KM 31: Kilómetro 31 (2006) User Reviews

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 7 September 2007]

While driving through the kilometer 31 of a lonely road, Agata Hameran (Iliana Fox) hits a boy. She leaves her car to help the victim and another car runs over her and she falls in a deep coma. Her twin sister Catalina (Iliana Fox) telepathically feels the pain of Agata and hears her whispering for help. Together with her boyfriend Nuno (Adrià Collado) and Agata's mate Omar (Raúl Méndez), they return to the km 31 of the road, and find out that the place is surrounded by supernatural accidents caused by the ghost of a mother that lost her boy many years ago. Further, Catalina discloses that the spirit of Agata is trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead.

"Km 31" is an intriguing ghost story, with good performances, a dark cinematography and great special effects. Unfortunately, the messy screenplay spoils the conclusion of the plot of this promising and refreshing film. Like many others horror movies, the author and the director were not able to give a suitable resolution to the plot and I was absolutely frustrated with the awful ending. Anyway I do not dare to write that "Km 31" is a bad movie, but it could be better and better with improvements and better conclusion. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Km 31"

Flawed, but good effort...

[jluis1984 · 6/10 · 10 May 2007]

Through the history of Mexican cinema, the horror genre has undergone a somewhat irregular development, as even when some excellent masterpieces of horror have been done at times, most of the times the horror movies done show more heart than talent, and even if the intentions are good the final product tends to lack quality in more than one aspect. To make things worse, the total production of horror movies has always been far below than the desired one, and even in the better days of Mexican cinema, horror was often relegated. Due to this reasons, it's always interesting whenever a new Mexican horror movie gets a release, as it's a new chance to make things right and redeem the genre once and for all. That's the reason why the brand new horror film, "Kilómetro 31", gathered so much hype on the days before its release, and while it certainly wasn't the horror film to save the genre, it has some good things going for it.

While driving one night through the forests near Mexico City, Agata Hameran (Iliana Fox) has a terrible accident on kilometer 31 in which she loses her legs and falls into a coma. After that horrible night, her twin sister Catalina (also Iliana Fox) begins to feel a strong psychic connection with her sister, as Agata seems to be screaming desperately for help. Haunted by horrible nightmares and ghastly visions, Catalina decides to investigate what exactly happened that night on kilometer 31, hoping to end the pain her sister is suffering. So, with the help of her best friend Nuño (Adrià Collado) and Agata's boyfriend, Omar (Raúl Méndez), Catalina begins an investigation that will lead her to the mystery behind the strange series of accidents that have happened on kilometer 31 since the construction of the highway.

Written by director Rigoberto Castañeda himself, the story of "Kilómetro 31" is an interesting reworking of many of the most iconic Mexican folk legends and ghost stories all mixed up into one single plot that while certainly modernized, retains that Mexican flavor that makes those legends so enjoyable. He also borrows many elements from the popular New Wave of Asian horror cinema that started in the late 90s, and attempts to adapt them into his own ghost story with some success, resulting into an interesting tale of mystery and horror. While the concept and back-story of the movie are quite interesting and really very well constructed, Castañeda's screenplay has a lot of problems in the development of its main story and its characters, mainly in the poor way most of the dialogs are written and the way the story gets unnecessarily complicated as a result of Castañeda's attempt to mix so many classic stories into one.

As a director, Castañeda has a great eye for visual composition, and is able to create a very atmospheric movie pretty much in the style of "Ringu"'s director Hideo Nakata. However, unlike the Japanese movies that inspired him, Castañeda is more adept to use his many special effects, and he doesn't waste a chance to show off the excellent work of his visual effects team; in fact, through the film he seems to be more comfortable directing the special effects scenes than his human actors, and as a result, he doesn't manage to get a good quality in the cast's performances. Honestly, the work done by both the makeup department and the digital effects department is simply remarkable, probably the best work ever done in the history of Mexican cinema; however, Castañeda seems unable to find a balance and often overuses them in excess.

As written above, the performances of the cast are nothing amazing, and truly hurt a film that certainly deserved better. As the Hameran sisters, Iliana Fox makes a very weak and unsympathetic lead character, almost like one of her characters in Mexican soap operas. Oddly enough, her character is one of the better written in the film, but she seems unable to pull off something good out from it. Spaniard actor Adrià Collado plays Nuño, making a very good performance and delivers the best acting in the film. As Agata's boyfriend, Omar, Raúl Méndez is simply good, nothing special, but considering the bad writing of his character, one could say he did a great job. Carlos Aragon and Luisa Huertas appear in minor roles, Aragon having a nice turn as Officer Ugalde and Huertas delivering a terribly bad performance (like Fox, in a very soap opera style) as the Old lady that guides Catalina.

