Grimm (2003) User Reviews

Pretty, but doesn't have much substance

[daliso_leslie · 6/10 · 30 June 2007]

This film has a rather impressive billing, with the version I rented stated "siblings Jacob and Marie embark on a surreal, often night-marrish odyssey." The movie starts out Hansel and Gretel-esquire in that regard, but doesn't move much further. There is a journey to be had, if one is interested in following two characters whom they know little about through different cities where they meet different people. The meetings have very little value to them, however, and the characters often meet conflict that is unexplained. Furthermore, movement between locales is poorly motivated and a unified agenda never sets imposes itself. If these meetings were accompanied by the surrealism that the movie billing suggests, I could have still walked away happily, but unfortunately the surrealism in the meetings is itself limited because much of what could have made a scene eerie is left unaddressed. As far as the comedy, the movie fails to win stars in that department as well. There are two or three hilarious encounters, but most of the comedy is a sort of "why would anybody do that" type of humor. Suits some, obviously. On the whole, the film is built for people with short memory spans, as segments really don't have any connection to each other. This fact is acceptable for the first 40 minutes, but by the 41st, you will certainly ask yourself why you are still watching, hoping that something relevant will occur.

I cannot totally smash the movie, however, as the colors were quite vibrant and the journey itself is something that certain watchers might find interesting in its own right. Also, it must be said that Halina Reijn, the lead female, is exciting to watch. Her facial expressions, her candor in front of camera. Of course, she's beautiful. I should also mention that a greater understanding of the Brothers Grimm and their folk tales might lend itself to a greater appreciation of the film. It was clear that this was the case with the 2005 Matt Damon film, but with this one, it is less obvious whether a greater understanding of the tales would make Grimm better.

If you're going to watch it, make sure you school yourself on the back story (the Brother's Grimm tales).

Dark fairytale

[stensson · 7/10 · 7 August 2004]

This is about a passionate loving couple, being brother and sister. It is definitely incestous and rivals of different kinds are killed. It's absurd, it's a little Bunuel sometimes and mostly funny.

Probably this is supposed to be a modern Grimm tale, but including sex. There are no real human beings here, like in Grimm. Like Hansel and Gretl, the brother and sister are alone in the world, with no parents to lean on. They leave Holland and come to a strange dreamlike Spain, where they meet another brother and sister, evil and crazy.

There certainly are scenes here you will remember, but most of all you will remember the dark humour, which makes you laugh at totally wrong places.

I guess I just needed more breadcrumbs to guide me back

[film-critic · 7/10 · 11 December 2005]

As I continue to read more and more dedicated, intelligent graphic novels, I cannot help but think that perhaps director Alex van Warmerdam didn't read a couple prior to creating this film. From the opening sequences until the end of this film, you cannot help but feel a sense of whimsy, the fantastical, and enchantment. From our hopeless characters to the sporadic plot, Warmerdam has created a film in which the symbolic references and fairy tale connections isn't laid out in front of you, but instead deeply rooted within the chaos of Grimm for only those who are truly dedicated can find them. He buries them very deep within his work, but with some patience, a great eye, and a passion for the human genre element, you too will see the strength of Warmerdam's work. Grimm is not a masterpiece by far. In fact, it isn't one of the greatest films that I have seen, but it did burst from the seams with potential.

Warmerdam has quite the ability to build a very surreal world, place unknowing (and sometimes unwilling) characters into the mix, and give us bleak references to pop-children's culture. He shows us this with Grimm. For those of you die hard fairy tale fanatics, you may not like this story. It is not one that the average film viewer will enjoy. Grimm takes some time getting used to. It takes some time developing the characters, and it takes quite a bit of time giving us its story. It is never rushed (though sometimes we wish it were quicker), and eventually completes with a message of family, strength, and sibling love. Warmerdam does a great job of giving us two great navigators through his story with Jacob and Maria. Two completely different characters by nature, but both still have one passion in their eyes, to keep their friendship and family dynamic together. These two are the quintessential "Hansel & Gretel" as they voyage through the world of Spain to discover, not only themselves, but also how cruel the real world can be. While their interweaving stories could/should have been developed deeper with stronger bonds between them and the other characters in this film, Warmerdam has done a superb job of giving us their sole stories and emotions. If you solely watch just Jacob and Maria throughout this film, you will see such a strong human element and the sporadic events that occur to them as they continue their perilous journey. I applaud Warmerdam for his work on these two characters because they lead us through the story. We feel for them, we grow with them, we rally behind them near the end, so in essence, we enjoy these characters. Alas, his lacking story structure is the only hurdle that is tough to cross.

