Six tales of terror travel from Spain to keep you up at night. None of them caused me to lose any sleep, but they were somewhat addicting as I had to watch them all once I got started.
Six Films to Keep You Awake is from a cadre of Spanish filmmakers. I’m guessing they may have been shot for Spanish television since they all run around 75 minutes. They’ve not been sanitized though as foreign television, if that’s truly what they were shot for – I’m only guessing, since other countries don’t mind pouring a little blood and nudity into their telly product.
I’m also guessing television since each has a fun little “Six Films to Keep You Awake” intro involving a bloody hand an a eyeball. The brevity of the films work for them for the most part, but a few of them might’ve been served better by a longer running time and several might’ve even benefitted from being a little shorter.
The set consists of three two-sided discs with each film on a side.
Spectre:
Blame:
Once Gloria has moved in, Ana reveals that her private practice is in fact an abortion clinic. It is a clinic where truth, pain, life and death all intermingle and where the patients and doctors are never truly alone.
A Real Friend: The Christmas Tale:
When the money is in hand, the children's greed changes their plans, and they decide to keep her captive. Then, one day they unexpectedly find the well is empty. Santa knows who's been naughty this year and is coming with a sack of deadly gifts!
The Baby's Room: To Let:
Upon arrival, they find an abandoned looking building without any residents or people in sight. They go up to the 3rd floor and enter the apartment, which is something they should never have done.
It was fun seeing many geek pop culture references as well as seeing them in their Spanish language counterparts. Spectre is the one that I found the most satisfying of the lot.
The Baby’s Room plays well with the protagonist’s paranoia, but felt a tad too short and might’ve benefited from some more time to explore the film’s premise. The rest are good and I enjoyed each of them in their own way. A nice little nighttime snack for horror fans, though note that they’re all in Spanish with English subtitles for those that can’t stand reading.
It may have been the art house feel of the subtitles that made me like them more and the fact that their gore and subject matter hasn’t been castrated as they might’ve been on U.S. television.
Films to Keep You Awake are presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and are enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include “making ofs” for each of the films and run about 20 minutes for each one.
I found each of the films interesting and compelling in their own right. It makes a nice midnight snack for the horror fan.
Six Films to Keep You Awake is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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