Due to its very noticeable similarities, "Kilómetro 31" could be considered a direct heir of that popular brand of Asian horror, as often through the film Castañeda shows the enormous influence those movies had in him. This is of course, a double edged sword, as due to his overuse of the conventions and clichés of Asian horror, Castañeda could easily be seen as a director without a style of his own and limited only to copy what has proved to be successful in Asia and the United States. The extreme reliance on special effects and jump scares to make his film "scary" is one major problem the movie has, as often those devises break the good atmosphere that Castañeda manages to create thanks to Alejandro Martínez' excellent cinematography (who clearly has improved his work).

In the end, there is no doubt that "Kilómetro 31" is a work of excellent quality in its production, and with the intentions of being the horror movie to resurrect the Mexican horror genre, however, it's obvious that the intentions of making it "hip", "cool" and therefore commercially successful got in the middle of the making, resulting in an often derivative movie. It's a flawed film, but it's a nice effort that hopefully, will inspire more Mexican filmmakers to give a chance to horror. A final word of advice: if you hated Asian ghost stories, stay away from this film. 6/10

A little cliché but still worth a look...

[cat_ranchero · 6/10 · 27 April 2013]

Quite an interesting film; quite dark with some nice special effects; although nothing ground-breaking. It's pretty gory in places so it's definitely not one for the squeamish. All the performances were very good, although I'll put my usual caveat that it's sometimes quite hard to judge a performance in a foreign language. I thought Iliana Fox stood out as the most praiseworthy though. The film does, however, fall a little into cliché here an there; it must be hard to find new ways to scare people these days. It just about have enough 'creep-factor' though to keep me interested, so it's not all bad. Over all, worth a look if you're a horror fan; otherwise, I'd probably give it a miss. Personally, I pretty much enjoyed it.

SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 6.2/10

You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

There are worse things than death... yes, this movie

[RottenMoreno · 2/10 · 3 February 2007]

Kilometro 31 has a plot that, well, to be honest, we've all seen or heard before, which is very sad, because the movie actually seemed to have potential.

After a few minutes of watching the film, I figured out that it was going to be like "La Monja" meets "The Grudge", which definitely can't be good. What went wrong with the film was the script, it was just so unoriginal that you couldn't believe it, a haunted street, a ghost kid scaring people off, a creepy woman warning people, we had all seen that before. Besides that, the actors were miscast, as I found the leading actress a bit annoying, and the supporting actors quite laughable.

Now, to the bright spot, the direction was great, we got some great shots and also some bright visuals. Also, the movie was actually scary in some parts, obviously creepy and with a couple of jump scenes. Maybe if they had come up with a different story, this film would have been amazing, but they used the old and used ghost story that is just not cute anymore. I could only recommend Kilometro 31 to lovers of the horror genre, even do I think it will be almost impossible to find it for those who don't live in Mexico, like Efectos Secundarios. But if you do find it, and you are a big horror fan, give it a shot, you might enjoy it.

good effort

[demetrioz · 7/10 · 5 February 2007]

the effort is there, it falls a little bit short. but all in all is a really good movie. I don't think is an amazing or excellent one, but it deserves the recognition. for starters the production is really good and the acting is not bad at all.

the myth involved in the story is well developed and of course there are elements that are taken from other films, but come on, not all films have to be an ultimate original. don't be so harsh and lame in your way of thinking. This movie is worth watching. the effects are really state of the art. the direction comes fluently as the acting too. Go see this movie and enjoy it.

Kilometro fails in deliver a solid story

[hdiaz26 · 5/10 · 3 February 2007]

For anyone that doesn't know; the horror genre in Mexico has been in the limbo for years, the only Mexican horror movies we remember are horrible ones like: Vacaciones del terror, and all those silly scary movies. However when Kilometro 31 was announced I actually had faith in it. Would this movie revitalize the Mexican horror genre? Sadly know I can say that it doesn't.

The movie delivers some jump scenes, nice special effects, good use of sound and some impressive cinematography, but lacks entirely in story, originality and most importantly in the characters.

