Film Details:
Directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, El Espinazo del Diablo)
Written by Guillermo del Toro (see above)
Starring
Federico Luppi (El Espinazo del Deiablo, considered one of the best Mexican actors around)
Ron Perlman (Perl-Friggin’-man, Hellboy, City of Lost Children)
Claudio Brook (License to Kill, The Bees)
Tamara Shanath (Gunmen, Cerebro)
Review: by Don
It took more than ten years for Del Toro to get this, his first film, made. He actually started his own special effects company so he could make it, building it up, little by little by working on other films until he could really do it the way he wanted. For a young kid in Mexico it was the only road he had to travel, so he did it. Kudos to him.
The film is about a lot of things. It’s about familial relationships that echo Del Toro’s own relationship with his grandmother. It’s about addiction and the humiliation thereof. It’s about religion. Just a hell of a lot of things.
The plot revolves around a little gold device that looks like a bug. It can grant the user immortality in the form of a type of vampirism. The word vampire is never said in the film, which is refreshing. The viewer just implies the vampirism on his or her own through just the trappings of it presented. Need for blood, aversion to sunlight, bad skin.
Because the vampirism is spread through the use of the device, it makes an interesting plot hook. There is coveting and other breaking of the ten commandments going on. Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not eat spray cheese on Chips Ahoy cookies. Okay that last one isn’t in there, but trust me when I say it’s a good idea anyway.
With a ton of great visuals and excellent acting this movie is definitely worth watching. Not del Toro’s best, but a labor of love that he poured his soul into. It was hurt only by budgetary constraints. Personally I think his best is the Devil’s Backbone, but that’s me.
According to an interesting story told by Del Toro in the DVD commentary Tamara Shanath, who plays the granddaughter character Aurora, is wicked psychic in real life. It’s a good story and I recommend hearing it, but Tamara is also very good just for her role here. The character speaks only one word the entire film and plays everything else with body language. A most excellent job. Perlman is great as always. Not much more to say than that.
