Daniel de la Vega’s Necrofobia is a worthy landmark among local genre films
First and foremost, Daniel de la Vega’s Necrofobia is a rara avis: an Argentine horror movie shot in 3D (quite successfully); it belongs to the giallo subgenre (in the vein of Dario Argento and Mario Bava); it looks and feels like a ‘70s horror flick even with the modern technology it boasts; it’s scored by musician Claudio Simonetti, who worked on some of Argento’s films, including his masterpiece Suspiria; and it has an impressive use of the elements of the language of cinema in order to achieve an unsettling, supernatural atmosphere from beginning to end. From a formal point of view, it doesn’t really get much better. Formulaic, yes, but proudly and convincingly so.
The storyline in a nutshell: Dante (Luis Machín) is a tailor who suffers from necrophobia, the fear of death and corpses. His mental disorder reaches a peak when his twin brother dies and he can’t help but feel he’s the one lying in the coffin. After all, the two men are physically identical. Dante is seeing his own face, no less. Slowly but firmly, his perception of reality begins to crumble. To top it all off, people around him — acquaintances, friends, loved ones — begin to get killed, one by one. No wonder Dante feels he’s stepped right into the mouth of madness.
If you are to assess Necrophobia through its suggestive and creepy mise-en-scene, smart use of the camera, with tilted angles and distorting lenses, to convey a nightmarish universe — or its expressive photography with unbelievably high lights and dark shadows — then Daniel de la Vega’s film is a winner. It’s actually a landmark in local horror cinema.
But on the minus side, there are some unmissable flaws. While Machín fits perfectly the physique du role of the troubled tailor, his acting is a bit over the top, and I’m not sure that’s deliberate. Raúl Taibo, Julieta Cardinali, Gerardo Romano and Viviana Saccone strike the right notes in a perfect low profile. That Dante is sort of crazy doesn’t necessarily mean he has to be over-emphatic, almost histrionic at times.
As for the screenplay, it runs into some confusing, messy zones that slow down the narrative and make it less gripping. When it gets too subjective and mildly incoherent, Necrofobia loses its grip on the fantastic world it has created. A world that could also have been more impressive if the haunting, carefully composed musical score hadn’t been so overplayed. Some room for dead silence would’ve been a plus.
All in all, Necrofobia represents a step in the right direction for a director that made the remarkable Hermanos de sangre. And it’s a worthy entry into a little explored realm too.
Production notes
Necrofobia (Argentina, 2014). Directed by Daniel de la Vega. Written by Nicanor Loreti, Germán Val, Daniel de la Vega. With Luis Machín, Raúl Taibo, Gerardo Romano, Julieta Cardinali. Cinematography by Mariano Suárez, Daniel de la Vega. Editing: Guille Gatti, Martín Blousson, Daniel de la Vega. Running time: 75 minutes.
@pablsuarez
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