Movie review: The House Of Snails

La Casa del Caracon
Horror / Thriller

Moro Spanish Film Festival
In Palace Cinemas from 27^th April

(Reviewed by John Glennie)

Antonio (Javier Rey) is a writer who rents an old house in a small rural community, called Qunitannar, in the mountains to get solitude and to find inspiration for his new book.

He doesn’t have to wait too long to discover that the coolish reception he receives from locals dates back to some strange events that have occurred over many years – though it is hard to decipher what is real, and what is legend.

He meets real estate agent Berta (Paz Vega) at the house and commits to renting it for a month. Berta’s sister Justa is given the daily job of cleaning, though she never says much and appears very aloof, along with her two bratty young daughters! Apart from Berta, the only seemingly amicable person in the town is Padre Benito – though even he doesn’t seem to be your “traditional” priest.

You always get that feeling that Antonio is being watched and followed as he walks home from the village to the house on the outskirts through the woods. The wolves are howling in the mountains, and he is constantly warned by locals to “watch out for the wolves!”. The mounted wolf head on the wall adjacent to his desk is quite creepy and seems to be linked to what is happening in the village. He keeps hearing references to “the Vimero”, which stems from legend and engenders fear amongst the locals, but he cannot get a decent explanation to reveal who or what it is!

I was a bit confused though, as to the significance of the snails that constantly appear in the house. Given the title of the movie, I was waiting for the snails to turn into lethal killers or something equally bizarre – but nothing ever happened! I was more intrigued to see what would happen with the wolves. When the truth is finally revealed I was left wondering about the significance of most of the happenings throughout the film.

Despite all that, it was filled with suspense throughout and an unexpected twist. Go and see it, enjoy the drama and tension – but don’t ponder too much on the snails!