The Nameless (1999)

Perfectly adorable

Masterful Cinema

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Los sin nombre wins you over from the first moment with its beautiful 90s film visual style. For people who grew up in that era, seeing that particular image style instantly creates positive predisposition.This movie is akin to some very famous American 90s thrillers like 8mm or Se7en to name a few. The characters are very well built, and the convincing performances really make one feel involved with the psychological torture they are going through. The film feels real, and as a result, the pain feels real too. Tension builds on a steady pace throughout the film, slowly unveiling a mystery that keeps the viewer's attention at all times, generating some well crafted scares, without resorting to cheap jump scares but by using macabre and disturbing imagery. The movie really, really gets you involved well into its first half.Unfortunately it doesn't entirely follow through to the great expectations that are created. The great pace is kind of broken, leading to spasmodic story forwarding. It never stops being creepy, but it just doesn't deliver when it has to. Avoiding spoilers, let's just say that the ending is rushed, predictable and no-it's not much of a twist really.Is that enough to make the movie not worth seeing? Of course not. It is a beautifully crafted thriller, that just builds so much that it just fails to live up to. Nevertheless, a movie that can shake you and give you a hard time sleeping after screening.

I've seen lots and lots of horror movies. It's by far my favourite genre. I like a good scary movie; I also happen to like those laughable so-bad-it's-good kinds of movies; I even tend to forgive MEDIOCRE movies that rely on "jump scares" and "teen blood" to hold your attention. For good or bad, it's still entertainment.What I can't forgive, what I loathe, is, well, a BORING movie; and that's the capital sin of "The Nameless", its real "ultimate atrocity". For a start, this movie is slow. Let's face it, you really can't afford to be slow unless you have a good plot and a good cast, and "The Nameless" has neither.The plot is shallow, painfully so: clearly, no creative effort whatsoever was put into it. We're talking "copy-pasted straight from wikipedia" levels of dullness here. This is especially mortifying since the director stubbornly and dishonestly refuses to acknowledge it, and instead insists on feigning suspense where there's *none*.With a slow, broken pace and an unimaginative, tired plot, you're left trying your very best to sympathize with the characters in a half-willed attempt to justify what seems more and more like a waste of time. Well, too bad! The characters are clichéd, they're onedimensional and just fail to come alive. It feels like even their writer didn't really care for them either.So you hope beyond hope, you patiently wait for it to reach its climax, on its own terms, you keep waiting for it to surprise you, disturb you, redeem itself *somehow*... hey, this thing is supposed to be really... evil, and "extreme", right? Something *big* is bound to happen. Sooner or later. Or not. Suddenly, it's over.

"The Nameless" is a Spanish chiller from the director of 2002's "Darkness" (but this film was released a few years before and is in Spanish). The film is about a mother named Claudia, who is still suffering from the horrible memories of her daughter's brutal murder. Five years ago, the savagely mutilated body of her daughter, Angela, was found in a water hole - punctured with needles, tortured, and burned beyond recognition. Then one day, Claudia receives a bizarre phone call from someone who claims to be Angela, saying that she's been alive this entire time and that somebody is holding her against her will. With a detective to try and help her, Claudia searches for her possibly-living daughter before something horrible happens to her - but ends up involved in occult practices and unearths the history of a cult that originated from the Nazis forty years ago.I first watched this movie on DVD in the English dubbed version, and it was awful. The dubbing wasn't convincing by any means and it made the actors appear to give beyond terrible performances. So, I re-watched the film in it's original language (Spanish) with subtitles, and the acting was much better that way - the performer's tones in their natural language fit much better and made more sense. Trust me, if you're going to watch this movie, please watch it in it's original language, subtitles aren't that bad. So, with that cleared up, I'll discuss the good and bad things about this film. For one, it's slow. Quite slow, actually. So people who are all about fast-paced, bloody slasher films will more than likely despise this film - because it's not really exciting. But while it may not be 'exciting', this slow pacing builds a sense of unease and dread along the way, and that is a major positive for the film. It's atmosphere is beyond gloomy, and the slow pacing makes things even more unsettling and more eerie. The story (based on a British novel by Ramsey Campbell) reminded me of a cross between "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Wicker Man", but that's just how I see it, I'm sure that can be arguable from person to person. But all in all, I thought the story was really interesting and well woven, especially when the information about the cult begins to surface. The interlacing of the Nazi involvement was intriguing also. You have to let yourself become involved in the plot, and from that standpoint this is a really interesting movie.Now, the negative aspects. While this film is technically a horror movie, it fails to give very many scares. There are a few weird shots of the little girl that are randomly scattered throughout the film, but they fail to jolt or get any effect out of me. They're a little spooky, but weren't really needed. But, this film is scary on a different level, because of how subtle and atmospheric it is - most horror fans won't be scared by it though. And then there's the ending. I don't want to spoil it so I'm not going to give everything away - but it was a little bit predictable during the last twenty minutes or so. And then there's the final moment of the film, which ends far too quickly and was just much too abrupt. Everything is just beginning to come together after the considerably lengthy build-up, and then bam! It's over. The credits roll. All that build-up and all that tension that results in something that ends way too fast. Some falling action to conclude the story would've been nice. But I can't hate the movie just for that, because besides that there are so many really good things about it.Overall, "The Nameless" or "Sin nombre, Los" is an interesting movie. I love the story and the film escalates an impending sense of doom and is very unsettling. But there are some problems that keep it from being perfect. If you enjoy significantly slow-building horror films, you'll like this. But in my opinion, the ending could've used a little work, because it left me feeling kind of empty. Besides that though, everything that lead up to it was very stylish and very spooky. I understand it that many people can't stand this director (Jaume Balaguero), but from his two films I've seen (this film and "Darkness"), I like him. His movies are unusual, but that doesn't make them bad. 7/10.

Claudia Gifford is traumatized after police find the brutally murdered body of her daughter Angela.But five years later she receives a phone call from Angela,saying she is alive and that 'they' only wanted Claudia to believe that she was dead.Joined by retired detective Bruno Massera,Claudia follows a trail of clues that Angela urges her to take.But in so doing they realize that Angela is an innocent that has been chosen for sacrifice by a cult that practice ecstatic salvation through ultimate perversion."The Nameless" by Jaume Balaguero is based on Ramsey Cambell's novel "The Pact of the Fathers".The film actually won various awards at Sitges, Fantasporto and Brussels fantastic/horror film festivals.Balaguero easily creates extremely dark atmosphere and the use of light and shadows is certainly impressive.The acting is great and the climax is shockingly effective.Overall,I'd highly recommend this film for anyone interested in horror genre.9 out of 10.