to watching it, but I will say that I was lured in by the movie's cover/poster, and the synopsis seemed fair enough.

And now having seen "La Abuela", I must say that this is a slow burn of a movie. The pacing of the narrative from writer Carlos Vermut is really slow and sort of mundane. If you are expecting a great horror experience, then "La Abuela" is not the best of choice.

The storyline was just ultimately too weak and slow paced for my liking. Sure, I will say that the concept of the storyline was definitely interesting, but it was just brutally killed by a very monotonously directed movie that moved ahead in snail pace.

I wasn't familiar with the cast list in "La Abuela", but I will say that the cast actually carried the movie well enough, especially when taking into consideration the severe limitations imposed by the script and storyline.

I managed to sit through the entire movie, but I wasn't particularly entertained, much less impressed. And there wasn't a single scary moment throughout the 100 minutes that the movie ran for.

My rating of "La Abuela" lands on a three out of ten stars. The movie was just lacking in crucial areas and moments to be worthwhile.

Paco Plaza continues to demonstrate his skill behind the camera, but as he did in Veronica, he does not get rid of the gimmicky and plays it safe with the effective. It seems that he has found his comfort zone and does not want to leave that bubble.

The film fails in how predictable it is, as you don't need more than 15 minutes to know how the story and the final climax will develop.

The best is the interpretative duel between the grandmother, magnificent Vera Valdez, and the no less spectacular performance of Almudena Amor, carrying almost all the interpretative weight of the film and coming out much more than successful.

In conclusion, you are left with a bittersweet taste because this director with these actresses should have produced a much more rounded product.

It is firstly set in Paris and then Madrid . A Paris model called Susana (Almudena Amor) has to go back to Madrid where her grandmother Pilar (Vera Valdez) who had brought her up, just had a stroke . Susana feels responsible her grandmother , that's why the elderly Pilar became the substitute mother caring along her childhood and adolescence . But spending just a few days with this relative becomes into an unexpected nightmare . Step by step something fantastic , strange and wild will start to infect everyone around the weird apartament . And she starts to experience strong paranormal activity on their home . I was eager to meet you. She's waiting for you . Nobody will love you like I do.

Decent terror movie with thrills , chills , tension , and creepy deeds . Scary and terrifying images when obscure supernatural events emerging from the other side , making sinister and mysterious appearances here and there . At the climax happens shocking and horrific images of diabolic appearances and violent attacks . A scary horror picture shot in fits and starts with disconcerting plot , regarding ghastly and threatening appearances , as a young model suffering from bizarre happenings . The film relies heavily on the two main actresses , the reason for the movie feels somewhat boring and really claustrophobic due to the fact that it is mainly set on a dark flat . The movie is passable, though during the first hour hardly anything happens ; however , the final half hour is frankly terrifying and with full of surprises . Displaying horrifying and creepy images about the young girl being relentlessly stalked by a malevolent and heinous appearance causing creepy , scary , awful and terrible moments . Genuinely horrible moments overcome some obvious plot devices . This is a juicy terrifying material fashioning an iconic possession , providing screams , thrills , shocks and chilling scenes . It has an extremely known premise about an eerie threat that spawns the film in ups and downs . The newcomer and unkown actresses : Almudena Amor , Vera Valdez and Karina Kolokolchykova give acceptable interpretations.

It contains an adequate and sinister cinematography by cameraman Daniel Fernández Abelló , though dark , at times . And frightening , suspenseful musical score by composer Fatima Al Qadiri , adding modern songs by Estopa band . The motion picture was well directed by Paco Plaza , though makes some tiring , slow-moving and extremely claustrophobic. Plaza is a good director with much success particularly in terror genre . He has written or directed with Jaume Balaguero the successful¨ Rec¨ saga formed by : ¨Rec 1, Rec 2 , Rec Genesis and Rec Apocalypse¨ . As well as other terror movies as ¨The second name¨ , ¨Romasanta¨, ¨Christmas tale¨ , ¨Veronica¨and he wrote the American film : ¨Quarantine¨ . He has also made some shorts and documentary : ¨OT¨ . And his only and recent thriller, ¨Quien a hierro mata¨, with Luis Tosar . Rating 6/10 . Acceptable and interesting horror movie . Well worth watching for terror lovers.