Warmerdam interweaves so many different fairy tale-esquire moments throughout the story that you begin to loose focus of the central themes. It reminded me of a third-grade story in which the young child forgot to do his homework and begins his report on "Hansel & Gretel" and inadvertently brings in moments from "Peter Pan", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "Jack & the Beanstalk" unknowingly. As the class laughs, you cannot help but think of how interesting a story like that would be. I think Warmerdam did his homework, brought several different childish stories together, but somehow never quite completed them. He would throw in segments of several different childhood genres that we, the audience, never had the opportunity to enjoy the one we were on. This is where Warmerdam lost me. I wanted to enjoy the different stories. I wanted to see how our not-so-young heroines would react to the different situations, but we never had that opportunity. He would begin a story, but never finish or at least create a strong enough segway to the next moment. Warmerdam had a great concept with this film, but never was able to pull his ideas together. Coupled with a horrible choice of music selection, Warmerdam never quite built the darkness surrounding Grimm. That is what ultimately hurt this picture.

Overall, Warmerdam did a decent job with overall final product of this film. Grimm is not a film for everyone, but for those that enjoy moments of David Lynch coupled with themes of childhood fairy tales. It is a dark story that never quite makes you laugh but instead attempts to use shocking cinematography to bring you this surreal world that we never quite believe exists. Warmerdam has created this mythological world that could be right in your backyard, but spooky enough to believe it came from your imagination. His characters were strong, but his story lacked decent connection. I found myself, like Jacob and Maria, lost during several of the scenes only to reconnect later during the film. I guess I just needed more breadcrumbs to guide me back…

Grade: **** out of *****

A Story Loosely Based On Hansel & Gretel (So Loose I Would Not Have Known It Had I Not Been Told)

[BigHardcoreRed · 17 October 2005]

As mentioned in the title, Grimm is, what I hear, based on the fairy tale of Hansel & Gretel. That sounded good but the movie I watched really had nothing to do with the story I knew. What we get is a decent, yet dark, movie that had some amusing moments.

Maria (Halina Reijn) and Jacob (Jacob Derwig) are an adult brother and sister who appears to have a sexual relationship as well. Gotta love the Dutch movie makers. Anyhow, Maria and Jacob are abandoned in the woods early on in the movie by their parents because they could no longer afford to take care of them. After the realization of their abandonment, they calm down and find a note from their mother in Maria's pocket. The note tells them to go to Spain and find their uncle who would be able to take care of them.

After a rough trip, they arrive at the address to find their uncle has died, which leaves them with nowhere to go. As you could probably guess, the siblings take to a life of vagrancy & crime to survive until Maria meets Diego (Carmelo Gómez), who kindly takes them in. At this point in the movie, you know that nothing good will ever happen to Maria & Jacob so Diego can't be good.

That seems to be the theme of the movie. I do not think they find one person who actually helps them out in the movie. Possibly, this is the resemblance to the fairy tale but, in all honesty, it does not seem similar at all to me, with minor exceptions of being lost in a forest, running into evil people, etc.

Overall, it was a decent movie that I felt could have done without the Hansel & Gretel connection. However, I surely would not have been as interested if they did not make that connection. It is what intrigued me to begin with, I suppose, but it is not what held my attention. The dark and sometimes humorous scenes are what kept me watching. This was not as good as I expected, however, I have spent my time in worse ways and on worse movies in the past. 6/10

grimmer and grimmer

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 22 April 2006]

In a loose adaptation of "Hansel and Gretel", Dutch siblings Jacob and Marie are abandoned by their parents and eventually make their way to Spain. In Spain, Marie marries surgeon Diego. Everything looks normal at first, but it becomes apparent that Diego might not be quite what he seems, especially after Jacob tries to drag Marie away from him.

What's really neat about "Grimm" is how it plays with the audience. After they leave the Netherlands, you think that the movie's important part has already happened, but you're wrong. Dead wrong. That door in Diego's house gives me the feeling that along with "Hansel and Gretel", there's also a tinge of "Bluebeard" here. And I wonder if that town at the end is the one where they filmed the spaghetti westerns. All in all, this is black comedy at its neatest.

A very twisted, but modern fairytale!