It follows the same clichés we've all seen in Hollywood's horror, it borrows elements from The Ring (Gore Verbinski), The Grudge (Takashi Shimizu) and even worst movies like La Monja (Luis de la Madrid) and Darkness (Jaume Balagueró).

It tries to make us care about its characters but it never does, you realize how empty the movie is then the horrible ending starts to roll, clearly making us feel like this was a waste of time and money, and feeling like they didn't even know how to end it, they just knew how to make it look good, focusing more in the effects.

I just expected that this would be in the vein of old good Mexican horror movies like: Hasta el viento tiene miedo and El libro de piedra, even though remakes of both movies have been announced, one hopes that they don't go for the same route, that Kilometro follows.

5/10

Starts well but becomes incomprehensible

[standeman1984 · 7/10 · 18 December 2007]

I went to see this movie with high hopes on the back of a good rating from this very site...that rating has since dropped dramatically.

I must say i was disappointed and a little confused by what i saw. It all starts off well enough, gripping and engaging horror elements - a spooky child has caused many accidents at a section of the road KM 31. A twin is hit by a car on her way to her sister's house and they and their boyfriends become drawn into the mystery surrounding this haunted road.

There are some genuinely creepy moments as the story unfolds. The problem i had was that as the history is revealed, the situation becomes more confusing than explanatory. Somehow the sisters and their dead schizophrenic mother are connected to a weird back-story of why the road is haunted in the first place. I began to flag halfway through and must admit to not understanding the connection properly, but my friend afterwards also found it a little confusing.

Then it ends very stylistically but still with little actually explained. I don't really mind that, but all style and not enough substance do not a great horror movie make. You can leave much to the imagination, but there must be some comprehensible way of connecting the dots for your watching audience.

And the over-used child figure of recent horror films from around the world has become old hat. Horror fans will find things to enjoy here but most will be left scratching their heads and lamenting a missed opportunity of originality and revival of Mexican horror.

Stupid, boring and bad execution of horror

[la_perdizion · 1/10 · 8 February 2007]

I wanted to put zero stars for this movies. This is for sure the worst Mexican movie of the last years. Terrible script, terrible acting, terrible directing, etc... An awful copy of many horror movies like "The Ring", "Ju-On", "White Noise" and a touch of Stephen King's "Eso". The big problem is that is so boring that you cannot laugh of the stupid duologue's and story that tried to put Mexican horror gender another time in the map. Rigoberto Castañeda leave us a simple story without creativity and I'm still waiting for productions like Carlos Enrique Taboada's "Hasta el viento tiene miedo". Please, in the future try to make original Mexican horror films.

Not bad Mexican horror,but not particularly memorable.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 8 October 2007]

After the death of their mother when they were children,twins Agata and Catalina develop a psychic skill allowing them to communicate over great distances.But Agata falls into a coma after an accident on kilometer 31 and Catalina experiences all her pain.Tormented by Agata's psychic screams for help,Catalina sets out to find what really happened to Agata and finds that her twin has fallen victim of the ancient and terrifying curse of La Llorona,the screaming woman.The main problem of "Km 31" is that the film is heavily americanized.Sure,it utilizes some old-school Mexican folklore tales as the back-story,but the filmmakers just don't do enough with it.The acting is solid,the film is beautifully made and some moments are mildly creepy,but horror fans expecting something gruesome should really give this one a pass.

Very very very disappointing... and I am from México

[miacases · 4/10 · 26 February 2007]

It is very sad when a movie with so much potential turns out to be very disappointing. I consider my self to be a Horror movie fan, and the thought of getting the opportunity to finally watch a modern Mexican horror movie prompted me to have high expectations, but after watching this movie such high expectations dropped to the ground like a bomb.

What makes this film so disappointing is that the writers took one of the most famous ghost legends in Mexican folklore "The legend of la Llorona" and instead of making a story with an original Mexican feel, they made the Hollywood version of a Japanese horror movie, but spoken in Spanish.

The acting is bad, the story is pretentious and unoriginal, and some scenes don't even make sense.

One good note is that the movie actually has some very scary moments, but another earlier Mexican horror movie is way better... "Hasta el viento tiene miedo" or in English "Even the wind is scared"; however, you wont be able to find this one on DVD yet.

Great horror film

[efren_111 · 10/10 · 2 February 2007]

This film is great, its not particularly deep and reflective it is simply what it needs to be, a pure really good commercial horror film.

