I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy this from the drawn out and downbeat opening of a deserted crumbling cottage with voice-over. What surprised me was how quickly I found myself disliking the two protagonists. Just married and off with their caravan, I quickly went off the joyless leading lady, played extremely well, I have to say, by Anna Beren and then the guy for not dealing with the situation. As it happens the happy marriage is fracturing before our eyes from the start and with talk or a strange and deathly oneness with nature and the reversion to animal behaviour, it is not long before things start to go very wrong indeed. Leisurely paced but beautifully shot with a keen eye for colour and composition, this does remind one of Luis Bunuel as the director seems to delight in the most ordinary and harmless things becoming so upsetting. I had never heard of Gonzalo Suarez but he has made several other films and I would be intrigued to see more.
3 Reviews
Honeymoon killers.
BA_Harrison10 February 2024
Morbidness is a film that I think would have worked much better as a short.
The majority of the film focuses on the relationship between newlyweds Alicia (Ana Belén) and Diego (Víctor Manuel) as they spend their honeymoon in a remote spot in the countryside. It's not long before the happy couple begin to bicker, the tension exacerbated by some strange occurrences and Alicia's persistent feeling that she is being watched. This all very drawn out and very repetitive, the film only pulling together in the last act, in which Alicia is attacked by a strange man (Michael J. Pollard), the young woman defending herself by fatally hitting her assailant on the head with an iron. When she goes to find Diego, the pair are shot at by the dead man's blind mother (María Vico). Diego manages to disarm the old woman and kills her.
The final scene sees Diego and Alicia disposing of the bodies, and, after removing any incriminating evidence, driving away, the couple having completely forgotten about the carving that Diego made on a tree trunk: a love heart with both of their names and the date. The final shot of the carving is a clever addendum, not just a reminder of how quickly Alicia and Diego's relationship has turned sour but also evidence of their complicity - but it's a long time coming.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
The majority of the film focuses on the relationship between newlyweds Alicia (Ana Belén) and Diego (Víctor Manuel) as they spend their honeymoon in a remote spot in the countryside. It's not long before the happy couple begin to bicker, the tension exacerbated by some strange occurrences and Alicia's persistent feeling that she is being watched. This all very drawn out and very repetitive, the film only pulling together in the last act, in which Alicia is attacked by a strange man (Michael J. Pollard), the young woman defending herself by fatally hitting her assailant on the head with an iron. When she goes to find Diego, the pair are shot at by the dead man's blind mother (María Vico). Diego manages to disarm the old woman and kills her.
The final scene sees Diego and Alicia disposing of the bodies, and, after removing any incriminating evidence, driving away, the couple having completely forgotten about the carving that Diego made on a tree trunk: a love heart with both of their names and the date. The final shot of the carving is a clever addendum, not just a reminder of how quickly Alicia and Diego's relationship has turned sour but also evidence of their complicity - but it's a long time coming.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
Subtle but slightly unsettling thriller.
HumanoidOfFlesh6 February 2014
A young couple decides to spend their care-free honeymoon in a remote area.Soon they begin to experience some odd occurrences such as one of their two hamsters killing the other one.It seems that someone or something is watching them.Alice becomes unsettled when she discovers that her wedding gown was mysteriously stolen from the back of their car.Slightly surreal and psychedelic thriller with several subtle scenes of dread.It kind of reminded me Australian horror hit "Long Weekend"(1978) with a bit of "Last House on the Left"(1972)thrown in.The acting is surprisingly decent and the finale is wonderfully eerie.Michael J.Pollard's short performance is quite mysterious and evocative.So if you are a fan of Spanish horror/exploitation cinema from 70's and early 80's you can't go wrong with "Morbidness".9 hairpins out of 10.
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