Jaume Balagueró, together with his pal Paco Plaza, signed what probably are the 2 best horror movies made in Spain in the new century, REC (2007) and [Rec]² (2009). Flying solo, he has been embarked in dark thrillers and horror tales but never achieved the level of excellence as before. But, now, rumors say he’s back on track and his latest effort has the potential to shock us all. The name of the film is Venus (2022), and in it, horror invades the concrete corridors of a cursed apartment complex on the outskirts of Madrid.
The movie centers on go-go dancer Lucía. When she nicks a fortune in designer drugs from her mafia employers the mobsters’ dogged pursuit forces her to seek sanctuary with her estranged sister Rocío and niece Alba in “The Venus,” a decrepit apartment complex on the outskirts of Madrid. As terrible, rotten, no-good luck would have it, Lucía soon finds herself sole guardian to little Alba after Rocío suddenly flies the concrete coop, unable to handle the supernatural stress of living in a monolith that is apparently also host to a malignant evil — one that invades its tenants’ waking nightmares. With the mafia’s wrath fast approaching — thanks to their use of occult Wayfinder rituals — and strange celestial phenomena heralding an encroaching cosmic threat, Lucía must survive increasingly scary nights in the face of an uncertain and uncanny future.
The screenplay for Venus (2022) has been written by Fernando Navarro, who was also behind the texts of other hit Spanish horror and thrillers Spy Time (2015), Toro (2016), Verónica (2017), and Muse (2017), also directed by Jaume Balagueró. Alex de la Iglesia, a Spanish filmmaker who has been behind essential titles like Mutant Action (1993), The Day of the Beast (1995), or Perdita Durango (1997), is producing.
The main cast is formed by Ester Expósito, Ángela Cremonte, Fernando Valdivielso, Magüi Mira, Federico Aguado, and Inés Fernández.
The story behind Venus (2022) has been compared to H. P. Lovecraft’s horror tale The Dreams in the Witch House, which is part of the Cthulhu Mythos cycle, and to film classics like Demons 2 (1986) and The Sentinel (1977).
The movie had its world premiere yesterday at the Royal Alexandra Theatre during the Toronto International Film Festival, where it got mostly positive reviews, and it will also be part of the Sitges Film Festival in October.
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