I wont deny it borrows a lot of the aesthetics from J Horror however I don't see the big deal as so does every recent ghost/supernatural flick from the rest of Asia and the US. It worked for it so why should I complain about them not coming up with a whole new never before seen look when I never ask that from international films.

I went to see it in the theater in the middle of the afternoon and the place was packed(which really hindered my enjoyment but thats beyond the point), more so than any other Mexican flick I've ever seen on the theater, it was mostly teenagers of the like you would likely see on American horror films but rarely on a Mexican film and they really were enjoying it. There were screaming like crazy and more than one girl left the theater scared before the thing was finished. I've read more than one bad review by the all knowing "profetional Critics" but at the end of the day I'm sure the guys from Lemon Films will laugh at them all the way to the bank to cash their big checks, this movie will be a huge commercial success and hopefully fuel the making of horror films in Mexico.

Im looking forward for Castañeda's next flicks, hopefully after that Blackout one he will get to do more Mexican films and wont be relegated to do all his work outside like it has Happened to Guillermo DelToro.

Good, Spooky Horror.

[chumpsteak · 7/10 · 24 February 2009]

I'd never heard of this film before I saw it and had no preconceptions or expectations. Actually, I was considering going to bed but KM 31 quickly grabbed my attention & I just had to watch it to the conclusion.

I actually thought the story was reasonably original for a Ghost Horror movie, so I don't know why people are saying otherwise. I've certainly never seen a movie where the mentally ill mother of twin sisters drowns / OD's, the sisters develop a telepathic connection, one gets run over after seeing a ghost in the road & ends up in a coma, trapped between the world of the living & the dead then the other discovers an old tragedy of a mother & son drowning etc... It was all pretty engaging actually. Admittedly, the style is very similar to that of recent Japanese horror films but that's not a bad thing.

I thought the acting was very solid with the exception of the old woman who was quite corny. In fact, Nuno & Omar were very well played. It would be easy for the actors to over act in this sort of film but everything was quite subdued which gave real tension.

The Special effects are excellent & a real feature. I actually found myself thinking "Whoa! That was impressive." on a few occasions & that's a very rare thing these days. There are far too many recent films that rely on shaky camera work & bad lighting in an attempt to create the mood & hide iffy effects or ones that have so much CGI they look like a PS3 game. KM 31 gives you gruesome ghosts in gory detail & lets you get a good look at just how nasty they are. Makeup & CGI blend seamlessly & everything looks real. However, tension is retained because we don't get to see them properly until the film is getting near it's conclusion.

Dialogue is fairly minimal & there's not a massive amount of character development but I don't think this is too much of a problem. My only real issue was the pace of the movie. Sometimes it drags a bit & there are scenes that could have been cut quite easily. On the other hand, there are parts where the plot moves by too quickly & scenes that ought to have taken 15 minutes are condensed into 5. This makes things confusing at times, especially at the end where there is no explanation why things turn out the way they do. I never quite understood the connection between our protagonists & the ghosts either.

KM 31 is well worth checking out & has a really good balance of tension & surprise. I give it a good solid 7.

Nothing on Special... Again

[teniente91 · 3/10 · 3 February 2007]

well ihave my critic once again make it cause Fabe of my friends who choose the movie, they as sick of i said to they the things that as bad on the movie, but i have this page to said that, well the movie get very things very bad make it, first whit the best that isn't good, the direction, the director isn't try of make a pretending vision, but very takes as very pretending, is not all the time and very moves is not the right, the saving thing here is that the color of the photography are brilliant, the right for the situation, second the performances, are regular any as good everyone isn't have nothing on special, well so mes are very bad and others as very exaggerated, but the worst thing i all the movie are for much the screenplay, i don't have the time to said all the errors of the screenplay but whit saying that are a sh*t i said everything about them, like i said the saving thing here are the color of the photography the rest is nothing on special Goodbye

Misfiring Mexican ghost rip-off

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 13 August 2016]

Great! I saw this modern-day Mexican horror film was on television in the middle of the night, so I made sure to set my video and record it. After all, I'm the guy who's a big fan of all those old '50s. When I sat down to watch it, I was utterly disappointed. Although this is a modern imagining of the classic Mexican Curse of the Crying Woman legend, it bears more resemblance to the kind of silly ghost stuff found in recent Hollywood horrors as well as a smattering of Japanese atmosphere and plot ingredients. Why not create a proper Mexican film with its own identity like they did back in the day, rather than rip-off very familiar stuff?

