Desvío al paraíso (1994)

Quinn shows up at an apartment building in Paradise, a small backwoods community in Puerto Rico, purporting to be the new caretaker the owner has been expecting. He gets right to work, ... See full summary »

Director:

Gerardo Herrero

Writers:

Daniel Monzón, Santiago Tabernero

Stars:

Axel Anderson, Harry Caramanos, Charles Dance

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Axel Anderson	...	Clark
Harry Caramanos	...	Mailman
Charles Dance	...	Quinn
Pablo Figueroa	...	Kevin
Katrina Gibson	...	Sara
Marian Pabon	...	Police inspector
Gladys Rodríguez	...	Lona
Assumpta Serna	...	María
Morgan Weisser	...	Gus

Storyline

Quinn shows up at an apartment building in Paradise, a small backwoods community in Puerto Rico, purporting to be the new caretaker the owner has been expecting. He gets right to work, making a good impression on everybody, except Gus, the reclusive teenage gas station attendant. Soon, sinister things come to pass.

---

Genres:

Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language, and for some sexual material

Details

Country:

Spain Puerto Rico

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1994 (Switzerland)

Also Known As:

Shortcut to Paradise

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tornasol Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Passable psycho-killer story , in which a murderer executes a criminal spree , being professionally directed by Gerardo Herrero

¨Shortcut to Paradise¨ is a twisted thriller that takes place in Paradise , a residential building in Puerto Rico . An intriguing and exciting movie with terrifying remarks . It deals with Quinn (Charles Dance) who shows up at an apartment building in Paradise , a small backwoods community in Puerto Rico , purporting to be the new porter the owner has been expecting . A bit later on , Quinn befriends various neighbours , especially María (Assumpta Serna) and her daughter Sara (Katrina Gibson) . Quinn gives a nice impression on his friends , except Gus (Morgan Weisser) , the reclusive and strange teenage gas station attendant . Then , things go wrong .

This is an acceptable as well as unsettling suspense movie with sunny and evocative scenarios , in which a mysterious caretaker arrive in an enjoyable place and sinister things come to pass . It is a murder mystery in which the main premise results to be the following : a cunning , vicious series killer who hideously kills those learn his ominous activities . It packs an uneven plot that relies heavily on the relationship among three protagonists , the heinous series killer , the sweet little girl and the underdog gas station worker ; though this relation being excessively candid and avoids morbidness . After the regular movie titled ¨Al Acecho¨(87) filmmaker Gerardo Herrero goes back to film this suspense psycho-killer story , though it has more intrigue and terror than thriller . ¨Shorcut to Paradise¨ is divided in two parts , the first one turns out to be slow-moving with overlong dialog and excessive talking ; the second one packs lots of action , thrills and grisly killings . The movie is exhilarating in its visual approach , including thrills , chills , plot twists , and moving finale . Very good acting by Charles Dance as the handy man who gets right to work , making a good impression on everybody , however , he holds a dark secret . Interesting but uneven screenplay by Daniel Monzon , a former cinema reviewer who subsequently directed sword and witchery/fantasy (Heart of warrior) , suspense (The Kovak box), comedy (El Robo Mas Grande Jamás Contado) and his greatest hit was the prison movie :¨Celda 211¨.

Colorful and evocative cinematography in Scope by Alfredo Mayo , being filmed on location in Puerto Rico ; Mayo is considered to be one of the best Spanish cameramen , he has photographed known titles as ¨Barrio¨, The method¨, ¨High heels¨, ¨Kika¨ , ¨Mondays in the sun¨ , "The Galíndez File" ¨Kamchatka¨, "The Place That Was Paradise" , among others . Thrilling as well as atmospheric musical score by José Nieto who has composed a lot of attractive soundtracks . Nieto has had lot of successes such as : ¨Dias Contados¨, ¨Juana La Loca¨ , ¨Carmen¨ , ¨Amantes¨ , ¨Libertarias¨, ¨Pasión Turca¨ and many others . The motion picture was decently produced (along with Tornasol Films) and directed by Gerardo Herrero who undertakes a skill and adequate filmmaking , being shot in English language to be exported in American markets ; however , it resulted to be a ¨B¨ -American style- movie . It also contains some raccord failures and disconcerting as well as uneven shooting . Gerardo is a famous producer as well as filmmaker . He was President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1994-1994) . Great producer of big hits , being especially known for The Secret of your ears (2009), Sin Retorno (2010) , Balada Triste de Trompeta (2010) , Crimenes De Oxford (2008) and El Hijo De La Novia (2001). He also directed some good films such as ¨Corredor Nocturno¨ , ¨Principio Arquímedes¨ , ¨Crimen Galindez¨ , ¨Frontera Sur¨, ¨Territorio Comanche¨, ¨Al Acecho¨ and ¨Heroína¨ . Despite some failure and gaps , I must admit that I enjoyed this movie and recommend it to those who love thrillers .