Luna de miel

I don't understand how come that movie is so under the radar.

It is about an abduction made in a different way as we expect it. For the most part it is about the relationship between these 2 main actors. No worries, there is no Stockholm-syndrome. And there is no police, no investigation and such. Nevertheless, there is a lot going on in the story. There are twists and unexpected surprises.

That movie has some intense and scary scenes, also torture scenes. Bloody and scary. I never had the feeling, that I know what is going to happen next.

It is unpredictable. The sound design is pretty good, it creates a threatening and frightening atmosphere in some scenes. The 2 main actors, the victim and her perpetrator are doing good, although I dislike the role of the bad guy very much, which actually is a compliment for his acting. He plays a poor and disgusting sick guy and I was hoping that she is getting a chance for revenge. She is playing brilliant. Her desperation and fear is absolutely believable. I give it 7.5 stars. What could have done better in my opinion is the screenplay. Some scenes are a bit confusing. Nevertheless, absolutely worth a watch.

Most abduction movies work up to the actual abduction slowly, building up the tension. In this film, the abduction takes place in the first five minutes. When something like this happens, my first thought that this better be good. And it is.

The tension created, the things that happen--one in particular quite stomach-churning--are to be experienced for themselves. Unlike your typical American or Japanese style gorefest, the things that happen here feel very real and uncomfortable. I actually became nauseated at one point, and I am most definitely not the type to be affected by a movie, not on a physical level.

It is amazing to see the difference between the insipid, utterly moronic American take on the abduction theme and this one. Take, for example, the pathetic joke that was "Pet." The abduction takes place, we settle in our seats waiting to cringe at whatever sick crap the abductor has in store while hoping the heroine will make it out, and then...we are treated to a "twist" so utterly stupid and imbecilic that you wonder what these little vanilla sissies were even thinking of.

If you want actual horror that will push the limits without being afraid of offending its morally superior, goody-two-shoes American vanilla dunce of an audience, you need to look elsewhere. France. Korea. Here, Mexico does not disappoint.

Don't pay attention to the negative reviews. One takes issue because a poor little woman is the one in the predicament as if it were a political statement, and the other thinks it's "disturbing" and "unnecessarily violent." Are you kidding me? Disturbing is what a film like this SHOULD be. If you don't want "violence," go watch your soulless Hollywood blockbusters.

Recommended.

(2015 Honeymoon/ Luna de miel (In Spanish with English subtitles) HORROR/ PSYCHOLOGICAL

It has disturbed doctor, Jorge Toledo (Hector Kotsifakis) fixated with his neighbor, Isabel Herrera (Paulina Ahmed) who's already married. He abducts her upon him pretending to have problems changing his tire, and pricks her with a needle. By the time she wakes up, he is tied to a chair with Jorge trying to force her to fall in love with him. The more she resists or fights back on his advances the more he tortures her some more.

One of the dumbest scenes of the movie is the fact, Isabel had an opportunity to get herself out of the situation before but never takes advantage of it! And although I liked the way how the perpetrator was killed the final few minutes made no sense at all.

Not really your typical and predictable abduction movie. No super-villains that allow you relief from its reality, or the usual home-made styling to create starkness either, just ordinary broken individuals, largely failing. It is gory, and so will both gain and lose audiences because of this, and there are some inevitable tropes, but it does them pretty well all the same, certainly better than most, although it did sorely lack any proper character development or background story, and therefore ultimately any real depth, which potentially could have lifted it beyond its own constraints and above most all others of this genre.

The soundtrack is driving and moves it along well, and also holds it at the right places too, maintaining its quality level. If you're in the mood for this kind of thing, then I'd recommend it, there are far worse out there.