The film begins well with a spooky atmosphere and sinister happenings on a rural stretch of road. Soon after, we're plunged into a convoluted mystery, drawing together family history, the ghost of a little boy, a crying woman, and an underground river. There are some engaging characters, like the obsessed police detective investigating the case, but the film's central actress Iliana Fox is absolutely horrible. She seems to think that wide-eyed posturing is a good way to show a character being scared, but I couldn't help but chuckling every time she pulled off this expression – it just looks so ludicrous. The two guys supporting here aren't bad, but they seem to be on the sidelines and not involved in the plot, although one of them takes part in the film's most effective scene as a ghostly hitchhiker.

The mystery never comes close to being revealed and the parts are far greater than the sum. I had no idea what the dead mother sub-plot was all about and no attempt is made to tie together loose ends. It's all too much about a pair of twins we have no real interest in, so there's no sympathy, no empathy here. The little boy ghost is straight out of JU-ON: THE GRUDGE and way too familiar while the female ghost is animated thanks to some dodgy CGI at the climax, which only serves to take us out of the film even further. I could have forgiven these things had the plot not been so muddled, but alas, this is a misfire through and through.

Mystery and horror movie co-produced by Mexico/Spain , including chills , intrigue and terrifying happenings

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 4 December 2022]

This is a surprisingly competent horror movie with chilling events , thrills and nail-biting scenes . And it's certainly better than most other films of the same genre concerning a diabolic and mysterious terror appearing at a road . Enjoyable horror movie with thrills , chills and strange events , while the roles scream and panic her way through most of their scenes and including limited CGI . One of the film's strongest points is the fact that there's quite a lot of fun to be had with the supernatural aspects of the storyline , being heavily influenced by the Asian terror . Following a terrible car accident on a wooded road near Mexico City, Agata goes into a coma, subsequently taking place a series of strange and eerie incidents . Her twin sister Catalina must unlock the horror behind her traumatized and seriously injured sister next to the Km. 31 marker and discovers a terrifying local legend. As Catalina takes off grisly experiences that once tested her sanity , bringing her face to face with a supernatural spirit attached to an elderly woman . And her fiancé is shocked when to be aware about the weird person who inhabits in a forest near the astonishing road . A place between life and death. !Where the end is only the beginning...! There are worse things than death...!. Everything then changes in eerie way and things go wrong . You were right to be afraid of the dark. Darkness will consume you. Every Child Need To Feel Loved.

A creepy and thrilling film about a haunting house where shows up a weird being , it packs inexplicable disturbing occurrences , shocks, thrills , suspense , chills, hair-rising events and surprising final twist . This starts off at the very beginning occuring mysterious happenings , as the camera lurks suspensenful behind its actors and beside them and above them and everywhere else . A scary and unsettling flick in which a girl and her boyfriend must try to solve the mystery of her sister's accident , and it garnered very positive reception in International Festivals . In spite of its limited budget , as the picture goes on growing more and more and developing little by little until the unexpected conclusion . The main and support cast are pretty well , giving acceptable performances such as liana Fox in a double role as Ágata/Catalina , Adrià Collado and Raúl Méndez .

The pic contains a dark and colorful cinematography by Alejandro Martínez . Equally, a mysterious and suspenseful musical score by Carles Cases , composing a sinister atmosphere . Well produced by Julio Fernandez from Filmax , Fantastic Factory and Castelao Films . Julio has financed a lot of successes of all kinds of genres , such as Terror : Rec saga , Mientras duermes , Retornados , La posesion Emma Evans , Paintball , El monstruo del pozo , Quarantine , Los sin nombre ; Cartoon and kiddies films : Copito de Nieve , El Cid , Donkey Xote , Manolito Gafotas , Mola ser Jefe , Perez ratoncito de sueños , Los Dalton contra Lucky Luke and Dramas/Thrillers as Cobardes , Transsiberian , Machinist , Transssiberian , Bullying , 13 Campanadas , Muertos comunes , Morir en San Hilario, Tierra de Fuego , Sexo por compasion, Fotos , Heroes sin patria , among others . The motion picture was competently directed by horror expert Rigoberto Castañeda, though it has some flaws , gaps and a failed finale . After the resounding success of "KM31" he writes and directs the sequel, "Km31-2", also based on the crying lady legend and released in 2016, with Carlos Aragón ("Señor Ávila", "Cantinflas"), film nominated for several technical achievements in the Mexican Academy Awards. In 2010, Rigoberto debuted as a producer, carrying the bestselling book of Mexican writer Juan Jose Rodríguez entitled "Murder in a Chinese Laundry". Rigoberto also has directed many different TV series, winning experience in a wide variety of genres. He led "Terminales" for Televisa, a successful drama series about a group of -out of the ordinary- terminal illness patients .Another series he directed was the action/drama for Channel 11 "Paramedics"; an intensity charged story of real-life cases from paramedics working at the Mexican Red Cross. Rigoberto directs Netflix original "Diablero", a fantastic new horror-comedy, demon-hunters concept . Then he has directed and adapted for the screen "Sin Origen" (Unsourced), a vampire story set in Mexico, and produced "Karem's Diary" a possession/exorcism film . He also directed all 8 episodes of an Amazon Zombies themed series ("Narcos Vs. Zombies" working title). Rating 6/10. Acceptable and decent terror movie. Well worth watching.

