'WE ARE WHAT WE ARE': Three Stars (Out of Five)
Mexican horror film (with English subtitles) about a family of cannibals in which the teenage children must take over the hunting duties of the father when he passes away. The film is similar in theme and character structure to a recent (2006) American low budget horror film called 'THE HAMILTONS', except that film dealt with a family of vampires. This one is not quite as well made or interesting as that flick but neither are horror classics. It is a decent 'B' horror film none the less with some pretty good acting. The directing and script are adequate (by Jorge Michel Grau) for the genre but of course not very original. Still the film is dark and disturbing and delivers that much at least.
The story begins with a man (Humberto Yanez) stumbling through a mall and becoming obsessed with some mannequins in a shop window. After being shued away he passes out and dies in the middle of the mall floor. His wife Patricia (Carmen Beato) and three children are alarmed when he doesn't return home and his two sons, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) and Julian (Alan Chavez), fill in for him at the street market where he worked as a watch repairman. After getting in a couple fights (over debt their dad owed) and kicked out of the market they return home to the news that their father has passed away, from their sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitan). As their mother freaks out and locks herself in her room Sabina informs her brothers it's now their duty to find someone for their regular cannibal ritual. The two brothers then set out into the city looking for prey.
The film is very dark (both thematically as well as lighting) and brutally violent. It is very shocking to watch this seemingly normal family resort to such violent behavior like it's a regular way of life. The sons do of course have trouble with it at first, especially the more emotional Alfredo, as the sister Sabina seems more mature and adept at their traditional way of life. In that way the film is intriguing and like I said disturbing but none of the characters are really relatable and in the end the film paves no new paths. It's just another generic horror film told in a slightly different fashion (at least from the average American film). Worth seeing if you're a horror junkie, otherwise it's probably a skip.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4tG6zhJxO8
Mexican horror film (with English subtitles) about a family of cannibals in which the teenage children must take over the hunting duties of the father when he passes away. The film is similar in theme and character structure to a recent (2006) American low budget horror film called 'THE HAMILTONS', except that film dealt with a family of vampires. This one is not quite as well made or interesting as that flick but neither are horror classics. It is a decent 'B' horror film none the less with some pretty good acting. The directing and script are adequate (by Jorge Michel Grau) for the genre but of course not very original. Still the film is dark and disturbing and delivers that much at least.
The story begins with a man (Humberto Yanez) stumbling through a mall and becoming obsessed with some mannequins in a shop window. After being shued away he passes out and dies in the middle of the mall floor. His wife Patricia (Carmen Beato) and three children are alarmed when he doesn't return home and his two sons, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro) and Julian (Alan Chavez), fill in for him at the street market where he worked as a watch repairman. After getting in a couple fights (over debt their dad owed) and kicked out of the market they return home to the news that their father has passed away, from their sister Sabina (Paulina Gaitan). As their mother freaks out and locks herself in her room Sabina informs her brothers it's now their duty to find someone for their regular cannibal ritual. The two brothers then set out into the city looking for prey.
The film is very dark (both thematically as well as lighting) and brutally violent. It is very shocking to watch this seemingly normal family resort to such violent behavior like it's a regular way of life. The sons do of course have trouble with it at first, especially the more emotional Alfredo, as the sister Sabina seems more mature and adept at their traditional way of life. In that way the film is intriguing and like I said disturbing but none of the characters are really relatable and in the end the film paves no new paths. It's just another generic horror film told in a slightly different fashion (at least from the average American film). Worth seeing if you're a horror junkie, otherwise it's probably a skip.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4tG6zhJxO8