¨Shortcut to Paradise¨ is a twisted thriller that takes place in Paradise , a residential building in Puerto Rico . An intriguing and exciting movie with terrifying remarks . It deals with Quinn (Charles Dance) who shows up at an apartment building in Paradise , a small backwoods community in Puerto Rico , purporting to be the new porter the owner has been expecting . A bit later on , Quinn befriends various neighbours , especially María (Assumpta Serna) and her daughter Sara (Katrina Gibson) . Quinn gives a nice impression on his friends , except Gus (Morgan Weisser) , the reclusive and strange teenage gas station attendant . Then , things go wrong .
This is an acceptable as well as unsettling suspense movie with sunny and evocative scenarios , in which a mysterious caretaker arrive in an enjoyable place and sinister things come to pass . It is a murder mystery in which the main premise results to be the following : a cunning , vicious series killer who hideously kills those learn his ominous activities . It packs an uneven plot that relies heavily on the relationship among three protagonists , the heinous series killer , the sweet little girl and the underdog gas station worker ; though this relation being excessively candid and avoids morbidness . After the regular movie titled ¨Al Acecho¨(87) filmmaker Gerardo Herrero goes back to film this suspense psycho-killer story , though it has more intrigue and terror than thriller . ¨Shorcut to Paradise¨ is divided in two parts , the first one turns out to be slow-moving with overlong dialog and excessive talking ; the second one packs lots of action , thrills and grisly killings . The movie is exhilarating in its visual approach , including thrills , chills , plot twists , and moving finale . Very good acting by Charles Dance as the handy man who gets right to work , making a good impression on everybody , however , he holds a dark secret . Interesting but uneven screenplay by Daniel Monzon , a former cinema reviewer who subsequently directed sword and witchery/fantasy (Heart of warrior) , suspense (The Kovak box), comedy (El Robo Mas Grande Jamás Contado) and his greatest hit was the prison movie :¨Celda 211¨.
Colorful and evocative cinematography in Scope by Alfredo Mayo , being filmed on location in Puerto Rico ; Mayo is considered to be one of the best Spanish cameramen , he has photographed known titles as ¨Barrio¨, The method¨, ¨High heels¨, ¨Kika¨ , ¨Mondays in the sun¨ , "The Galíndez File" ¨Kamchatka¨, "The Place That Was Paradise" , among others . Thrilling as well as atmospheric musical score by José Nieto who has composed a lot of attractive soundtracks . Nieto has had lot of successes such as : ¨Dias Contados¨, ¨Juana La Loca¨ , ¨Carmen¨ , ¨Amantes¨ , ¨Libertarias¨, ¨Pasión Turca¨ and many others . The motion picture was decently produced (along with Tornasol Films) and directed by Gerardo Herrero who undertakes a skill and adequate filmmaking , being shot in English language to be exported in American markets ; however , it resulted to be a ¨B¨ -American style- movie . It also contains some raccord failures and disconcerting as well as uneven shooting . Gerardo is a famous producer as well as filmmaker . He was President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1994-1994) . Great producer of big hits , being especially known for The Secret of your ears (2009), Sin Retorno (2010) , Balada Triste de Trompeta (2010) , Crimenes De Oxford (2008) and El Hijo De La Novia (2001). He also directed some good films such as ¨Corredor Nocturno¨ , ¨Principio Arquímedes¨ , ¨Crimen Galindez¨ , ¨Frontera Sur¨, ¨Territorio Comanche¨, ¨Al Acecho¨ and ¨Heroína¨ . Despite some failure and gaps , I must admit that I enjoyed this movie and recommend it to those who love thrillers .