Simple is beautiful. This is way beyond ultracomplicated.

[the_wolf_imdb · 2/10 · 27 May 2014]

There is a lot of good ideas in this movie. Actually you could make at least four really good horror movies based on these ideas. Unfortunately the director decided to add all these ideas in one single package and created total mess.

First, there is a legend of abandoned woman who drowned with her child and haunts the place. Good.

Second, there is a legend of elderly woman who lived near the haunted place and may haunt also the place. Good.

Third, there is a story of two twin sisters that may kinda share their mind and communicate with each other. Good.

Then there is a story of two men who have trouble distinguishing these sisters and may or may not love the wrong one.

Then there is a story of a cop who somehow tries to resolve the strange accidents happening at Kilometer 31.

Then there is a story of people being killed at the Kilometer 31 even though they have been already dead.

Then there is a story of a ghost leading to his own body.

Then there is some mess about the sisters that might or might not killed their mother for some reason.

Then there is some transmigration and some sacrifice and some ghosts wandering around. And also a lot of people getting hysterical while driving and running from their cars in the middle of the street in the middle of the night so they are getting hit by cars of other people also getting hysterical.

I kid you not. This movie has more twist that a complete season of South American soap opera and more ghosts that entire The Ring series. The result is very messy and not scary at all because you have no clue what is happening and why so you do not have any "expectations with bad feelings". You just try very hard to get any idea what is going on and what the hell is happening right now.

If the authors somehow decided not to "fire all the guns" at the very same time, they had a very decent chance to make really good series similar to The Ring. Unfortunately they made one huge heap of confusing and disorienting mess.

What a wasted opportunity!

Bone chilling, creepy and unnerving collaboration of the ghost/twins elements!

[nitzanhavoc · 7/10 · 14 November 2012]

I believe this was my first experience with Mexican horror! Glad to add Mexico to my list of Horror contributors :) As a horror freak, I like to be exposed to all sorts and kinds of origins!

KM 31 is an intriguing collaboration of classic ghost-stories and the semi-supernatural bond between twins (two aspects that are commonly found in horror films). The entire spectrum of human emotions is portrayed in scenes that deliver fine acting and clever screen writing. The use of audio effects was also well done (when the film ended, I was really tired and went to sleep... at a certain point my cat climbed on the keyboard and the film restarted, and I awoke in terror to the bone chilling sound of Catelina's opening speech...)

There were, as in most ghost stories, some "cheats" (i.e. sudden movements in the distance with loud bass music), that these weren't overused, nor were they the main reason for the film's frightening ambiance. The ghost was very well made in my opinion, creepy and unnerving just as a ghost should be! In my opinion, the way a ghost looks/sounds/moves/behaves says a lot about a ghost-film. Another point for Mexican film making!

All in all, I can't say this was the best ghost film I've seen, but it followed through on everything it should have, and in a non- disappointing way. Recommended!

An interesting new beginning for Mexican horror movies.

[hector_calles · 11 March 2007]

Km 31 is good attempt at reviving and old dormant genre within the Mexican film-making history. We have to credit young writer-director Rigoberto Castañeda for his loose approach at horror film-making. I bet he knew all along big criticism was widely waiting for him at the end of this endeavor, and of course, as a result of it the opinions came out truly divided. Some people said he kind of mixed up all his previous horror-thriller influences cramming them together into this very particular Mexican-styled outfit. I believe --like many any other movies- Km 31 is a portrait of his own creator letting us know what he had seen before, who he was influenced by and also, what we can expect from him in the near future.

