good part of Venus, by Jaime Balagueró, takes place in claustrophobic spaces. Long corridors that are deformed depending on the point of view from which they are looked at, rooms that seem to get bigger or smaller depending on the lighting. But in particular, the entire film has an air of suffocating physical tension, as if its namesake building were a ravenous monster.
In fact, it is in certain aspects and from that point of view, elaborated and sinister, Venus state your premise. Everything that happens within the mysterious environment of a horror center building has the power to be a door to an unknown place. Creepy and unique enough to create your own rules, perceptions, and journeys through the darkness.
Balagueró, who joins the anthology The Fear Collectionfrom Sony Pictures and Pokeepsie Films, experiment with the terrifying through the tangible. Something happens in the old construction scene of the story. Of tenor so frightful and inexplicable as to Venusin all its peculiar vitality, stands on the image of closed doors and windows.
Of course, haunted places and terrifying spaces are part of a long tradition in horror movies. The Venus building in Jaume Balagueró’s film pays tribute to the most recurring codes of the trope. But it also does something else. He extrapolates it to make it something more elaborate, aware of its plot weight and supported by the darkness of his characters. The mixture endows Venus of a consistent personality, which also allows him to explore new spaces on the subject. One of the points of greatest interest in its history.
Venus
Jaume Balagueró, who joins the anthology The Fear Collection from Sony Pictures and Pokeepsie Films, experiments with the terrifying through the tangible. Something happens in the old construction scene of the story. So frightful and inexplicable in tenor as to make Venus, in all her peculiar vitality, stand upon the image of closed doors and windows. Of course, the cursed places and terrifying spaces are part of a long tradition in horror movies. The Venus building in the film pays tribute to the most recurring codes of the trope. But it also does something else. He extrapolates it to make it something more elaborate, aware of its plot weight and supported by the darkness of his characters.
The horrors that lie in forgotten halls and stairways Venus
This reinvention of the story “Dreams in the Witch’s House”, by HP Lovecraft, is intuitive and sinister intelligence. In the same way as the homonymous tale, Balagueró takes the time to show the scope of the darkness that surrounds the characters. So he pays careful attention to his characters.
Lucía (Ester Expósito) is an exotic dancer who has just made the worst mistake of her life. She not only dared to rob the crime bosses who run the place where she works. She also to escape with a large loot with which she hopes to flee from the life that she had until then and from danger. The script, by Balagueró himself and Fernando Navarro (Veronica), analyzes the threat from the everyday. Lucia’s problems are mundane, urgent, and require practical solutions.
But, even more twisted, they open the door to the supernatural. The notion of everything the character could do — and will do — to save her life is intelligently established. And much more, with an urgency of motives that ends up being elegant in the most ambitious sense of its scope. Is the supernatural the limit of all things? Lucía is capable of stealing, without a doubt, of killing, and she will do whatever it takes to avoid being discovered.
That solution to their dilemmas is to hide with their only living relatives. The director thus elaborates the marginalized and excluded character of her character, which will allow her, later, to face the stark horror. Her sister Rocío (Ángela Cremonte) and her niece Alba (Inés Fernández) are the last place Lucía would go.
So hiding by his side turns the first minutes of Venus into something more elaborate, consistent and related to his personality. The script moves quickly to show Lucía secluded between domestic conflicts, family tension and something else. Because the Venus building is not just a place. It is also something inexplicable that is about to slowly devour her.
A race against time and darkness
Venus he takes his time to show his secrets. While he does it, the director strives to create an unbreathable atmosphere. The floors look wet and disgusting. The walls ooze moisture. The director knows that the greatest impact of his film lies in gradually showing the darkness that lives at the bottom of ordinary situations.
And she does so when Rocío finally runs away and leaves little Alba in the care of Lucía. What happen? Why did she do it? The question becomes more haunting, scary and twisted as the building becomes a borderline with horror.
From Lucia’s nightmares to, finally, the feeling that everything in the Venus building is surrounded by scary secrets barely suggested. Venus is a brilliant collection of insights into the supernatural. Also the way in which good, evil and simply human mix with each other.
For its impressive and well-constructed final stretch, Venus ends up revealing its enigmas. But, even in the light of the terrifying, there is an element of profound beauty in this sinuous terror, graceful and sustained by its latent power. The highest point of an elegant and provocative film that surprises with its effectiveness.
