Luna de miel (2015) Reviews

• Excruciating, disturbing, well made and intensely acted piece

  Ionizing2016-12-22

  Not really your typical and predictable abduction movie. No super-villains that allow you relief from its reality, or the usual home-made styling to create starkness either, just ordinary broken individuals, largely failing. It is gory, and so will both gain and lose audiences because of this, and there are some inevitable tropes, but it does them pretty well all the same, certainly better than most, although it did sorely lack any proper character development or background story, and therefore ultimately any real depth, which potentially could have lifted it beyond its own constraints and above most all others of this genre. The soundtrack is driving and moves it along well, and also holds it at the right places too, maintaining its quality level. If you're in the mood for this kind of thing, then I'd recommend it, there are far worse out there.

• You're my wife now.

  BA_Harrison2017-10-30

  If I hadn't seen a gazillion torture porn movies since Saw and Hostel, I might have thought that Honeymoon, from Mexican director Diego Cohen, was fairly decent. But I have, and it's about as clichéd and predictable as the now very stale genre gets. Paulina Ahmed stars as married woman Isabel Herrera, who is stalked by neighbour Jorge Toledo (Hector Kotsifakis), who eventually abducts the woman, keeping her tied up in his home. From here-on-in, it's all about the humiliation and pain. Jorge conducts a wedding ceremony to make her his wife, only to have his affection thrown back in his face, leaving him no option but to spray acid down her throat, flay her fingers, and rape her! Despite being quite nasty in tone, the unconvincing special effects and lack of originality prevent the film from being the gruelling experience that it so desperately wants to be. Add the fact that, when Isabel finally gets the upper hand, she fails to finish off Jorge despite plenty of opportunity, and what we have is far from satisfying experience. Remember ladies: always make sure your psycho is definitely dead before attempting to escape! A twist regarding the true nature of Isabel's abduction does little to improve matters; ditto for the final revelation that the victim, having dispatched of Jorge by pushing his face in a barrel of acid, has now become the tormentor. 3.5 out of 10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

• This is how it's done

  Der_Schnibbler2017-10-13

  Most abduction movies work up to the actual abduction slowly, building up the tension. In this film, the abduction takes place in the first five minutes. When something like this happens, my first thought that this better be good. And it is. The tension created, the things that happen--one in particular quite stomach-churning--are to be experienced for themselves. Unlike your typical American or Japanese style gorefest, the things that happen here feel very real and uncomfortable. I actually became nauseated at one point, and I am most definitely not the type to be affected by a movie, not on a physical level. It is amazing to see the difference between the insipid, utterly moronic American take on the abduction theme and this one. Take, for example, the pathetic joke that was "Pet." The abduction takes place, we settle in our seats waiting to cringe at whatever sick crap the abductor has in store while hoping the heroine will make it out, and then...we are treated to a "twist" so utterly stupid and imbecilic that you wonder what these little vanilla sissies were even thinking of. If you want actual horror that will push the limits without being afraid of offending its morally superior, goody-two-shoes American vanilla dunce of an audience, you need to look elsewhere. France. Korea. Here, Mexico does not disappoint. Don't pay attention to the negative reviews. One takes issue because a poor little woman is the one in the predicament as if it were a political statement, and the other thinks it's "disturbing" and "unnecessarily violent." Are you kidding me? Disturbing is what a film like this SHOULD be. If you don't want "violence," go watch your soulless Hollywood blockbusters. Recommended.

• Spoilers follow ...

  parry_na2017-01-04

  We've all been attracted to an unattainable someone. It can't just be me. Jorge (Hector Kotsifakis) is likable, presentable, respectable and lonely. He spies local girl Isabel (Paulina Ahmed) and contrives to continually run into her in shops, while she is out jogging etc. We're not sure whether she has been made aware of him or not, but there is a hint of knowing in her eyes as he attracts her attention once again, this time whilst pretending to tend to his car. Sadly, it is too late by then, for pretty soon she has been tranquilised and tied to a chair in his cellar, miles from where anyone can hear her screams. As you may imagine, she goes through several humiliations as Jorge's spiralling instability continues to make itself known. Apparently while filming, Ahmed would remain tied to the chair between takes, so as to allow her performance a sense of reality. Jorge is at odds with most horror madmen. He is perfectly calm and composed virtually throughout. Even his attempted suicide attempt is approached without fanfare. Yet Isabel's ordeal becomes ever more tortuous and is difficult to watch. As an audience, we are willing her on to gain revenge. Even I am not going to spoiler the outcome of this. It could be said that reading up the DVD packaging etc, or IMDb tells you all you need to know about the kind of film this is, but it is played so realistically (with Ahmed in particular turning in a powerhouse performance) and events are staged so methodically by Director Diego Cohen that what emerges is wince-inducing and compelling.

• Mediocre and disturbing film

  super_asdf2017-05-17

  I feel like the only reason this film was made was because the director wanted an reason to portray a woman being tortured over and over. Graphic scenes can be a powerful way to advance a story if used correctly, but the plot was barely existent and only seemed to be there as an excuse to shoot a series of scenes. The only thing this movie made me feel was revulsion. Nothing else about it stood out. I didn't get involved with the story, the cinematography was unremarkable and the pacing was awkward. I regret watching it all the way through. Don't waste your time with this, even if you enjoy gore and violence. There are way better movies out there.