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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Some trivia, 8 May 2004
Author: alvarezadams from Madrid, Spain

I was surprised to see some of the reviews of Anguish (Angustia). I had the opportunity of playing an L.A. cop in the film - it must have been 100 years and 25 pounds ago! As the film seems to have elicited some interest, I'll volunteer some background information.

The film was mostly shot in.... Barcelona, on an obviously shoestring budget. I was initially "signed on" as an ambulance attendant, but either my "delivery" or size turned me into a cop with a couple of lines, learned the same day as the shoot.

The exteriors for the "new movie" sequences were shot on a street created in a large parking lot in the "Zona Franca" of Barcelona. Apparently a stock background depicting Culver City Ca. was shipped to Spain, and a good portion of Barcelona's American cars were used to create the traffic background.

Did I mention the shoestring budget? Most of the scenes I participated in were shot at least twice - from different angles - because only one camera was used.

I don't say this as a criticism - if anything it is a tribute to Bigas Luna, who was able to create a piece of America on the Mediterranean, and to make a number of non-actors seem credible even with speaking roles (including yours truly).

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Truly bizarre horror film., 31 August 2004

Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

A demented mother telepathically directs her middle-aged son on bloody missions of revenge.And when he's finished murdering his victims,he gouges their eyes out and adds them to the bizarre family collection.But that's only a movie:The real horror is in the cinema where the audience watching this terrifying vision is being murdered one by one."Angustia" is a pretty bizarre Spanish horror film.The concept is certainly interesting and the director J.J.Bigas Luna perfectly mixes the line between the reality and the fantasy world of film.The acting is first-rate and there is plenty of gore and tension to satisfy fans of slasher films.The film is relatively unknown,but if you get a chance watch it.Highly recommended.8 out of 10.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Disgustingly fun!, 18 March 1999
Author: horrormb from plaistow, nh

This movie reminded me of many others at some points but at the same time seemed original. It was fun to watch and even though there was a lot of gore, I could stand it since I was so puzzled by the exact plot and motives. The movie inside of a movie plot worked wonders here and the appearances of Zelda Rubinstein made me want to give this an 8, since they made the characters seem as though twirling their hair would take too much intelligence.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Original, Bizarre and Surrealistic Cult-Movie, 20 February 2006

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I have just watched "Angustia" for the fourth or fifth time, now on DVD, and I do not get tired of this original, bizarre and surrealistic cult-movie, very underrated in IMDb. I am a fan of Bigas Lune, and in my opinion "Angustia" is his masterpiece. The story is simple, but tense, with a soundtrack that recalls Dario Argento's movies. Michael Lerner, in the role of the mad ophthalmologist; Talia Paul, in the role of a scared viewer that becomes impressed with the film she is watching on the screen; and Ángel Jovè, in the role of a lunatic killer, are perfect. Zelda Rubinstein, with her weird tune of voice, completes the lead cast of this gem with a great performance. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Os Olhos da Cidade São Meus" ("The Eyes of the City Are Mine")

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Wicked and ingenious horror, 11 March 2007

Author: ThrownMuse from The land of the Bunyips

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I'm not sure why this 1980s horror film is so overlooked. It is a very unique film, if a bit gimmicky. It stars Tangina (wait, I mean, Zelda Rubenstein, of course!) as a psycho-mommy whose relationship is a bit too tight with her son. In fact, she hypnotizes him on a nightly basis and has him going out about town, gouging out people's eyeballs for her personal collection! Just when you think the story couldn't get more bizarre, it does. This is definitely for fans of films about messed-up mother/son relationships. For those who can't stomach Tangina, you still might get a kick out of this truly original 80s horror flick. It's been compared to "Demons," but such a comparison is superficial. Beware, most reviews on this one feature major plot spoilers!

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Naked Horror - a feast for your eyes!, 21 December 2003

Author: Keith F. Hatcher from La Rioja, Spain

This is, perhaps, the oldest film I have seen by this Basque director, who, as I have said elsewhere on IMDb, is evidently a gifted director, though his films do not always please me muchly. I have already commented on Volavérunt (1999), Femme de chambre du Titanic, La (1997), Bámbola (1996), Edades de Lulú, Las (1990), and I have not bothered myself with Teta y la luna, La (1995), Huevos de oro (1993), Jamón, jamón (1992).

In `Angustia' Bigas Luna was already showing his geniality with preparing an idea and directing it on to celluloid. Here he went for the stark, brutal horror, absolutely face-on, without any overlaying of other softer scenes; he was obviously hell bent on shocking his audience, even to the degree of being repulsive, repugnant. In that, we can affirm he did not fail.

In this film we have the peculiar situation of watching a film within a film, and indeed there is a few brief moments of another film within that - one of those classics of the adventure genre of the late thirties/early forties, not by Bigas Luna.

A sacked Ophthalmologist under the evil influence of his mother, just loves cutting out people's eyes, and does so. Ugh. Two girls are in the audience watching the film; one is getting rather scared. However, things start happening in their cinema, whilst the main film on-screen continues its bizarre business.