[lost-in-limbo · 6/10 · 12 November 2005]

On a winter's day a cold-hearted father abandons his son Jacob and daughter Maria in the woods, while they were off looking for firewood. After they can't find their father, Jacob finds a letter in his coat from his mother telling them to go Spain to live with their uncle. While on this journey they bump into some conniving people, also they commit some of devilish crimes and most of the time find themselves in some bizarre circumstances.

*Shrug Shoulders* Um… yeah. Well, that's what I felt after this film had finished. It just has some type of spell over you, because what you are seeing on screen is outrageously awkward, highly unpredictable and a striking amount of imagination. The story loosely takes on the Hansel and Gretel fairytale, but goes for a more grownup approach, which is filled with dark humour, incredibly odd adventures and like the title implies a grim nature. Even with all this imagination that went into it, there's something about it that left me undecided what to feel. It's hardly bad, as it had a hypnotic trance on me, but at the end I wasn't hugely impressed, as it seems to run out of steam after the half way mark. Which is a shame, as it had potential with its surreal setup and strange surprises but it becomes ponderously slow and the bizarre nature of it seems to fall by the way side in the third act. The plot… well, there really isn't one, because it's nothing but one comical episode after another and some don't make too much sense or add any real cohesion to proceedings. To make matters worse the characters, especially Jacob and Maria are glazed over and because of that they're hard to like or to connect with. But that doesn't take away from the overall performances, which I thought was generally good. Also other notables worked into the film is a lot of demented and deadpan humour, which either was an hit or a miss and also the sexual context was downright kinky. These generally bleak adventures the two encounter are highly out of the blue and hold a tremendous amount of impact, as the film bursts at the seams with a touch of fairytale magic. Other things that truly kept me glued were the slick cinematography that captured such ravishing scenery from woodlands, to desert terrains and an eerie ghost town. Backing up what we saw on screen was an impressive soundtrack that mixed a lot twang, from country, to rock and some indie. In all, weird… just plain weird!

A promising idea that's hypnotically enchanting, but it never reached the great heights like I wished it did.

Grimm is amazing

[pallaviwd · 6/10 · 28 May 2009]

I think this movie is unconventional and offbeat. I really liked it. I have seen it twice so far. It is also displays how one can go through hardships, bad luck. And yet keep going without disappointment and frustration. Both the characters though inspired from Hansel and Gretel are quite original. Movie is scripted very well. It starts with a small village in Netherlands bringing them to various places changing their lives drastically. Moral of the story is : Face it and handle it without complains!

Grimm Rocks!

I think this movie is unconventional and offbeat. I really liked it. I have seen it twice so far. It is also displays how one can go through hardships, bad luck. And yet keep going without disappointment and frustration. Both the characters though inspired from Hansel and Gretel are quite original. Movie is scripted very well. It starts with a small village in Netherlands bringing them to various places changing their lives drastically. Moral of the story is : Face it and handle it without complains!

Grimm Rocks!

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 4/10 · 10 November 2005]

Grimm or Grim? The film starts off as a homage to 'Hansel and Gretal', the Brothers Grimm's popular tale, however in the end the film spirals out in a completely different direction to their story, with many bizarre events along the way. The one constant element in the film however is grimness, which almost is cause to wonder whether the filmmakers were having a little pun with the title, except there is no English at all during the film. The best part of it is almost certainly its unpredictability. The film often defies logic, and makes no sense at all more often than not. While it is not all that satisfying to watch illogical events, the film is somewhat intriguing since anything can happen. It has a dark sense of humour at times too, and strange sexual elements are worked into it. Ultimately, the film is too meandering and the point of it all is hard to grasp. It is often repulsive, the characters are not developed so that they can be easily liked, and the hybridisation of the crime, horror, fantasy and western genres tends to jar an already awkward narrative. There are interesting elements at hand here, and a pulsating music soundtrack helps too. It is quite unusual stuff, however it is actually a good film? It is hard to say.

One of the better Dutch movies

[p_lenaers-1 · 8/10 · 4 November 2003]

At last we can see a movie that makes us Dutch folks laugh. It's based on a fairy tale of Grimm. It worth watching because I didn't see any better Dutch movie this year. Also I recommend De Noorderlingen en Kleine Teun.

"Let's go home." and bring the donkey along.

