Coisa Ruim

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 great movie, with suspense all the time. A story or legend typically Portuguese we many believe and others claim to have seen something spooky roaming through their skin when he sees the typical environments of the mountain, dark and full of mysticism!

Something different from the typical American movies, where the bloody wave and almost ridiculous scenes will take you to see the rest of the movie!

In Bad Thing, the simplicity of the actors and the extraordinary representation of some actors little known in Portugal, are the delights of the old suspense, the stories are typical of mountain, gaming spiritualism typical still in Portuguese villages, of which many will laugh and others much respect ... ---- If you want to see a thriller until the end no doubt see BAD THING!

This movie had so much potential... I really don't know what to say, because on the first minutes I was so captivated, I thought that this was it!: Portuguese cinema took a giant leap, and who could have guessed, on the suspense/horror/supernatural genre! The photography was top notch I'd say, and the sound, the acting... all these technical elements brought to life a simply Portuguese rural town with a creepy, eerie atmosphere. Still, it seems that the people behind this project didn't go beyond that! The story seems interesting enough in the first minutes, but then it just keeps dragging on! No real scary scenes at all! And the ending? It was predictable (sorry, it was! Everything pointed out to that one character I won't mention here), and it just didn't justify the time wasted on the movie.

Overall: technically good, but too dull and dead to even recommend someone to see it. I'm really sad, because I'm still waiting for the big jump of the Portuguese cinema... and this one was not it.

Next time, try to focus more on the story.

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.

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.