Bigas Luna concocts a weird tale, horrorful and suspenseful as you can get, as he plays on the viewers' psychological perception, as well as on the viewers' revulsion. Bigas Luna spares nothing: he exploits the visual impact of repugnancy to the full, as well as even resorting to hypnotising through mesmeric images. And, as always, the film is meticulously made, with every care to detail. But, as always, Bigas Luna has a good eye for scrupulous scene-setting - unless the protagonist in this films gouges it out, of course.

For lovers of the horror genre - I am not - you could hardly find a more satisfying hour and a half of spending your time: Bigas Luna, as always, has an originality in how he lays it on and tells his story; more than a few shivers might well run up and down your spine whilst watching this one.

I wonder if I dare take off my glasses to clean them.................?

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Mama Mia!, 28 May 2008

Author: ElijahCSkuggs from Happy Land, who lives in a Gumdrop House on Lolly Pop Lane

Before the film even begins, a message is displayed on screen warning you about the possibility of hypnosis and dizziness etc. In my opinion, that's a great way to hype someone up. And with hype, disappointment usually follows. But not with Anguish, this was a really cool little flick.

The flick actually is pretty much two movies in one. I'll only describe the first story, since if I tell you about the second, it's kinda ruining it for you. The initial story follows a son who is being hypnotized and forced into murder by his mother, played by Zelda Rubinstein, the tiny lil paranormal investigator in Poltergeist. It's a pretty simple premise at first, but once the other story kicks in, the movie's tension and entertainment value is severely upped.

The direction and atmosphere is all fantastic, the only minor problems is the acting, it's pretty amateur to a degree. But there are also strong performances as well, the son/murderer did a really good job. And it's killing me trying to recall what I remember him from! And at under 90 minutes, the movie doesn't last too long. Poifect!

It's a rare lil horror flick that should definitely have more of a following. With a cool idea leading the way Anguish is one flick any fan of horror or of our beloved lil Zelda should without a doubt check out.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
An original movie, 21 July 2007

Author: finitodistampare from Spain

This movie plays with the audience expectations in a level and maybe it have some characteristics of the terror genre that can be seen in a lot of movies but have some features of its own that makes the movie an original one. It's clear that this movie was not made with a big budget but the cast and crew give life to an imaginative screenplay .Rubinstein and Lerner are really great here. What surprised me of this movie are the original ideas . I will not spoil you the movie at all but after watching so many movies this one still surprise me.The Spanish director Bigas Luna directed this somehow atypical movie in his career , that usually treats themes far from the terror genre or the thriller.

It's a good achievement .

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent Psychological Film, 19 April 2002
Author: Vertigo-27 from NC

Undoubtably one of the scariest and under-raved horror films of all time. Zelda Rubinstein is unforgettable, and if u liked her in the Poltergeist films she is even more stellar here. Known to horror buffs as the all-time movie within a movie... but its psychological mind-warp scene is as tense as it gets. The under-tones of the snails and doves contribute highly to the paranoia. A re-release definitely should be in order; this film deserves a second look by all. Anyone who has extreme phobia of "anything" to do with harm to the eyes- beware! Unfortunate that most mark this off as a "gore-fest" when its anything but. It is a brilliant study of the mind, and will blow you away with its oddity.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Wickedly good!, 6 December 1999
Author: WritnGuy from New Jersey

I passed over this movie numerous times at my favorite movie store, and it wasn't until I came across the storyline that I knew I wanted to see it. So, I rented it as soon as I could, and I must say, I loved it!

The plot is quite simple. A theatre of people spend an afternoon watching a horror movie called "The Mommy," starring Zelda Rubinstein and Michael Lerner. It's about a mother who telepathically directs her son to kill people and steal their eyes for her. (And does it help he's an opthamalogist!) Meanwhile, in the theatre, Patty and Linda, two teenage girls, are both watching, Patty the squeamish one, Linda, the submersed one. Back and forth, the movie goes to the audience to "The Mommy," to the point that you feel like you are in that movie theatre.

And then you find out there is a killer there in the theatre, with the same mother obsession as the killer in the movie they're all watching.

I won't give away much more, other than that the movie is great. The killer almost imitates the scenes in "The Mommy," especially when Lerner's character goes to a theatre and traps the patrons in and starts to kill them, one by one. Actually, things are almost exact in some scenes. Soon, things become tense and suspenseful, especially in the scenes where Linda is hiding in the bathroom while the killer drags a few bodies in to hide them, then stops and hangs around in there. The best scenes in the movie! It may take a bit to not get confused by everything, but the way the film goes back and forth in the storylines is quite crafty, so I doubt you'll be too confused.

Overall, a fantastic film for any horror fan. The ending, of course, is a little odd, but I suppose accepting it for what it is is the best you can do. I think the film would have been fine without it, though. In any event, find this movie and watch it! It's very scary!

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