Hipnos

Well, an Spanish thriller that doesn't make you blush... that's a good beginning. As for the movie itself it is such of a dissection of madness, with an structure similar to David Lynch's universe but without the intensity and the fascination of the Canadian director.

A young woman (a doctor) comes to a psychiatric institution to fill a vacant. Soon some strange events will begin to happen and she'll begin to feel that something is wrong over there.

The aesthetic of the film is so white and aseptic (it reminded me of movies such as THX), mixing old buildings with ultra-modern technologies and decorations.

It is not the movie of the year but you may spend a nice time watching it (specially main character's great body -an unknown Spanish actress, maybe a debutant-).

*My rate: 6/10

This slow-moving film takes accent as the suspense as the terror with eerie and shocking scenes. When Beatriz Vargas (Cristina Brondo) accepts a position as a doctor in the institution where severely emotionally disturbed patients are interned, she quickly befriends a young girl (Natalia Sánchez) who has been unable to communicate for years due to severe shock. Beatriz becomes clear that these are not normal patients. Although she feels a strong bond with the young girl, Beatriz soon becomes very unlucky with the way the patients are being treated. Her unhappiness starts to result in conflicts with her superiors like Sánchez Blanch (Féodor Atkine) and other co-workers, some of whom may prove to be more dangerous than she first realized. The doctor begins to suspect that she is dealing with something much worse than disgruntled coworkers; that her actual survival may be at stake. After a horrible death occurs at the facility, a man named Miguel (Demian Bichir) poses as a police officer to get close to the inner workings of the hospital. Miguel befriends Beatriz and warns of the terrible danger that may be closing in on her. The doctor begins afraid of the darkness and is terrorized asking for help but she becomes threatened by vicious visions and subsequently taking place a killing spree. The horror of being dead!. The nightmare of still being alive!.

Intelligent terror thriller dealing with a woman suffers a traumatic incident as a young girl, whereas she doesn't know which reality is the real one. This thrilling picture displays mystery, suspense, restless terror including decent scares with tense horror sequences. Director usually uses focus on the face and body of our beautiful starring to show the despair and unsettling happenings, adding adequate cinematography, stirring musical score and eliptical edition. The film could be described as anything but figurative immersion into the meanderings of the protagonist's pathological psyche. A decent film with flaws but a good casting, well played by Cristina Brondo, Demián Bichir, Marisol Membrillo, Julián Villagrán , Féodor Atkine, Natalia Sánchez and Carlos Lasarte. The film unfortunately has a script with an interesting subject matter but mediocre dialogue, seen and reviewed, brought to the screen by nice direction, excellent photography and appropriate scenery. It provides horrifying and hair raising images with a little bit of blood and some creepy frames. The weak point of Hipnosis, is the predictable script, the work of the director himself in collaboration with Juanma Ruiz Córdoba. The choice to identify in the protagonists of the trauma also the characters of the inner construction, in a complete transference, is questionable, even if it is exhaustive. The water in the film is an allegory of passionate and mental instincts and impulses, but it is precisely by launching into that sea, crossing the line of separation between reality and inner perception, a line often recalled in the film.

Cameraman Xavi Giménez provides an adequate cinematography with strong colors, dark and white par excellence, and the psychiatric structure in which the plot takes place suggest very well the feeling of anxiety and claustrophobia that the director evidently attributes to a sick mind. The motion picture was professional but uneven directed by David Carreras who has made ¨Flores Negras¨(2009) and he has directed various TV episodes as ¨R. I. S. Científica¨ (TV Series), ¨El Comisario¨, ¨Hospital Central¨, and, today, he's directing films in Germany. Rating: 5.5/10. ¨Hypnos¨ may be a good watch for lovers of "psychiatric" themes, but prepare them for a very long hour and a half.

First of all i've to tell you that i'm studying in madrid, where i saw the movie and i don't speak Spanish very good but... i think i can make a review. i'm a real movie buff, and i really enjoyed the camera work and atmosphere, setting of the movie. the story IS kind of weird but the pieces will fall together at the end of the movie. if you like suspense movies, and some topclass movie techniques you should go and see this movie. see it for yourself (we were with the 3 of us, my 2 friends almost had left the theater...)

I rate it 7

This one was a nice surprise! I really appreciate little films like these. A very tight Spannish psychological thriller, very stylish and well thought out (both story-wise and technically, with great shots and angles). A young woman (doctor) gets accepted to go and work in a mental institute. Things are not quite what they seem in there, and it doesn't take long before patients start to die. The first half of the movie indeed moves rather slow. And after that, things get really weird (the films of David Lynch come to mind). But in the end you get a plausible explanation, so the movie itself never derails. When you look at it afterwards, then you might figure out the explanation in the end yourself. But "Hipnos" does a very good job to keep the truth hidden until the final scenes. I say this one is certainly worth seeing. And yes, I'm generous in my rating, but there's just too many real crappy films on DVD out there. This one's absolutely not one of those.

In the last few years Spanish cinema has witnessed the proliferation of a series of new directors who devote their careers to horror films and thrillers. While some of them have been quite irregular, others (specially Jaume Balagueró) have provided a new insight to the concept of Spanish thrillers. David Carreras, in his debut film, has shown a very promising skill as a director and screenwriter.

Technically outstanding, "Hipnos" will make you bite your nails with only a few hints of blood and with no need of psychopaths or ghosts. While most thrillers are ruined by iffy endings, "Hipnos" is rounded by an acceptably believable third act. It could certainly have been better, but it should be praised by its value in technical aspects and storyline.