The House of Snails
| The House of Snails | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Spanish | La casa del caracol |
| Directed by | Macarena Astorga |
| Screenplay by | Sandra García Nieto |
| Based on | La casa del caracol by Sandra García Nieto |
| Produced by | Álvaro Ariza Tirado |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Valentín Álvarez |
| Edited by | Beatriz Colomar |
| Music by | Karin Zielinski |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Filmax (es) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Countries |
|
| Language | Spanish |
The House of Snails (Spanish: La casa del caracol) is a 2021 psychological thriller film with rural horror and fantasy elements directed by Macarena Astorga from a screenplay written by Sandra García Nieto, based on García Nieto's novel La casa del caracol which stars Javier Rey alongside Paz Vega and Carlos Alcántara.
Plot
[edit | edit source]The plot is set in the 1970s in a fictional village ("Quintanar") in the Andalusian sierra, where Antonio Prieto, a writer addicted to mezcal rents a house there so he can write his novel in relative isolation.[1][2][3] The mysterious folks and the village are connected to superstitions and rumours about a strange and frightening creature known as El Vímero.[4]
Cast
[edit | edit source]- Javier Rey as Antonio Prieto[2]
- Paz Vega as Berta[2]
- Norma Martínez as Carmen[5]
- Pedro Casablanc as Sargento Mauri[5]
- Carlos Alcántara as Padre Benito[5]
- Elvira Mínguez as Justa[5]
- Vicente Vergara as Carmelo[5]
- Luna Fulgencio as Rosita[5]
- Ava Salazar as Sole[5]
- Jesús Carroza as Esteban[5]
- Fernando Tejero as Editor[5]
Production
[edit | edit source]Written by Sandra García Nieto, the screenplay is an adaptation of her own novel of the same name.[6] Described by Macarena Astorga as "a thriller that mixes a bit of psychological horror, suspense, mystery and fantasy", The House of Snails is the director's debut feature film.[7] A joint Spanish-Peruvian-Mexican co-production, it was produced by Esto también pasará and Casita Colorá Producciones AIE alongside Bowfinger International Pictures, Basque Films, Producciones Tondero and Hippo Entertainment Group, with the participation of RTVE, Canal Sur, and Amazon Prime Video.[8][9][10] It was shot in the mountains of the province of Málaga, including the village of Villanueva de Cauche, belonging to the municipality of Antequera.[3][11]
Release
[edit | edit source]The film was presented in the official selection of the 24th Málaga Film Festival on 7 June 2021.[4] Distributed by Filmax,[12] it was theatrically released in Spain on 11 June 2021.[citation needed] It was also invited to the 27th Lima Film Festival in the Galas section, where it will be screened on 12 August 2023.[13]
Reception
[edit | edit source]Beatriz Martínez of El Periódico de Catalunya rated the film 1 out of 5 stars, writing that "none of the elements of this film make any sense", and the film ends up becoming "an incompetent and arbitrary thriller" attempt.[14]
Irene Crespo of Cinemanía rated the film 3 out of 5 stars underscoring as a verdict the film to be "[an] intense psychological thriller. Magical and rural realism".[12]
Raquel Hernández Luján of HobbyConsolas rated the film with 50 points ("so-so") positively citing the good main actors and the well-done cinematography, whilst negatively assessing the "very poorly directed" secondary actors and the film's overly "abrupt and gimmicky" denouement, otherwise pointing out at the result being a "quite unsatisfactory" film overall.[15]
Elsa Fernández-Santos of El País considered that, despite early managing to unsettle the viewer with the atmosphere and setting, Macarena Astorga "gets totally lost when the secondary characters end up reduced to nothing and the main character leaves the viewer, to say the least, perplexed".[1]
Accolades
[edit | edit source]| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1st Carmen Awards | Best Actress | Paz Vega | Nominated | [16] |
| Best New Director | Macarena Astorga | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound | Diana Sagrista | Nominated | |||
| 30th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actor in a Minor Role | Fernando Tejero | Nominated | [17] |
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- 2021 films
- 2021 psychological thriller films
- Films set in the 1970s
- Films set in Andalusia
- Films about writers
- Spanish psychological thriller films
- Peruvian psychological thriller films
- Mexican psychological thriller films
- 2020s Spanish films
- 2020s Peruvian films
- 2020s Mexican films
- Films based on Spanish novels
- 2020s Spanish-language films
- Tondero Producciones films
- Bowfinger International Pictures films
- 2021 directorial debut films
- Films shot in the province of Málaga