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| "Penumbra" (2011) |
*cues “Jaws” music*
Yep. Chloe Reviews are back! Sit back, grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy…
or run like hell. Choose wisely. *Boris
Karloff grin*
The Particulars: Penumbra is
an Argentinian horror movie filmed in 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The
budget was 1.25 million ARS.
The Chloe Blurb: When a
young, professional, rather self-absorbed woman rents out an apartment to a
suspicious stranger, she pays the price when the stranger brings a whacked-out cult
with him. Landlord beware.
The Players: The actors were
fine, some better than others while a few fell below par. Cristina Brondo
did an excellent job as Marga. The energy she brought to the role truly carried
the movie in some of the film’s leaner parts. I think the filmmakers could have
done a better job casting the cult members. While each actor did a fine job on
their own, none of them meshed together. Cult members mesh. It’s a rule. These
guys didn’t. A lost opportunity here.
On the Plot: Weak. While
they could maybe have gotten away with the idea of a cult renting out a
location with some such scam, the payoff really needed to be superb to get the
viewers over that good-sized willing-suspension-of-disbelief hump. The fact
that the cult is never explained satisfactorily made the ending a real dud for
me.
Plot Holes, Miscues and the Like:
Spoilers lurk in these waters!
-What was the point of all
of Marga’s phone calls? One or two was plenty to convince the audience that she
was not a particularly nice person. The rest of the calls since they were never
tied in with the main storyline was just time wasted.
-As mentioned above, what
were the group’s beliefs? They kill themselves during the solar eclipse and
disappear, where did they believe they were going? Why was Mr. Salva so
important? Was the beheading of the girl just a sacrifice? If so, to whom? They
didn’t seem to be worshipping anything religiously. It seemed more scientific.
Data, please, or at least try to spin us a good yarn.
-Why did they keep Marga
alive? Why did the members of the cult bother going through that whole charade
when they obviously didn’t have a problem with murder? Why didn’t Javier just
kill her when he first met her, like he wanted to all along?
-What was the point of
the old lady downstairs? More time wasted.
-The grocery store
clerks were weird. Just saying.
-Did the police actually
think Marga was strong enough to lop off that girl’s head? Please.
-Where did the paintings
on the wall and ceiling come from? Who supposedly owned the apartment before?
Is this why the cult picked the apartment?
Here ends this Chloe Review. Hope you enjoyed!
Until tomorrow…
Chloe
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