[jjjjjjjjjjjjj-4 · 6/10 · 1 November 2006]

A peculiar film which quite deserves its name, GRIMM is a post-modern non-fairy tale of (adult) siblings abandoned in the woods by their parents. They have a series of (a)sexual adventures as they are leaving the Netherlands (what a fitting name) for Spain.

Halina Reijn, who plays the sister Maria, is the spitting image of (a young) Mary Woronov. Her relationship with her brother Jacob (Jacob Derwig) is rife with incestuous overtones.

While it helps to have read the original Grimm tales (not the modern Disneyfied versions), knowledge of the history of Spain & the Netherlands is also quite useful. The 80 Years War was one of the bloodiest of the Cult wars between Protestantism & Catholicism (at least until the 30 Years war next door started in Germany immediately afterwords). The populations of entire cities were slaughtered by Spanish armies under the Dukes of Alba and of Parma. Dutch retaliations were also brutal.

Now the Dutch invade Spain every winter on vacation. The contrasts between the cultures are still apparent. Macho vs. modern. Fascist (loved the Guardia Civil emblem of the Fasces, Sword & Crown) vs. Anarchist. Anti-Sexual hot Spain vs. (A)Sexual cold Holland.

As soon as the couple drive through the "magic" tunnel & arrive in Spain's "netherlands" I was reminded of Alex Cox's STRAIGHT TO HELL, another modern "fairy tale". I'm not certain (as I haven't seen S.T.H. in at least 15 years), but I believe the western movie set town they finally arrive at for the final acts of GRIMM is the same place.

"Let's go home." and bring the donkey along.

Include on DVD is a short silent film called "Painting" (verb not noun). I quite enjoyed it.

Occasionally grim...but mostly dull

[Coventry · 3/10 · 11 September 2005]

"Grimm" is a remotely original and well-intended Dutch re-working of the famous Hansel and Gretel fairy-tale, updated with nowadays social issues like violence, sexual perversion and even the mafia-like trade in human organs! Siblings Maria and Jacob are left behind in the Dutch woods by their father and intend to head for Spain, following a written note of their mother. The road to Spain, as well as the actual residence, is a series of obstacles and encounters with weird characters. The first half hour is really good, alternately comical and compassionate with some absurd (but ingenious) ideas, like Jacob's acquaintance with a farmer who forces him to have sex with his corpulent wife. The rest of the film is totally illogical and very, VERY pointless. The two go from Holland to Spain on a moped and, upon arrival, they still have the 10 euros they left! If you think that's nonsense, don't even bother watching the rest of the film... Most of the time, you're wondering why the hell you should care about the dreadful tale of these two weirdos and even the beautiful Spanish settings become boring after a short while. Director Alex Van Warmermeer has the reputation of being a pseudo-artistic and gifted filmmaker, but so far I haven't enjoyed ANY of his films I've seen (others being "Abel" and "De Noorderlingen").

Mysterious, exciting, compelling

[Josine · 9/10 · 17 March 2004]

This is a story about a brother and a sister going on a journey together, because their parents didn't have money to support them anymore.

Where the movie is about a journey, the movie itself is like a journey too, where the viewer constantly falls into amazement, excitement, recognition, and sometimes a laughing fit. Its a surreal story that starts of exactly the same as Hansel and Grettel, but where you expect the brother and sister to find a house of candy, the movie takes a totally different turn, and goes on like that. Every time you think you know whats going to happen, its like the director says "ha ha, but I'm not that predictable" and sticking out his tong to you. This keeps the movie exciting and exhilarating till the end.

I sincerely enjoyed this movie, its one of those movies that you recommend so often and much to other people that they'll hate you for it!

9/10

A Road to Nowhere

[arisheinwald · 3/10 · 24 August 2004]

Yet another stab at making a contemporary adult (as in intended audience not porn) version of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales. Past efforts have gone in two directions - a focus on the psychosexual dimensions as in Neil Jordan's IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES or emphasize the trashy, lurid aspects as in Matthew Bright's FREEWAY. Or do both like in Francois Ozon's LES AMANTS CRIMINELS. GRIMM hints at both but ends up going in neither. It's just way too restrained for its own good. Weird but not strange enough, dark but not dark enough, lurid but not lurid enough, the film ends up being pointless and tedious. Opening with clear Grimm Bros inspiration as our two protagonists are abandoned in the woods by their father, the film quickly abandons its early premise (as well as its promise) and loses any focus as they arrive in Spain. A sure sign of a problem is the best thing I can say about the film is its inspired choice of a set - the use of an abandoned Wild West ghost town leftover from Spaghetti Westerns.

know what to expect

[berkessels-1 · 7 June 2004]

You might propably not like this film at all. I think this is of these films that need the viewer to be open minded. You should not go and view it if you are stuck to reality, or too used to Hollywood blockbusters. If you are one of those who say: No, you cannot go from Holland to Spain with one tank of gasoline, you should never watch this film! However, if you feel that odd things might very well be possible in films, and you don't care about odd things in films, this might be the one for you!

