This Chiller From Puerto Rico Has Creepiness To Spare, But Doesn't Hold Many Surprises
The new ghost story from director Roberto Busó-García, "The Condemned," creates an extremely eerie mood and holds on to this creepy vibe quite effectively. It has an understated stylishness that really made me want to like the movie more than I did. Ultimately, though, a movie of this sort needs a little mystery. The horrors of "The Condemned" are always very easy to intuit. As the lead character strives to understand the past that is haunting her, there is nothing that we (as the audience) haven't been able to figure out from the introductory scenes. I wanted the awful truth to be just as shocking to us as it is to the movie's heroine! Without this escalating sense of dread, the movie never really goes anywhere. Yes, there is a twist in the climactic moments, but it didn't have the impact that I think was intended. It's like Busó-García was relying on this one moment to elevate the entire film and it doesn't quite accomplish this goal.
The movie...
Suspenseful, Thought-Provoking Ghost Story from Puerto Rico
This suspenseful, eerie and elegant film from Puerto Rico isn't easy to describe but it's well worth the watch. It's scary but not strictly horror, it's profound but not strictly art-house, it's a Puerto Rican film that is only about Puerto Rico in a metaphorical way. This is not your typical haunted house film, the horror isn't obvious to the casual viewer. In a fascinating way, "The Condemned" methodically proves to be a meditation on the curse of people who forgo their individual responsibilities and blame others as a shield.
Interestingly, the film immediately disposes with the traditional "mystery" in genre films: from the beginning we know that there is a dying, celebrated doctor who did terrible things in the past. Some may be turned off by this bold decision: I found it to be the key to the wonders of the film. This isn't a story about what happened, but about the terrible world that was created by the decisions (or lack of decisions) of those involved in or...
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