Jorge Guerricaechevarría Movies

A small gathering on the Pyrenees turns into a terrifying ordeal as a group of old friends convene for a long-overdue reunion, and the entire world begins disappearing all around them in director Jorge Torregrossa's meditative apocalyptic thriller. As the group enjoys a hearty dinner and reflects on old times by the light of the campfire, the topic turns to their old friend, nicknamed The Prophet, and the air grows thick with tension. Later, when the power goes out and the cars won't start, he friends begin to fear that The Prophet may be taking his revenge for a youthful joke that yielded devastating repercussions. When the dawn comes and the one of the group vanishes without a trace, however, the mood among the group turns decidedly grim. With their cell phones dead and contact the outside world completely cut off, they set out to seek help and make a series of disturbing discoveries that seem to indicate the world, as they once knew it, has ended. ~ Rovi

Originally filmed as part of the Six Films to Keep You Awake horror series from Spain, Alex de la Iglesia's The Baby's Room weaves the unsettling story of a young couple who moves into a renovated home with their newborn child, only to discover that sinister forces are at work around them when the baby monitor begins to malfunction in a most unsettling manner. Juan and Sonia have found the perfect home to start a family in, or at least that's what they thought when they first moved in. Everyone is content in their new surroundings until, after tucking into bed after an exhausting day, Juan begins to hear strange noises coming though the baby monitor. Upon checking the child to find that nothing is amiss, Juan assumes that he was just hearing things. When the noises persist, however, the couple makes the decision to replace the audio-only monitor with a new version that also features a video camera. Unfortunately things go from bad to worse when Juan wakes up in the middle of the night to see a complete stranger standing over his sleeping child. Racing into his child's room, Juan is relieved to find that, once again, his imagination seems to have gotten the best of him. Still, the concerned father can't shake the feeling that something supernatural is happening in his beautiful new home, and after falling into a frightening spiral of paranoia he enlists the aid of a paranormal investigator to find out what's really going on. But the truth, as Juan will soon find out, is so shocking that it will test the very limits of his sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Filmmaker Oscar Aibar wrote and directed this Spanish film which blends together elements of the science-fiction and psychological-thriller genres. UFO-sightings are on the rise, and the country has become enthralled with the ominous threat of extra-terrestrials. Making the situation more serious is the mysterious discovery of two bodies bearing an enegmatic notes about beings from outer-space. Platillos Volantes stars Jordi Vilches and Angel Andres Lopez. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

The title character of this Alex de la Iglesia film made her first appearance in David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990) and was originally played by Isabella Rossellini. Rosie Perez takes over the role in this blend of black comedy, graphic sex and violence, voodoo, and weirdness. Perdita Durango is pure trash, a fact she establishes at the film's beginning. Her adventures begin when she hooks up with Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem), a sleek, black-clad, sexually adventurous practitioner of Santeria who routinely kills, robs banks, and steals corpses from graves for his cannibalistic blood-soaked rituals. Santos (Don Stroud) is a pedophile and a crime boss. He hires Romeo to steal a truck filled with human fetuses that are slated to be used for cosmetic experiments. Romeo accepts but feels he must make a human sacrifice before he goes. This bothers Perdita not a bit and she even picks out a pair of blonde teens for the ritual killing. The two crooks kidnap the kids, ritually feather them, sexually abuse them, and are preparing to kill them when Romeo's cheated partner shows up with policemen. The crooks and their prey manage to escape, but the scheme to commandeer the truck gets botched and an ensuing shootout between Santos' men and DEA agents goes wrong. Santos loses many men and swears revenge upon Romeo and Perdita, who continue on their journey with their two doomed victims. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

 

Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, Made in Heaven) stars in the direct-to-video psychological thriller The Kovak Box. He portrays David Norton, a novelist and control freak who builds his life around the strategic manipulation of his characters and storylines. But suddenly, Norton watches his own life spin rapidly out of control when he is plunged into a bizarre series of events. Upon arrival in an exotic Mediterranean locale for a business conference, Norton receives the devastating news that his wife just received a mysterious phone call and subsequently threw herself from the balcony of their apartment building. One at a time, each of Norton's friends and family members suffer from the same inexplicable fate. The author then searches desperately for answers and an escape from this black hole of terror, as the world closes in around him. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The fifth feature of noted Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia, La Comunidad is a frenetic black comedy set in a decrepit old house in the center of Madrid. One of the house's new residents is Julia Garcia (Carmen Maura, whose performance won her a best actress award at the 2000 San Sebastian Film Festival), a real estate agent who has taken an apartment to revive her sagging marriage. One day, while engaging in some bedroom bliss, Julia and her unemployed husband Ricardo (Jesus Bonilla) are attacked by cockroaches that rain down on them through a crack in the ceiling. During a subsequent investigation of the upstairs apartment, firemen discover a man's rotting corpse. Julia later conducts her own investigation of the apartment and discovers almost 15 million dollars hidden away under the floor boards -- the result of a soccer-pool win by the apartment's dead owner. She decides to take the winnings and run, but while removing the cash, meets her neighbor Ramona (Terele Pavez), who quickly becomes suspicious of Julia's activities. It turns out that everyone in the building knew about the money and agreed to share it amongst themselves, a plan severely compromised by Julia's desire to keep the money for herself. After inviting Julia to a welcome party held by the residents' association, her neighbors go to extreme lengths to get the money, and plenty of cartoon-colored murder and mayhem ensues. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

This Pedro Almodóvar melodrama examines how several lives are changed by a single gunshot. Adapting the novel Live Flesh by British mystery author Ruth Rendell, Almodóvar has given the material a Spanish makeover with added political thrust. Beginning in 1970 in Franco's Madrid, when a prostitute (Penelope Cruz) gives birth to a son, Victor, the story leaps forward to contemporary Madrid. Wealthy diplomat's daughter Elena (Francesca Neri) is watching Luis Buñuel's The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de La Cruz (1955) while waiting for the arrival of her heroin dealer, and she buzzes Victor (Liberto Rabal) (with whom she made a date, then forgot about him) into the building. In the confusion that follows, two cops, David (Javier Bardem) and Sancho (Jose Sancho) arrive, and a gun goes off. The story then makes another leap to four years later: Victor is in prison, while Elena, no longer on drugs, runs a disadvantaged children's shelter and is married to wheelchair-bound David. After his release, Victor visits his mother's grave and spots David and Elena at the cemetery -- where David meets philandering wife Clara (Angela Molina). Fate interweaves the tangled interrelationships of all into a complex tapestry of destiny and guilt. Shown at 1997 London and New York film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi