Aparecidos (2007)

Director:

Paco Cabezas

Writer:

Paco Cabezas (writer)

Release Date:

28 August 2008 (Greece)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

One night Malena and Pablo, a sister and brother traveling together in Argentina, discover a diary that details crimes committed twenty years ago...

Plot Keywords:

Diary | Argentina | Disappeared | The Past | Manifestation

Cast

Ruth Díaz	...	Malena
Javier Pereira	...	Pablo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leonora Balcarce
Héctor Bidonde	...	Daniel Lerhmann
Paco Cabezas	...	Tv Chainsaw Psycho Killer
Luciano Cáceres	...	Manuel Leonardi
Pablo Cedrón
Dámaso Conde	...	Jimmy 'Pinche' McLaine
Daniel Galanz	...	Cirujano joven
Carolina Hernández	...	Enfermera Centro Médico
Darío Levy
Elisa Martín	...	Chica bosque
Silvia Rey	...	Enfermera
Isabela Ritto	...	Niña
Matías Strafe	...	Chico Motel Atlántida
Graciela Tenenbaum

Also Known As:

Noctámbula (Spain) (working title)
Nocturna (Spain) (working title)
The Appeared (International: English title)

Country:

Sweden | Argentina | Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Company:

Jaleo Films

Every night in the same motel,in the same room,at the same hour the same murder takes place involving the same dead corpses; continuously for the last 20 years.

Written directly for the screen this horror film has a captivating and staggering story. Almost every scene from beginning till ending is full of action and tension sequences, which are done by good camera work. Its way of storytelling is very smooth. I watched it with subtitles; even though the script is very substantial, it isn't necessary to follow up each conversation. The dialogue and connection which Pablo and Malena established together magnetizes the full attention from the viewer, since their body language and gestures were complementary with the screenplay.

The story takes place in August 2001 in Argentina. Pablo and Malena, who are in their mid-20s', are siblings from a dysfunctional family. Their father whom Pablo never seen in his life before, is in coma. They visit him and Malena introduces him to Pablo. Malena has grown hatred for his father, for he served under Anti-Communist Dictatorship of the Argentinian army to quench the communist movement torturing thousands of innocents, instead of looking after his family. There is a huge question mark here: Why are all the communists introduced as innocents in this film?

The frightening fact here is that when Pablo and Malena think that their father is helpless in coma, he turns out to be more powerful than he was alive. His spirit continues to torture the restless souls of the dead innocents. He has written a detailed diary including how he tortured the families of communist vanguards when he was young. In return to his weakened body, he bargains with one or more daemons to continue on his dictatorship mission. One of the daemons in the look of a little girl finds this diary from where he hided away. Then Pablo, the curious and adventurous one of the siblings, gets this diary from that daemon, assuming that it was something the little girl lost. So the daemon begins to bugger around Pablo and Malena. The diary which has the curse of the daemon brings only trouble to them.

Aparecidos has the meaning for "Seen versus Disappeared". Who is seen is the Dictatorship regime runners, and who is disappeared is the slaughtered rebels against this regime. Soon, Pablo and Malena read the diary and start a journey to save the victims of the murderers. One of the communist vanguards ,who has never been captured by the police due to the lack of evidence, has been killed with his pregnant wife and little daughter in the hands of Pablo and Malena's father. Daemon completes the bargain with continuously torturing the wife and the daughter's souls.

When you feel like you accomplished something, you think that you must be happy and be proud. Then suddenly you realize that you didn't accomplish anything; the confusion in your mind and senses leads you realize the fact that you just decoded something hidden. That was Pablo's confusion in the movie. When he was explaining to her sister what he was really trying to do, he says that he was gone out of his mind and trying to save someone whoever is dead already. Every night at the same hour in the same motel in the same room, the same murder takes place involving the same dead corpses continuously for the last 20 years. Who are you going to save? Save a dead tonight. Amazing concept, isn't it?