Don’t Listen: Talking To Daddy From The Otherside

Written by Luke Barnes

Don’t Listen (Voces, the original Spanish language title), is a Spanish horror film directed by Angel Gomez Hernandez. The plot sees Daniel (Rodolfo Sancho), lose his son. After the death Daniel becomes a wreck and becomes convinced he can hear his son’s voice trying to communicate with him through electronic means. As such Daniel enlists the help of German (Ramon Barea), an established paranormal investigator to try and make sense of the goings on.

I have to say as far as ghost stories go this film is chilling. I did not expect too much for the film going in, as the premise seemed quite generic, however, I can say after watching it that I was pleasantly surprised as the scares and the atmosphere definitely make an impact and are both very effective.

The scares themselves are the standard haunted house, Conjuring esque scares, grabbing’s and night time shenanigans. However, here it feels more real and raw. I can’t quite put my finger on why that is, but what would feel played out in other films actually works quite well here. As such, I am pleased to say this film made me jump several times and left me feeling uneasy after watching.

There is a twist at the end of the film, that I won’t spoil, but this twist works wonders for the film and not only feels natural and needed but also helps to bring the whole film together to strengthen it as a whole.

Overall, a creepy ghost story with a clever twist.

Pros.

The scares

The performances

The twist

The atmosphere

Cons.

You have seen similar films before, slightly contrived.

4/5

Rec: Yet More Found Footage

Rec is a Spanish found footage horror film directed by Jaume Balaguero. The plot sees a reporter (Angela Vidal), cover a firefighter intervention at a nearby apartment complex, however, as the night draws on she becomes locked down in the building with in becoming ever more clear that something else is going on.

Much like when I reviewed Rosemary’s Baby the other day, I feel like because this film is so highly regarded in the horror community I should like it, that was the main reason I gave it a chance in the first place, but I have to say after seeing it I really don’t see what all the fuss is about.

The one pro I will give this film is that I enjoyed the tight confined setting of an apartment block, I thought it gave the film a strong claustrophobic sense of atmosphere that helped it greatly.

Conversely, I thought the characters were poorly written. I didn’t care about them and that made all of the drama and the tension in the film become rendered null for me, the reporter didn’t seem to have much personality beyond being a reporter.

Likewise, the scares and the situation did little for me because I have seen it before, and better. The idea of an outbreak with people turning into these monsters (maybe Zombies?), is not a new concept and this film fails to do anything interesting with it.

Overall, strongly disappointing.

Pros.

The claustrophobic setting

Cons.

The main character has no personality

The scares feel done before

I could guess how it would end

I left disappointed

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke