Director: Palito Ortega Matute
Year: 2014
Country: Peru
Alternate Titles: El demonio de los Andes
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Following a savage attack one evening, a group of friends comes to believe the attacks are being committed by a savage creature known as a Jarjacha and is weaving a path of death throughout the village, forcing them to trek out in search of masters to figure out a way to stop the deadly creature.
Review:
There was a lot to like with this one. Among the more impressive qualities here is the fine way this manages to bring together a folk-based set up within the confines of a modern city. The early setup of this one involving the transplanted girls from the village encountering all sorts of supernatural activity around them that they interpret as being caused by the legend from back home is a big part of getting into the storyline of this one. The various antics on the sidelines of this story, from the sexual assault one of them endures to the belief that someone is following them and finally encountering the dead body in the alleyway near the house that signals these actions taking place which slowly shape the revelation that something inhuman is behind everything. That it’s presented as a fun murder mystery at this stage is a wholly impressive aspect to set up the later stage of investigating the creature and heading out to the remote villages where their paranoia and fear about the creature, which is quite telling and enhances the suspense.
As well, this also manages to feature quite a lot of creepy and enjoyable encounters with the creature. The opening chase with their kid-versions through the howling wind of the village in a race to get to safety is an impressive way to get the film started, and goes a long way to get this off on a great note. The encounters in the city are quite fun as well, highlighted by the central attack on one of the group members in their house which is a creepy, chilling sequence especially involving the discovery which adds quite a bit to the situation, as well as the other encounters on the city streets that offers up a fun contrast to the rural setting in the second half where they encounter the creature in more intense and frantic scenes. Feeding on the paranoid the villagers face over the creatures’ existence and their unwillingness to believe the story, it takes a creepy and somewhat thrilling route through the various scenes which come off rather well. Given the high-energy finale where they confront the creature and defeat it in a unique matter which also shows off some decent gore and the only look at the shadowy creature, this gives the film a lot to like.
There are a few slight issues to be had here. The main problem is that this feels rather light and flimsy when it comes to explaining what the Jarjacha being that’s chasing them really is since everything being said about it is so localized and centered on residents of the area. Upon the announcement that it exists, the group is so quick to believe it as the one responsible that there’s a rather difficult time believing anything that comes about here due to them brushing off everything to investigate it in favor of blind faith when an investigation to confirm it would’ve allowed for more an understanding about what it is, where it came from and what it’s doing with the friends. While this comes about at the end, it does feel a little underwhelming due to the lack of information presented previously about what’s going on and the lack of information, which can also describe the physical portion of the creature since all we get are shadowy looks at clawed hands or hooved feet with a brief glimpse of a face here and there to tell what it looks like. The low-budget look and feel might also be an issue for some, but otherwise, there’s not much wrong here.
Overview: ***/5
A generally fun take on the rural folklore-based creature feature, there’s not a whole lot to hold this down even though most of the issues are related to the creature itself which is quite surprising. Still, viewers who are intrigued by this type of creature feature or a fan of rural genre fare like this while most others will be turned off by the flaws and should heed caution.
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