I think viewing it requires a bit of knowledge about fairy tales. Yes, the ones by the GRIMM brothers. The same way as the Coen Brothers knew how to use an old existing story and place it in modern times without loosing the context, Alex van Warmerdam took a story and found how to remake it in a modern way. The same sense of absurd humor, but maybe a little less funny, than o brother were art thou. van Warmerdam, however knew very well how to keep the way of storytelling by the grimm brothers intact. The flickering way of storytelling, combined with a fine feeling of suspense, makes this into one of my best Dutch films recently.

shamefull..

[peedubbelu · 1/10 · 16 June 2010]

Last night this movie was shown on dutch television so I decided to take a look.

Why did I do that? This is an awful film without a storyline (or anything remotely similar to it), but with bad dialogues, mediocre acting and unbelievable scenes. The last could be a good thing, but it isn't, I meant it in a bad way.

If you like your characters to be unlikable, somewhat retarded, incestuous and totally weird, you might like the movie. but probably not even then...

Avoid this like the plague! I'm ashamed to be Dutch after seeing this...

Quite strange, but really great!

[fsarneel · 9/10 · 13 January 2004]

Starts as a fairy tale (of course that's why the movie has been called Grimm) and continues as a totally absurd, but very funny story. Great acting.

Don't watch this film if you have a lack of fantasy and/or humor. Otherwise: Go and see this movie!

Way too disjointed storytelling.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 5/10 · 29 December 2007]

Director Alex van Warmerdam is known for his own sort of surreal and absurd style of film-making, that however never feel too artistic or forced, which makes all of his movies also perfectly watchable for most large public groups. I'm not too sure if this entirely also goes for "Grimm". Yes, it's an entertaining movie if you just sit back and relax but unfortunately it also isn't a very well constructed movie.

The movie would often change style as the movie progresses. The movie begins as a modern fairytale, with some of the generic elements in it. It however jumps too fast from scene to scene. It doesn't always feel like it's wrapping up things properly. Then the movie almost suddenly stops and slows down once the two characters get to Spain. The movie becomes an entirely different one again.

The middle part and till some extend would had made a fairly good movie on its own but keeping in the mind the first part of the movie it makes you realize how utterly pointless that part was, since it doesn't really connect with the rest of the movie. That's why I simply can't regard this movie as a successful one. It's way too disjointed all.

I can definitely understand van Warmerdam's intentions with this movie but it just doesn't all translate to the screen very well. He probably thought he was making his "El Topo".

No matter how hard Halina Reijn tries, she and Jacob Derwig, who play brother and sister in this movie, just don't have much chemistry together. I blame Jacob Derwig for this, since his acting seems to be a bit below average at points. I just never have been a too big fan of his acting abilities. The movie is filled with some other well known Dutch and I suppose also fairly well known Spanish actors, in some small as well as some bigger roles. Some are well cast, others obviously aren't.

The movie is good looking, with professional cinematography. Also very little wrong with the actual directing of it all, they just didn't had the best material to work with in the long run.

Has some quality but it just isn't the best watchable movie.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Just enjoy the ride

[groggo · 8/10 · 30 September 2007]

Alex van Warmerdam is a wickedly mischievous director who seems to specialize in the theatre of the disconnected, which is appropriate. Disconnection is a prime motif in society. Most things we do, see and say every day don't make much sense.

Aside from writing and directing, Warmerdam is also a wonderful actor given to playing overwhelmed characters who are never really sure why they're alive. In one of his previous films (the unsettling 'Little Tony'), he directed himself as a stone-faced, harassed and bewildered farmer beset by a brutish wife determined to have a child at any cost. It was way off-kilter in its darkly comic exposition.

In 'Grimm,' this iconoclastic Dutchman takes us on a disjointed, other-worldly ride that lacks a traditional narrative arc. But this 'journey' has so many interesting (and inventive) comedic and dramatic riffs that you can't help but be drawn into it. It is never dull because we simply don't know what's going to happen next, up to and including a nomadic donkey, an involuntary kidney transplant, and an absurd showdown in a Spanish ghost town between a guy with a shotgun and another with a bow and arrow.

