Review of Romasanta

Sometimes I ask myself why do I watch any given movie which has had bad reviews, and if I should begin to listen to the critics (especially when the opinion is unanimous). So, I met Paco Plaza's work through his first movie ("The Second Name"), sort of a satanic-thriller, made in Spain but played by foreign actors and in English. It was an effective and dark film; it wasn't the most original movie I'd ever watched, but it was OK, I had a nice and entertaining time (mission accomplished). And now I go and watch this "Romasanta", waiting for some excitement, even though the cast wasn't that good (Elsa Pataky, Julian Sands…). And what do I get? A story about wolf-men that never seems to begin, flat like a valley, and without a real climax. The aesthetic has reminded me of "The Pact Of The Wolves" (a recent french movie), and the technical aspects such as the photography or the special effects are just great. Anyway, for me a movie is an story, and a nice movie MUST have a nice story, and it has to be well told. Maybe the story in "Romasanta" is attractive , but Mr. Plaza hasn't found a way to tell it in a right way.

I hope that Plaza's third film will be as good as "The Second Name", so we can count on him to make nice fantastic-terror movies (just like Amenábar or Balagueró do). The three of them have demonstrated that it's possible to make good thrillers in Spain.

My rate: 4/10