The Bottom Line
This undercooked thriller lacks the scares that its provocative set-up would seem to promise.
Director
Roberto Buso-Garcia
Cast
Cristina Rodlo
Rene Monclova
Axel Anderson
Rocky Venegas
Luz Odilea Font
Atmosphere trumps genuine scares in The Condemned, a psychological thriller/ghost story from Puerto Rico that is unwisely being marketed as a horror film. Although directed in effectively creepy fashion by Roberto Buso-Garcia, the film’s leisurely pacing and overall restraint will likely leave genre fans dissatisfied even as its lack of depth will turn off art-house patrons.
Partly inspired by a real-life incident, the plot concerns the return of Ana (Christina Rodlo) to the small village of Rosales where she grew up. It was there that her elderly father (Axel Anderson), an American doctor, founded a free clinic for cancer research decades earlier and where he met her mother, who later committed suicide.
With her father now dying, Ana is determined to honor his legacy, previously tainted by scandal, by converting their family’s mansion, now inhabited only by a devoted caretaker (Rene Monclova) into a museum commemorating his achievements. She quickly discovers that their presence is not only unwelcomed by the impoverished villagers, who treat them with undisguised hostility, but also by the apparently haunted house itself, with things, as they say, starting to go bump in the night. Eventually the dark secret behind the ominous goings-on is revealed in an inevitable climactic twist.
Although the film boasts fluid camerawork and atmospheric if monochromatic visuals, the narrative tedium and flat performances eventually induce a soporific effect. Director Buso-Garcia displays little affinity for the genre trappings that would elevate the contrived storyline, and the screenplay’s efforts to provide thematic echoes of the island’s colonial past merely feel strained. For all the undeniable ambition on display, The Condemned falls hopelessly flat.
Opens March 1 (Strand Releasing)
Cast: Cristina Rodlo, Rene Monclova, Axel Anderson, Rocky Venegas, Luz Odilea Font
Director: Roberto Buso-Garcia
Screenwriters: Roberto Buso-Garcia, Danielle Schleif, Luis R. Trelles
Producers: Adiela Marie, Roberto Buso-Garcia, Roy Chacko
Executive producers: Erica Motley, Ivan de Paz, Raul Rosado, Enrique Ubarri, Miguel Villafane
Director of photography: Pedro J. Villalon
Editor: David Franklin
Production designer: Luis Lopex-Baquero
Costume designer: Suzanne Krim
Composer: Angelica Negron
Not rated, 95 min.
Judul: The Condemned: Film Review
Rating: 100% based on 99998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Ditulis Oleh 9:25 AM
Rating: 100% based on 99998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Ditulis Oleh 9:25 AM
