By LEONARDO GARCIA TSAO
Well known for his contributions to the successful [REC] franchise, director Jaume Balagueró is now working for producer Alex de la Iglesia, the cult director whose imprint is all over Venus, as some plot points seem to be retreads of his famous debut The Day of the Beast (1995). The film will certainly have a following among horror diehards, even though it doesn’t finally deliver on its promises.
The main action is set in a bleak, cursed building named Venus on the outskirts of Madrid, following a disconcerting prologue that explains about the rise of the evil goddess Lamaasthu under a solar eclipse created by a new planet. Comely disco dancer Lucía (Ester Expósito, best known for the Netflix series Elite) seeks refuge in that very building, after stealing a duffel bag full of Ecstasy from her crooked bosses. In the dingy apartment of her sister Rocío (Ángela Cremonte) and her precocious daughter Alba (Inés Fernández), Lucía tends to her wounds, including a gaping cut on her right leg made by one of the goons working at the disco.
The truth is, Rocío wants out of the apartment where few neighbors remain, due to the mysterious murders of children, strange noises and sludge coming out of the tap. Only little Alba seems not to care as she receives gifts from someone she calls ‘the servant’. The next morning, Rocío is nowhere to be found. She has abandoned her sister and daughter.
Meanwhile, the disco thugs turn to a grotesque medium to find Lucía. One of the bouncers turns out to be the dancer’s secret boyfriend (Federico Aguado), who simply googles ‘Venus’ and finds the building’s whereabouts.
In another apartment there is a trio of sinister old ladies who are celebrating the birthday of a mentally impaired girl. Alba and Lucía are invited to the party. As it is somewhat predictably revealed, the ladies are actually witches waiting for the coronation of Lamaasthu when the eclipse occurs.
All hell literally breaks loose when the thugs storm the building. At the same time the servant’s identity is revealed, the witches take Alba to a satanic ritual, and Lucía is seriously wounded with a blade. That’s when the narrative turns messy. And the payoff leaves a lot to be desired, with its anticlimactic denouement.
Fernando Navarro’s screenplay isn’t exactly original in employing the tritest MacGuffin in contemporary cinema, the stolen cache of drugs, and elements liberally borrowed from the aforementioned The Day of the Beast. Balagueró’s visual style seems to be designed for home viewing (Prime Video is in the production credits) as it relies on a tiresome succession of close shots. Excepting the over-the-top music score, technical credits are professional throughout. And the cast is game to all the ultraviolence. Kudos to Expósito, who gets a lot of mileage out of writhing in pools of fake blood.
Director: Jaume Balagueró
Screenplay: Fernando Navarro
Cast: Ester Expósito, Ángela Cremonte, Fernando Valdivielso, Magüi Mira, Federico Aguado, Inés Fernández
Producers: Alex de la Iglesia, Carolina Bang
Cinematography: Pablo Rosso
Music: Vanessa Garde
Editing: Luis de la Madrid
Costume design: Rebeca Durán
Production company: The Fear Collection
Venue: Morelia Film Festival (International Premieres)
In Spanish
