First, the facts: La casa del fin de los tiempos, written and directed by Alejandro Hidalgo, is not only the first horror film produced in Venezuela, but also the most popular Latin American movie in 2013 — out of a total of 450 features. In Venezuela alone, it reached some 623.500 viewers in 41 weeks, it grossed more than US$45 million, and became the most seen movie in the country’s history — yes, even more than Sixth Sense, The Others, or The Conjuring.
Now, despite these impressive facts and although you can clearly see that this is a film that was made with the best intentions, the result is far from accomplished. But don’t get me wrong: it’s not a total mess either. You could say it’s one of those films that have a good premise, a nice set up, and some surprising twists and turns. And yet when it comes to the general execution of its many parts, too many flaws surface. For starters, the horror doesn’t feel that horrific. Which is a must for a ghostly haunted house story.
Consider the scenario: Dulce (Ruddy Rodríguez) is a married housewife with two kids, Leopoldo (Rosmel Bustamante) and Rodrigo (Héctor Mercado), who sees some apparitions in her dark, old house, which warn her that her children are about to be killed. She desperately tries to prevent the tragedy — and yet it happens: one of her sons is found dead, the other son is missing, and her husband, (Gonzalo Cubero) is found dead too. And then Dulce is imprisoned for crimes she didn’t commit. Thirty years later and under house arrest, she’s determined to find out the truth about the tragedy that has haunted her so much for so long.
The first problem lies in the near total lack of an unsettling atmosphere. Yes, you have the usual tilted camera angles, the spots of bright lights and dark shadows, the distorted visual perspectives, the eerie sound effects, the ominous musical score, and so forth. But they don’t do the trick here. They just look too done-by-the-book, they don’t feel real, they don’t get you on a gut level — for that matter, they don’t strike a chord in an aesthetic level either. Think of a student film done with the best intentions and you’ll have a good idea of what La casa del fin de los tiempos looks like.
The fact that the lead performance by Ruddy Rodríguez is almost always somewhat over the top is of not much help either — whereas the rest of the actors are quite inexpressive, so there you have an ill-fated combination. And to have the film’s plot be spelled out by the characters themselves isn’t exactly the best way to deal with cinematic narrative. On the other hand, it’s also true that by the time the film is over and you know what the whole mystery was all about, you can see the premise had good potential, even with a certain degree of originality.
Once again: the general outline of the film is good, it works to a limited extent and it may prove rewarding for easygoing viewers. Surely the fact that Venezuela doesn’t have a tradition of horror cinema at all explains its popularity. And yet this haunted house is certainly no Amityville Horror.
Production notes
La casa del fin de los tiempos (Venezuela, 2013) Written, directed, and produced by Alejandro Hidalgo. With: : Ruddy Rodríguez, Rosmel Bustamante, Héctor Mercado, Gonzalo Cubero. Cinematography: Cezary Jaworski. Editing: Judilam Goncalvez, Miguel Ángel García, Alejandro Hidalgo. Running time: 97 min.
@pablsuarez