What I see in Km 3 is an interesting new beginning for Mexican horror movies (Spain also had a strong collaboration) and I perceive Castañeda as a young promise for this almost forgotten genre within Mexican film-making. Of course, like some other horror flicks Km 31 has its lows regarding technical aspects, but we ought to side with Castañeda and understand this movie was made with a very low budget and not much previous experience. The thing here is not about being patriotic and forgiving, only because we are supposedly obliged by a moral concern to support any movie made by the new generation of Mexican directors such as Castañeda. There are many other factors at play to consider, like the surprising incorporation of high-end special effects: We have to admit that particular area of production was truly shy in the recent past of many other local Mexican productions and Km 31 is letting us know the doors are open for better stuff and more interesting flicks.

Today Castañeda is not only dealing with simple end-product criticism for his Km 31. He is also dealing with the shadows of some past Mexican horror films, and being a sort of new pioneer for the genre, he unavoidably faces the uncomfortable comparisons with the closet skeletons being pulled out for show. That --of course- is completely unfair.

Everyone has the right express his own saying, but the truth is Castañeda is already hooked up in to another production were he is directing but not doing the screenplay and that may change things around for him. Siding up with this team and perhaps a better budget, he might end up following the same luck as Director Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, Desperado, Once upon a time in Mexico) who started out low but went higher thanks to the people who believed in him. Good luck to them!

Worth seeing

[turbosinaboy · 7/10 · 19 February 2007]

Cons first. Old lady (Luisa Huerta) was not at her best. Iliana Fox could have performed a little bit better. There's a part in the movie when everything could become a little confuse, too much information and so few time to process, this can make the viewer lost a scary moment.

Pros. Good characters, there are not nude scenes, lap/exotic dancers, nor unnecessary characters (common resource in bad Mexican movies - aka 'churros'). Some scary tales are merged into one story giving sense to the plot. Although this cold be annoying for some people we must remember the folk is full of a long list of tales which could have a lot in common. The tale of the green little man from the north may be similar to the tale of the blue little man from the south an so forth.

I suggest you to see this movie and give it your own rating. It is worth seeing, just ask the people (the whole of them) who jump from the seat two or three times in the movie. Bad movies don't make you scream, so give it a chance and discover if this can. So go and see it.

poor imitation

[thisissubtitledmovies · 4/10 · 21 January 2011]

excerpt, full review at my location.

KM31 excited Mexican horror enthusiasts with its release in 2006, following a lengthy baron period. Castaneda's ambitious project looked to combine style with a Mexican folk legend. With the Latino horror crown firmly on del Toro's head, this is the first horror eye-opener to come from Mexico since his chiller Cronos.

KM31 went on to become one of Mexico's biggest box office successes, but it's difficult to understand why. Casteneda has sacrificed good storytelling for poor imitation of an already tired style of filmmaking. This is not a terrible horror film, just a terrible disappointment.

It isn't as bad as some people think!

[caste78 · 8/10 · 25 September 2007]

Having seen some previous Mexican horror films, I have to say that I wasn't at all bored with this movie. I found it a excellent attempt for the horror genre. Really I don't understand why people have cataloged Km 31 as "dissapointment" with 1/10, even Mexican people!. I think that When something is made at home, you'd like to know what would think the people abroad. Don't be too hard with it, did you expect something outstanding?, come on guys!, if you see the genre "terror" in IMDb, most the horror films have no high grades, movies with huge investment, anyway, I think this movie is good, better than I expected and I recommend it.

Thriller chiller

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 8 October 2007]

Now maybe I could've given this movie also a 6/10, but I liked the overall effort of the movie and the actors involved in it. And I also have to admit, that I have a thing for Spanish movies. I have rated them bad before, but if the overall making of the movie and the story is right, I'll give them good ratings.

Without giving away anything, the title stands for something that is very important in the film. I didn't know what it stands for, but even if you do, it doesn't spoil anything as some other movie titles does. And of course this will be very important for our main characters, who will go through/over a lot of obstacles during the movie. Being as this is a horror movie, there will be some scares, but this is not a slasher movie, this is a psychological thriller. I did enjoy it and you might too, if you like those sorts of movies.

