Malasaña 32
It disappointed me because it had a very attractive basis to work much better. A family arriving in Madrid in the seventies, an old apartment in Malasaña, the promise of a new life, secrets inside the house and a presence that begins to break the illusion of progress. On paper there was a lot of material: horror, transition, precariousness, family, city, superstition and that very Spanish feeling of moving into a place with history and discovering that history does not want you there. But the film ends up being far less unsettling than it promised.
The best part is in the first half. There, yes, there is atmosphere, curiosity and the idea of a humble family trying to make its way in a city that seems to offer them a future while the apartment reveals something else. The house has presence, the corridors feel heavy, the rooms seem to hide something and the seventies context gives it an interesting edge. For a while I thought it might become solid Spanish horror, with more atmosphere than spectacle and some social reading underneath.
The problem is that this promise gradually fades. The film increasingly leans on easy scares, sound jolts, prepared apparitions and the most recognizable tools of the haunted-house subgenre. I am not saying there are no effective moments, because there are a few. But I had the feeling that, the further it went, the less it trusted its own atmosphere and the more it needed to push the viewer through noise. And for me, that takes away a lot of strength.
It also bothered me that it never fully takes advantage of its setting. Malasaña, Madrid, a newly arrived family, the period, housing as promise and trap… all of that could have produced a more uncomfortable and more personal film. But too often the context remains a nice backdrop for a fairly conventional horror story. There is an intention to connect ghosts, repression, family and trauma, but it is not always developed in depth. At times the film seems to have a powerful metaphor in its hands and does not know what to do with it.
The cast is correct and the production is careful. It does not look like a poor or careless film. You can see the work in the atmosphere, the house, the sound and the visual construction of some moments. But that is not enough if fear does not truly grow. Horror needs more than a good location and well-placed scares: it needs unease, progression, threat and the sense that evil has an internal logic. Here the machinery is often too visible.
Some characters and decisions did not convince me. Certain reactions feel forced, some elements are introduced to complicate the mystery without later carrying the weight they should, and the story becomes more literal than was good for it. In this type of film, explaining too much can be almost as dangerous as explaining nothing. When horror becomes a list of keys, traumas and revelations, it loses part of its mystery. And here, for me, the ending tries to close so much that it removes darkness from what could have been more disturbing.
The comparison with other Spanish horror films does not help it either. Not because it has to be something else, but because Spanish cinema has shown it can work fear very well through family, religion, daily life or the social background. This one had elements to enter that line, but it remains a more industrial and less inspired version. It works better as a product than as an experience. It is made with craft, yes, but it did not leave a real mark on me.
I understand that it may work for some people as a jump-scare film: it has rhythm, tense moments, an unsettling house and gives quite a bit of what it promises to anyone looking for direct horror. But I expected more. I expected it to make me more uncomfortable, to pull me deeper into that family, to use Madrid better and for the past of the house not to end up feeling like an overly tidy explanation. I was left with the feeling that a much more interesting film was hidden behind its fireworks.
In the end, it seems to me a weak and disappointing film, though not a complete disaster. It has a promising first half, an attractive atmosphere and a few scares that may work, but it relies too much on familiar tricks and fails to turn its premise into a truly unsettling experience. I wanted to like it more, because the idea and context allowed for it. But it ended up feeling like surface-level horror: too conventional and less memorable than it needed to be.
The best part is in the first half. There, yes, there is atmosphere, curiosity and the idea of a humble family trying to make its way in a city that seems to offer them a future while the apartment reveals something else. The house has presence, the corridors feel heavy, the rooms seem to hide something and the seventies context gives it an interesting edge. For a while I thought it might become solid Spanish horror, with more atmosphere than spectacle and some social reading underneath.
The problem is that this promise gradually fades. The film increasingly leans on easy scares, sound jolts, prepared apparitions and the most recognizable tools of the haunted-house subgenre. I am not saying there are no effective moments, because there are a few. But I had the feeling that, the further it went, the less it trusted its own atmosphere and the more it needed to push the viewer through noise. And for me, that takes away a lot of strength.
It also bothered me that it never fully takes advantage of its setting. Malasaña, Madrid, a newly arrived family, the period, housing as promise and trap… all of that could have produced a more uncomfortable and more personal film. But too often the context remains a nice backdrop for a fairly conventional horror story. There is an intention to connect ghosts, repression, family and trauma, but it is not always developed in depth. At times the film seems to have a powerful metaphor in its hands and does not know what to do with it.
The cast is correct and the production is careful. It does not look like a poor or careless film. You can see the work in the atmosphere, the house, the sound and the visual construction of some moments. But that is not enough if fear does not truly grow. Horror needs more than a good location and well-placed scares: it needs unease, progression, threat and the sense that evil has an internal logic. Here the machinery is often too visible.
Some characters and decisions did not convince me. Certain reactions feel forced, some elements are introduced to complicate the mystery without later carrying the weight they should, and the story becomes more literal than was good for it. In this type of film, explaining too much can be almost as dangerous as explaining nothing. When horror becomes a list of keys, traumas and revelations, it loses part of its mystery. And here, for me, the ending tries to close so much that it removes darkness from what could have been more disturbing.
The comparison with other Spanish horror films does not help it either. Not because it has to be something else, but because Spanish cinema has shown it can work fear very well through family, religion, daily life or the social background. This one had elements to enter that line, but it remains a more industrial and less inspired version. It works better as a product than as an experience. It is made with craft, yes, but it did not leave a real mark on me.
I understand that it may work for some people as a jump-scare film: it has rhythm, tense moments, an unsettling house and gives quite a bit of what it promises to anyone looking for direct horror. But I expected more. I expected it to make me more uncomfortable, to pull me deeper into that family, to use Madrid better and for the past of the house not to end up feeling like an overly tidy explanation. I was left with the feeling that a much more interesting film was hidden behind its fireworks.
In the end, it seems to me a weak and disappointing film, though not a complete disaster. It has a promising first half, an attractive atmosphere and a few scares that may work, but it relies too much on familiar tricks and fails to turn its premise into a truly unsettling experience. I wanted to like it more, because the idea and context allowed for it. But it ended up feeling like surface-level horror: too conventional and less memorable than it needed to be.
Mini Review: It disappointed me because it had a very attractive basis to work much better. A family arriving in Madrid in the seventies, an old apartment in Malasaña, the promise of a new life, secrets inside the house and a presence that begins to break the illusion of progress. On paper there was a lot of material: horror, transition, precariousness, family, city, superstition and that very Spanish feeling of moving into a place with history and ...
Watch the Trailer