Hierro [2009]
Country: Spain - Spanish with English Subtitles
Year: 2009
Director: Gabe Ibáñez
Stars: Elena Anaya (María), Bea Segura (Laura), Kaiet Rodríguez (Diego)
Genre: Non Horror
This film marks the very first screener to land on my increasingly untidy desk (it's a giant black hole which occasionally spits out groovy stuff I forgot I had - like a large pack of cocktail umbrellas, or a set of clockwork South Park figures - every day is an adventure!). Anyways, I was well excited to receive this and as a result got straight to watching it. Was I disappointed? Weeeeelllll...
From the producers of "The Orphanage" and "Pan's Labyrinth" comes an eerie tale of the passing of a child. Maria's son Diego goes missing onboard a ferry to the island of El Hierro and just as she begins to recover from such a horrifying loss, she is called back to the island to identify a body that has been found. But then she spots Diego near a caravan on the sinister island...
I have to say that is one of the most beautiful films I've seen in a long time. The opening sequence of the movie involves a car crash and it's shot in an almost balletic manner. I had to 'Wow' out loud (which didn't impress the sleeping husband - did I mention this film had me all enthusiastic enough to watch it in the middle of the night, and on a school night!?). Sincerely, it's breathtaking to watch! And it bodes well for the rest of the movie, with an unnatural atmosphere permeating the screen. The only down side is that the movie is incredibly slow paced and some might lose interest - especially as one of the major plot points seems to be quite obvious and I spent a great deal of time wishing for the end to see if I was right (I was!). But generally it's an interesting movie, intelligent, visually stunning, and worth a watch - don't expect action tho!
Reviewer - @helen_of_horror
Hierro Trailer
Hierro Movie Spoiler - To be published after the DVD release on July 26th.
