Rating: ***
Starring: Jonah Ehrenreich, Júlia Molins, Stephen Ohl
Lo and behold! The first full length horror movie to be filmed with an iPhone! What does that mean for us?
Absolutely nothing!
Friends Peter and Tonio decided to fly all the way to Barcelona for an international one night stand in an attempt to lighten up Peter's recent break up. At first, it was all fun and kinky games as they bar hop and flirt with girls in hopes of getting it on. They eventually got what they came for when a beautiful woman invites them to her house for an evening of pleasure, only to discover that she is a deranged killer and the house gets somehow boarded shut, trapping them inside as they fight to survive or face a fate far worse than dying.
If there is anything this film made me realize is that horror films these days could really use some likable characters; producers need to realize that horror works best if the victims do not deserve the predicament that falls on them, thus making us feel afraid for them. Keeping this in mind, characters like Peter and Tonio could have ruined the majority of the movie for me as they are the kind of people you like to see die at very first minute they are introduced, but certain developments in the plot do make them an intriguing watch.
For a good dose of the first act, we see these two contrasts in personality and yet ultimately agree to think with their dicks and do the most expensive one night stand planned; Tonio is this immature douchebag that was actually responsible for his friends break-up (and more at a reveal during the climax), while Peter, though slightly sympathetic at first, gradually devolves into this hate-filled psycho whose breakdown prolonged the film for an extra 18 minutes. Getting past the movie's rocky direction, plot hole-filled execution, and laughable acting around the latter parts, I find the wait and hobble well worth it as seeing them get mentally and emotionally tormented to the point of whimpering and betrayal has this satisfying sense of grim entertainment.
I honestly enjoy most of the scares and gore scenes here. I like the fact that the house acts like a separate entity and a heavy implication that something supernatural is afoot, plus the masked killer girl is a nice touch as a physical threat, though I really wish we get to see more of her. I'm sure not a lot of folks would agree with me in considering this as a good movie seeing the general unlikability of the two main leads, but the idea of a haunted house with a mad slasher inside is a solid concept and the psychological take of Hooked Up personally did little flaws here, genuinely growing on me as a guilty pleasure of sorts. If you like seeing horrors brewed from friendships-turned-sour and bad one-night stands, then this is a film to try!
Bodycount:
1 female pushed unto a statue, impaled
1 male found beheaded
1 female knifed to death
1 female ran through with a pitchfork
1 male beaten to death, tongue torn out
1 male jumped off the stairs, fell to his death
Total: 6
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