La hora fría (2006)

The eight years boy Jesús has been living in a crumbling underground facility since he was born with eight survivors of an apocalyptical war: the leader Maria and her lover Pablo; the gays ... See full summary »

Director:

Elio Quiroga

Writer:

Elio Quiroga

Stars:

Silke, Omar Muñoz, Pepo Oliva

Cast

Cast overview:
Silke	...	María
Omar Muñoz	...	Jesús
Pepo Oliva	...	Judas
Carola Manzanares	...	Magda
Jorge Casalduero	...	Pedro
Julio Perillán	...	Pablo
Sergio Villanueva	...	Mateo
Pablo Scola	...	Lucas
Nadia de Santiago	...	Ana
Marco González	...	Saulo
Luis Sánchez-Gijón	...	Voz Propaganda (voice)

Storyline

The eight years boy Jesús has been living in a crumbling underground facility since he was born with eight survivors of an apocalyptical war: the leader Maria and her lover Pablo; the gays Lucas and Mateo; the astronomer Magdalena and the teenager Ana; the soldier Pedro and the lonely Judas. They are permanently is state of surveillance, threatened by the contaminated mutants The Strangers and once a day they have to lock themselves in their rooms without heating to protect against the dangerous ghosts The Invisibles that attack in the Cold Hour. They cannot go to the surface, destroyed by a nuclear war. When they need supplies, medications and ammunitions, they organize expeditions to a store. When the menace of The Invisibles affects the safety of the group of survivors, they need to reach the surface.

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Plot Keywords:

cold | obscurity | contamination | three word title | bunker

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Taglines:

Mankind's fate is sealed

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official soundtrack site

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

14 September 2007 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Cold Hour

Filming Locations:

Jávea, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eqlipse Producciones Cinematográficas S.L.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 93 min (European Film Market)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is dedicated to the memories of Tony Galindo, Spanish graphic Designer and Javier Jordán Gimeno, Producer for the Spanish Public Television Center in the Canaries.

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Crazy Credits

A sequence after the end credits shows a teddy bear (intended as part of the debris from the extinct Earth) landing on the moon surface near the historical land-site of Apollo XI.

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Connections

References Hounds of Zaroff (1932)

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Soundtracks

"Excerpts from The Witch - Baba Yaga"
from "Album for the Young, op. 39 (Children's Album)"
Written by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

User Reviews

Pessimist View of the Fate of Mankind

The eight years boy Jesús (Omar Muñoz) has been living in a crumbling underground facility since he was born with eight survivors of an apocalyptical war: the leader Maria (Silke) and her lover Pablo (Julio Perillán); the gays Lucas (Pablo Scola) and Mateo (Sergio Villanueva); the astronomer Magdalena (Carola Manzanares) and the teenager Ana (Nadia de Santiago); the soldier Pedro (Jorge Casalduero) and the lonely Judas (Pepo Oliva). They are permanently is state of surveillance, threatened by the contaminated mutants The Strangers and once a day they have to lock themselves in their rooms without heating to protect against the dangerous ghosts The Invisibles that attack in the Cold Hour. They cannot go to the surface, destroyed by a nuclear war. When they need supplies, medications and ammunitions, they organize expeditions to a store. When the menace of The Invisibles affects the safety of the group of survivors, they need to reach the surface.

"La Hora Fría" is a great low-budget movie showing a pessimist view of the fate of mankind after a nuclear war. The atmosphere is melancholic and claustrophobic and the story discloses the characters through the innocent eyes of an eight years old boy. I expected to find an explanation to their biblical names, but the film never clarifies. The story recalls "The Omega Man", "Day of the Dead" and "28 Days Later...", but is original and supported by a great cast that transmits fear, panic and lack of hope to the viewer, and by an excellent cinematography, using gloomy colors. I was a little disappointed with the ambiguous conclusion, and I understand that Pedro was right and the group was part of an experiment, but I am not sure if this was the intention of the writer. I believe the director Elio Quiroga failed since he was not able to express his real intention in the last scene. Probably due to commercial reasons, the Brazilian title does not correspond to the original Spanish title, as usual. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Hora Negra" ("The Dark Hour")