Veneciafrenia

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.

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!

I was fan of Alex De La iglesia since I was a kid, my favorites movies so far are "Perdita Durango" "El Día de la Bestia" and "Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi" all of them was fresh, and fun. Today: is a big letdown. The reason I watched the entire movie is because the locations and the costumes. I was intrigue about a slasher movie in Venice (sounds very exotic).

The characters are CHILDLISH and ANNOYING. The script is so poor that I was getting dizzy. Skip it at all cost.

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 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.