Dead By Dawn 2016: The Corpse Of Anna Fritz (2015)

Anna Fritz (Alba Ribas) is a beautiful celebrity. And as this movie begins, you may not be surprised to know, she is dead. Her corpse is being held overnight in a hospital morgue before being further dealt with elsewhere. Pau (Albert Carbo) works at this hospital, and he receives a visit from two friends (Ivan, played by Cristian Valencia, and Javi, played by Bernat Saumell) before they are all due to go out partying. Which is when things start to get dark. Very dark indeed.

I'm not going to say any more about the plot details here because the less you know going into this movie the better. Suffice to say that this is a deeply unpleasant and uncomfortable viewing experience, to start with. But stick with it and you'll be rewarded with a damn fine, and extremely tense, thriller that rattles along nicely for the duration of its relatively short runtime.

Director Hector Hernandez Vicens, who also co-wrote the movie with Isaac P. Creus, skates to the very edge of what many will consider immoral and distressing before starting to then add complexity to the scenario and connect more strongly with viewers who will start pondering just what they would do if thrust into a similar situation (not that, I hope to god, any one of us WOULD be thrust into a situation like this).

All of the cast do a fantastic job, although I could easily make the obvious joke about Ribas corpsing on camera, and it's impressive to think about your opinions of each character at the end compared to how you may have been viewing them at the very beginning of the movie. I also won't be going into any more detail here because discussing the character developments could be as damaging to your experience of the movie as discussing the plot details. This is a film about a wild situation, about morality and consequences, and it moves from scene to scene thanks to the actions of the main characters.

Although it's no blockbuster, with the hospital really the only setting of the movie, The Corpse Of Anna Fritz never feels lacking in any way. The budget has been put to great use, with extra focus on the cold, impressive camerawork and framing. Moving between the morgue itself and some other parts of the hospital also helps to release viewers from any potential feelings of claustrophobia and think of the film taking place in a world other than just an unconnected independent movie universe (look, we all love independent movies but we've also all seen a number of films that take place in one room or building with nothing but stock footage trying to convince us that there's still a big world outside).

As a look at the strange allure of celebrity, this works. As a look at the strange effect of testosterone mixed in with peer pressure, this works. As a tense and unique thriller, this works. Basically, yes, this works for film fans who have the stomach to handle the unpleasant premise.

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8/10

Atrocious (2010)

Another Spanish horror movie that's based around some "found footage", this is also another example of  how to get it all just right. You may already be deciding to watch something else after hearing that this is a "found footage" movie, and I don't blame you for thinking that the style has been overused and stretched thin lately, but if you fancy something a bit creepy that also doesn't cop out by showing absolutely nothing then I recommend giving this a go.

Written and directed by Fernando Barreda Luna, Atrocious is all about a family going to spend some time at their holiday home. It's a very nice place but there's a local legend about the ghost of a little girl who meets anyone lost in the nearby countryside. Is the spirit good or bad? Is she even real? Cristian (Cristian Valencia) and his sister July (Clara Moraleda) are determined to find out because they like to investigate paranormal events and urban legends for the webshow that they host. And what better way to find out than by wandering around the large hedge maze that sits practically on their doorstep? Things, as you might guess, soon take a turn for the creepy.

The acting on display here is pretty good from everyone involved and, technically, the movie is fine but this kind of film tends to stand or fall based on one major factor - just how believable is the constant camerawork. Sadly, things become less believable as the movie works towards a big ending but for 3/4 of the runtime everything feels just fine. The atmosphere soon moves from the light and cheery opening scenes to something full of potential danger, a creepy mix of shadows and threat even during daylight hours.

Like most films of this kind, you may end up feeling frustrated by what you can't see and what you have to put up with (shaky-cam, chaotic moments of disorientation, etc) but you may take some comfort in the fact that this all actually leads to something pretty interesting and revelatory in its final moments, as opposed to the many movies in this subgenre that seem to tease and tease and tease and then just end.

There's still every chance that you end up thinking this is just another muddled, dizzying, dull excuse for a film. Every chance. Yet I really liked it and I hope that some others at least give it a go after reading this review.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atrocious-DVD-Jose-Masegosa/dp/B0058OA9WW

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