This film is quirky and fresh, and keeps you off balance. Aside from unexpected bursts of gallows comedy, it can also be dark, with malicious and disturbing set pieces. Warmerdam shows us brilliant cinematic contrasts between the gloom of the Netherlands forests and the blaring brightness of the Spanish countryside. The dichotomy between light and dark is very evident in this film and very evident in Warmerdam's predilection for dark/light humour and quasi-surreal drama.

Throughout the film, Warmerdam reminds us that this is a modern fairy tale (hence the Grimm title). Things don't naturally follow, characters are 'transported' illogically, relationships just magically happen, and epiphanies abound.

Halina Reijn as Maria and Jacob Derwig as her brother Jacob are terrific playing siblings involved in a lovingly incestuous relationship that is so casual it never really speaks its name. This is Warmerdam at his mischievous and satirical best: haven't we, with our overactive, dirty little minds, always suspected there might have been more to the Hansel and Gretel story than two lost kids courting danger in the forest? Incest, of course, is taboo, and you would never see it in a Hollywood flick unless it was done as high drama or tragedy. But Maria and Jacob really do love each other in the true sense of love. In the Netherlands, the mind is a bit more expansive.

where is the story!!

[capra_corn · 1/10 · 10 November 2003]

Although this movie has it's funny moments, yes and even good acting. The story lacks any kind of substance, it is totally rubbish!!. They first thought of some funny situations and than tried to make a story out of it. Only, they failed!! This is in no way a Dutch Master.

I rented the movie because it's cover looked interesting. I'm sorry.

[Deoglood · 1/10 · 5 January 2006]

I love foreign films, really. When actors can perform in their native language, it seems to draw me into the plot all the more. However in this case, it doesn't help. There are a few good, humorous aspects in this film, and a ton of potential, but right up to the credits I found myself waiting for the plot to wrap itself up or conclude. I cannot tell you how much I regret watching this film. The camera work was good, the acting was good, and even the concepts seemed very good, but too much was covered without really hitting my sweet spots. How can it be so promising without delivering? But the real bummer for this movie was the flavor throughout. It was like watching a really long episode of Seinfeld. Can anyone be so without common sense and not accidentally drown during a rainfall? The two protagonists are dumb as sticks, and it was actually worse than watching a teen-horror flick where the blond bimbo decides to leave the relatively safe locked room and wanders aimlessly through the axe-murderer-saturated woods. At least there was suspense. Please somebody help me forget this movie, I've be negatively influenced by it and have forgotten how to eat with forks and knives.

Probably not the most child-friendly fairy tale you can find!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 28 September 2013]

"Grimm" is a strange re-working of the old story of Hansel and Gretel. However, it's been changed so much that you can hardly call it "Hansel and Gretel"--particularly since the characters' names are Jacob and Marie.

This bizarre story begins with a starving family in Holland during a cold winter. They have no food and the father and mother's plan is to abandon their two 'kids' in the woods and have them fend for themselves. However, they are NOT exactly young, as they both look to be about 30! And, you wonder how stupid they must be that they can't find their way out of the woods! Regardless, they trudge about for a while until they come upon a dying dog and eat it. Soon the dog's owner catches them and brings them home--and forces Jacob to have sex with his ugly wife. They manage to escape soon after and this is only in the first 15 minutes of the film! What follows is their trek to Spain with even more VERY child-unfriendly material including incest, robbery, prostitution, a closeup shot of a dead dog and incestuous jealousy. It's all pretty nasty and reminds me of an Almondovar film, such as "What Have I Done to Deserve This?"--where just about every social norm is violated, although it never is 100% apparent if this is meant as comedy or horror film. But frankly, other than shocking the viewer, is there any real point to all this? I sure didn't know and that is why I kept watching...hoping that the film would ultimately prove satisfying.

Could this sick material have worked? Possibly, though I doubt it because it was just so sleazy and gross. However, making the two main characters so unlikable (as is EVERYONE in this film) didn't help matters any. It also didn't help that the plot seemed very meandering and often pointless. Overall, the film is just bizarre and yucky just to be bizarre and yucky. The only things I really found of interest was the escape from the ugly woman (this was rather funny) and seeing an old Spanish/Italian western movie set at the end.