The house of snails, or, The movie you didn't heard of, is a Spanish production relying heavily on mystery and a suspense.

I don't think it's quite up there with a lot of these great Spanish movies before it, but it does come close. And the fact that it is, let's say, weirder, doesn't compensate whatsoever. It was quite a nice try that didn't deliver as it should, and it does leave the viewer a little empty.

I did enjoy it, loved the scenery, the isolation - one of my favorite themes in the horror genre, the small village and its residents. It has some great little details put in there that makes this feel quite natural and helps you connect with the characters. They do feel alive and you can emphasize with their frustration, confusion or even rage.

But I don't believe this one is for everyone, even as a die hard horror/mystery you could still feel like it just isn't enough there. A movie that surely could have been better, but it turned out as it did either because this is exactly what the director wanted or because the lack of experience in story making.

All in all I do recommend it for a one time view, it does deserve to be on the list with the great Spanish mysteries.

Cheers!

Good, very good... A great Spanish suspended horror, I was very intrigued by the two legends mentioned in the film, Vimero and the red shark of Barbate (about which I found nothing on the internet), I really liked the acclimatization, the rustic and at the same time gloomy setting, the bizarre and strangely insane characters are adorable, with their shortcomings and imperfections, grotesque and very scary, a great plot Twist... The characters are adorable, with their shortcomings and imperfections, grotesque and very scary, a great plot Twist.... We hope for an equally dark sequel... Very good...

Deciding to view two titles from the Abertoir Film festival,I began searching for a title to double bill. Earlier in the year seeing the outstanding The Barcelona Vampiress (2020-also reviewed), I was happy to spot another Horror from Spain streaming on the Abertoir Festival, which led to me watching snails crawl into darkness.

View on the film:

Drifting to the secluded cabin in the small town as a place to begin writing his next novel, Javier Rey gives an outstanding performance as Prieto, who Rey is unafraid from showing the nasty, snarling side of, as he snaps at the tightly-knitted locals, and confronts those questioning him over strange attacks which have been taking place around town.

Adapting her novel as Prieto attempts to write his next one, Sandra Garcia Nieto makes her scriptwriting debut with a a glorious mix of werewolf Horror blood lust, with a playful cynicism dripping over the abrasive psychological push-pull between the locals and Prieto.

The blossoming romance Prieto has with with local Berta (played with a fiery passion by Paz Vega) adds fuel to the fire from the residence of outsider Prieto also being the werewolf, which Nieto puts out with a deliciously macabre full circle ending.

Following each page of Prieto's writing, director Macarena Astorga presents a real page-turner of a feature film debut, via ultra-stylised dissolves of the werewolf attacks seeping into Prieto's writing sessions, leading to a blurring of reality and fiction in dolly shots catching the locals locking their eyes on the outsider every time he enters the town,as Prieto visits the house of snails.