Fragile (2005)

Jaume Balaguero is a considerable talent in the horror genre. Just check out his filmography if you don't believe me. And here he is, working once again with writer Jordi Galceran, to provide more thrills and chills for fright fans, with a tale that takes place in a hospital for children that's due to be closed down.

Calista Flockhart stars as a nurse, Amy Nicholls, who comes to work in the hospital for its last few days of operation. The children left in the hospital seem to share a collective fear of some presence in the hospital, something that may be connected to the abandoned second floor, and Amy starts to share their apprehension, to say the least, as she finds out more about her new workplace from a young girl named Maggie (Yasmin Murphy).

From the very first scenes to the final shot of the movie, Fragile is a film concerned with keeping viewers creeped out. There are moments to make you wince, and there are one or two gore gags, but the focus is always on genuine scares that mount up to create an atmosphere of real dread.

With a title relating to a number of different elements within the movie, it's hard not to jokingly refer to the lead role as the one that Flockhart was born to play (considering how often her fragile physical appearance has been the subject of celebrity gossip mags in previous years) but I'll try to restrain myself. Yet, it's equally hard not to want to scatter extra praise on her performance in an attempt to compensate for those who will write her off as "Ally McBeal". She's excellent here, and really IS perfect for the role. Richard Roxburgh, Elena Anaya, Colin McFarlane and Gemma Jones are all also very good, while young Murphy holds her own alongside her adult co-stars.

The script, co-written by Balaguero and Galceran, stumbles here and there (especially during one particularly awkward scene between Flockhart and Roxburgh), but those mis-steps are easily forgotten as the tension ratchets up and up, and everything slots into place for a finale that could go in any direction.

Reminiscent of great modern ghost stories such as The Devil's Backbone, The Orphanage, and A Tale Of Two Sisters, this is an impressively straightforward horror that should be a high priority for any fan after something genuinely creepy. Balaguero may have disappointed me slightly with Darkness, but he's made up for it many times over in the intervening years. This is another reason to look forward to everything he does.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Fangoria-Frightfest-Calista-Flockhart/dp/B003T04NC4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413710281&sr=8-2&keywords=fragile

Killing Words (2003)

AKA Palabras Encadenadas.

An excellent psychological thriller/horror movie from Spain that plays out, for the most part, as a two-hander focusing on Dario Grandinetti and Goya Toledo, Killing Words is a fun, polished piece of entertainment similiar to classic movies such as Sleuth and Deathtrap (which needs an R2 disc release ASAP).

Grandinetti plays Ramon Diaz, the disgruntled ex-husband of Laura Galan (Toledo). When I say disgruntled I actually mean REALLY disgruntled. Ramon has held a major grudge against his wife because of the lies that she told during their divorce. He now wants payback, in a big way, and part of that will involve making her admit to the lies she told. Viewers don't know just how serious this man is, but the film veers between a present situation with Ramon helping police who are searching for Laura and the past battle of wills between the angry man and his ex-wife.

Based on a play by Jordi Galceran, Killing Words benefits from a smart script co-written by Fernando de Felipe and director Laura Mana. It also has a great cast. Fernando Guillen and Eric Bonicatto are the two policemen trying to catch their man, and do very well, but the best moments are those between Grandinetti and Toledo. Both get to take turns at spitting out the insults and both do it very well, while Toledo also has moments in which she seems genuinely afraid for her life.

It's not as smart or unpredictable as it might like to think it is, but the movie does have plenty of twists and turns that are fun and sprinkles enough intelligence throughout every scene to make it all seem a cut above the many dumb films that fill up places in the Top 20 week in and week out. I THINK, and I may be very wrong here, that there are one or two major mistakes/plot holes/illogical moments, but I'm looking forward to rewatching the movie and seeing if the movie is flawed or I am just not as observant as I'd like to be. Whatever the answer, while the film is on it's great fun and you'll only start picking it apart as the end credits roll.

8/10

Killing Words is showing today at The Filmhouse in Edinburgh (buy tickets here) as part of the run up to the 20th Dead By Dawn horror film festival.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Killing-Words-DVD-Dario-Grandinetti/dp/B000LXH3B0/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1359152171&sr=1-1