El arte de morir (2000)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Álvaro Fernández Armero

Writers:

Curro Royo (screenplay) and
Juan Vicente Pozuelo (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 March 2000 (Spain)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller | Mystery

Plot:

In Spain a young artist has gone missing, and a hardened detective takes on the case. Six friends become the focus of the investigation...

Plot Keywords:

Suspense

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Fele Martínez	...	Iván
María Esteve	...	Clara
Gustavo Salmerón	...	Nacho
Adrià Collado	...	Carlos (as Adriá Collado)
Lucía Jiménez	...	Patricia
Elsa Pataky	...	Candela
Sergio Peris-Mencheta	...	Ramón
Emilio Gutiérrez Caba	...	Quintana
Adolfo Fernández	...	Luis
Pepa López	...	Madre Clara
Mónica Cano	...	Psicóloga
Paul Zubillaga	...	Compañero
Tamara Chenel	...	Chica
Antonio de la Fuente	...	Camarero
Paloma Juanes	...	Madre Candela

Also Known As:

The Art of Dying (International: English title)
A Arte de Morrer (Portugal) [pt]
Konsten att dö (Sweden) [sv]
Souvenirs mortels (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA | France:-12 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:R

Company:

Aurum Producciones

Soundtrack:

El arte de morir

Simple, Effective Slasher

For about 30 minutes, I was suspicious of this modern slasher. I thought it was going to be an imitation of Wes Craven's Scream, but I quickly changed my mind. Firstly, unlike the Craven movie, there is nothing in the film that is self-referential, and the story is treated with a straight face. In fact, I think I liked this movie because it takes its slasher mentality quite serious. It's about a group of young friends who know more than what they are willing to admit, about the sudden (and mysterious) disappearance of a mutual acquaintance. I do not want to say more because I do not want to give away a few surprises. There is a very clever twist near the end, that quite frankly, I did not see coming. In fact, that twist reminded me of a recent, very popular Hollywood horror film, but I'm not going to say which one is, because I don't want to spoil the fun. And when you think you know everything you need to know, director Fernández Armero throws another twist at the viewer. Anyhow, I liked it very much, and I think it successfully plays with the expectations of the subgenre. The movie does not have any nudity and it is low on violence, so if you are a rabid horror fan you may want to skip the film. But it is a good film for older kids that like this sort of thing. If you liked something like Thesis (1996) and Abre Los Ojos (1997) (I loved both movies!), you will enjoy this movie. Spaniards do know how to make spooky films! Terrific music score by Bingen Mendizábal.