Blind Alley

Blind Alley was not what I expected, a claustrophobic slasher flick set within a lonely laundromat which goes in directions you will not see coming.

This Spanish made horror is made well, fantastic cinematography, thrilling from start to finish and extremely atmospheric.

With a brilliant cast across the board (Though minimal cast required) I found myself rooting for our heroine despite her being a very generic victim type.

What really sets it apart from the rest is the big twist at the end which alike the likes of Orphan (2009) I can confidently say I didn't see coming at all.

The films biggest flaw is its runtime, standing at only around 75 minutes long this damaged the film and due to its content felt more like a Tales From The Crypt episode than an actual movie.

Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed Blind Alley but it would have benefited overwhelmingly from an additional 30 minutes.

The Good:

Fantastic twist

Very well filmed

Great tension

Solid cast

The Bad:

Far too short

Pointless side plot

This little known film came as a bit of a surprise for me. Not knowing what to expect, I had the expectations of the usual Spanish horror fare, but what I got was something a little bit different. Its a very simple film, done in a very stylish way. The soundtrack and camera work was reminiscent of Italian giallo, so fans of this will be pleasantly surprised by what you get. The build up was very good and relies on solid tension and suspense, over character development. It all unfolds in a very satisfactory way that will please most horror fans. Don't go into it expecting something brilliant. Just be prepared to leave your brain at the door and go along on the ride of terror as our main character tries to find a way out of her dilemma.

Blind Alley (El Callejón) is a work of art. Such well made movies don't come by very often.

The plot is straightforward yet works perfectly well. Actually it's a lesson in screen writing.

Ana de Armas shines as an actress, since the whole movie is on her shoulders. She makes you care for the fate of her character. And, of course, she's absolutely gorgeous. The two qualities (great acting and great looks) make her a very rare actress.

The photography is amazing, perfect. Furthermore, it's packed up with very interesting tricks such as multiple perspectives in split screen. These tricks actually help the narrative.

The director and writer, Antonio Trashorras, is someone to keep an eye on, for he surely will do other great stuff.

The music is really good, way above average. Plenty of cool songs.

Some trivia: there are a couple of scenes in which people change their accents, from Spanish accent to Cuban, from Argentinian accent to Chilean, etc. The movie is full of such original resources.

Do yourself a favor and go watch this movie. Even if you're not a horror fan, you'll be delighted.

Given my rather limited exposure to the Spanish cinema, then I was not familiar with this 2011 horror movie titled "El Callejón" (aka "Blind Alley") prior to stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2025. And given my love of all things horror, of course I needed no persuasion to watch the movie.

Writer Antonio Trashorras, whom also directed the movie, put together a somewhat bland and slow paced narrative. There wasn't exactly a whole lot of thrilling or scary things going on, unless you consider a woman trapped inside a 24-hour laundromat as being scary; if so, then you're in for a treat. You have to wait for the last 15 minutes of the movie before things start to speed up, but by then it was just simply too little, too late.

Suffice it to say that I was, of course, not familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. The acting performances in the movie were fair, despite the shortcomings of the script.

The effects in the movie were actually good, but again, you don't get to see these before the last 15 minutes of the movie. Once again, too little, too late.

Would I recommend this movie to horror fans? No. It simply just didn't have what it took to be a properly entertaining movie. The narrative was too slow paced and uneventful.

My rating of writer and director Antonio Trashorras's 2011 movie "El Callejón" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.

I do believe this one could have provided a lot more and also, faster. Sure it doesn't even hit the 90 min mark, so I get it, they had to fill that little time, but come on, either go a more complex plot, or make a great short horror.

Reasons to like it? The story is not the worse out there, a lot of similarities with "ATM" even a little "Penny Dreadful", provides some interesting things but those never ending flashes just got me out of my mind! You can't show a flash of something that happened 5-10 minutes ago, it is just wrong! Let us think a little too, we're not all brain dead here. Scares? Can't really call them that, still, a little bit of tension does exist, but it is ruined by the "grand" finale, where everything is just too easy to anticipate.

So, all in all, for a lazy late night, it could work. But if you want something fun to watch, or share with some friends, don't let it hit your screen. Takes forever to get to its destination and then makes itself too obvious.

Cheers!