Director: Demián Rugna
Year: 2023
Country: Argentina/USA
Alternate Titles: Cuando acecha la maldad
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Following a bizarre discovery, a group of residents in a small Argentine town are confronted by a wide-sweeping curse that turns the other residents into savage, bloodthirsty creatures intending to create chaos around them and must find a way of stopping it from spreading out of the town.
Review:
This was an absolutely entertaining and chilling genre effort. One of the strongest elements here with this one is the massively intriguing storyline that takes a different twist on the possession idea. Rather than deal with a singular individual taking on the role of the possessed and the terrors of that being unfolded throughout the course of the film, this takes place with the concept of the town being able to get possessed and carry out the violence themselves in terms of just snapping and going crazy on those around them seemingly out of nowhere. That not just people but also animals are capable of succumbing to this possessed state is a fantastic concept and generates a kind of fantastic starting point that leaves a chilling atmosphere to carry itself over the rest of the film.
As well, that leaves the film with a slew of breathless and wholly disturbing scenes of the townspeople coming together in random attacks or encounters. From the first encounter in the field outside the couple’s house where they have to shoot the possessed goat and they take turns gruesomely attacking each other for what they’ve done, this starts off fast and vicious with the possessed generating more encounters and confrontations in rapid succession. The antics at the farmer’s house where he tries to explain the situation to his estranged wife and new partner only to have the issue escalate when both animals and the possessed humans come together to try to take each other out in graphic fashion out of nowhere is a spectacular, breakneck sequence that absolutely shreds the nerves with the paranoia and dread established at this point.
This provides the setting for the finale where the slight break in pace manages to generate the necessary gaps in the storyline to be filled and the race to ensure they put an end to everything that takes place. The need to go back into town and confront the creatures still there leads to some enjoyable encounters on the highway or the school where the main threat is hidden away infecting the rest of the children there is quite well-explained and generates the kind of overall storyline necessity to explain what’s happening and generate the kind of necessary action to keep going throughout here. There’s plenty of bloodshed, carnage, gut-wrenching emotional resolutions, and a fantastic ending coda that suits the material perfectly that either lets the film work as a solo vehicle or a chilling preview of what’s to come in a potential sequel.
The other factor here is the idea of how the possession works and spreads throughout the village. The initial discovery of the lone individual living on the remote farmhouse where the gruesome, deformed state they find him in and how the others treat him is a fantastic start to things. It’s the way it starts from there involving the family relationships with the individuals possessed and the reluctance to deal with what’s obvious which is what lets the idea spread through their inactivity that comes together quite nicely. If there’s a flaw to be had here with this one, it’s the stupidity of the finale where a series of utterly unnecessary series of poor decision-making skills that shouldn’t be there due to everything that’s happened before so it comes off as useless contrivance to continue the story but that’s really all that’s wrong here.
Overview: *****/5
Absolutely stellar and near-flawless genre effort, this is one of the finest genre releases from the past few years and stands as one of the shining beacons of the current genre movement. Those who are curious about it, appreciate the subject matter, or are fans of the creative crew will absolutely want to give this a shot as will most other genre fans overall as only those turned off by the subject matter will be turned off here.
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