Decent but forgettable

[aronharde · 5/10 · 31 December 2023]

In this Mexican horror flick a young woman (Iliana Fox) telepathically feels that something is wrong with her twin sister (also played by Iliana Fox) but what she doesn't know is that she just hit a boy with her car on kilometer 31 and after she got out to see if the boy was alive she also got hit by a car. The young woman somehow find the injured sister on the road and calls paramedics who bring her to the hospital. Shortly after that our protagonist goes back to kilometer 31 together with her boyfriend (Adrià Collado) and her twin sisters friend (Raúl Méndez). Soon they realize that there have been supernatural accidents in the past on this exact kilometer.

The whole story really reminded me of Japanese horror and the whole style with its visuals also was definitely inspired by J-Horror which is not necessarily a bad thing. However where the movie lacks is some pacing issues which really creates some boring scenes and also there are quite a few plot holes which further distract from the story. But the movie can also shine with some nice visuals towards the end and a conclusion that I personally really liked. Overall it's a decent firm but not very memorable. [5,2/10]

Beautifully done but really confusing

[slayrrr666 · 7/10 · 26 April 2008]

"Kilómetro 31" is a rather impressive and fun, yet still slightly flawed ghost film.

**SPOILERS**

After her sister's accident, Catalina, (Iliana Fox) discovers that she was injured at a stretch of the road known to the locals as Kilometer 31. Along with her friend Nuno, (Adria Collado) and her boyfriend Omar, (Raul Mendez) she decides to head out to the area and find out more about the tragic accident. Reaching the town of the accident, they find that the locals are afraid of the stretch of the road due to a series of strange hauntings from a child-like ghost that haunts the area. When they come into contact with Anciana, (Luisa Huertas) an old woman who lives nearby, she tells them that the stories about it being haunted are true, and that the two sisters are more involved with the incidents than they are aware of. Using that to help them, they try to unravel the mystery before more people fall victim to the supernatural occurrences that plague the road.

The Good News: This here wasn't all that bad of a film, and had some good parts going for it. The fact that the film has some really impressive atmosphere and suspense is something to be admired of. The opening in here works mainly because it was so unusual, as the ghostly figure running by in the nearly-invisible rainstorm on a darkened road is one of the single creepiest images ever, and the resulting scares with the car and the crash are just so much better because of it. The middle section, once they're out investigating the incidents feature some good parts, but these can't compare to the film's best part, the last half hour. This here is incredible, and is merely packed with atmosphere and suspense. Dank hospitals, foggy forests and subterranean tunnels, which are delivered with extra atmosphere due to the imminently chilling feature due to the fact that it constantly uses the tactic of having unseen, ghostly voices emanating from deeper within, make this section of the film so enjoyable it nearly wipes away the flaws by itself. It's the film at it's creepiest, and therefore most enjoyable moments. This is helped along by it's really nice pacing, since it gets fairly strong once it gets going and never really stops until the end, making it enjoyable for most of the running time as something's always happening. The last part here that works is the central story. As tired as it is, it serves as an excellent starting point for the action due to it's rather creative twist and clever points. These here are what really help the film along.

The Bad News: This here had a few problems to it that hold it down. The main one here is that the film is just way too clichéd and familiar for it's own good. From the repetitive scares that feature something jumping out of nowhere with a loud musical sting to popping up in the most-expected places, this one here uses a lot of familiar tricks to it's trade. The over-used child figure of recent horror films from around the world is something else from that which holds this down. The fact that there's enough films that use the trick to begin with is something that will hurt some towards it, but by having one that doesn't do anything with it manages to give it a troubling feel. There's nothing new in here that it explores with the really unique story, as it's just so similar to all the other ghost films out there. Even worse, it uses the same tired scares as those other films, since there's a pale white ghost girl with long black hair as the main stalker here. It's all too familiar for its own good. The last flaw here is that the film has something of a confusing plot to it, never really sure where it's going and taking a really twisting view to get there. It starts off nicely with the mystery of the road and the ensuing accidents, but before long it drags away from there and becomes more about their back-story with the road than it is about the ghosts, and it changes around at the wrong time, when it was getting interesting with the other story, and isn't helped along by the meandering subplots about the twin sisters' past and their loves in the present. Those scenes are really long, boring and only serve to lengthen the film out, rather than providing answers from the back-story that's already been figured out. These here are the film's few flaws.

The Final Verdict: Slightly clichéd and just a little flawed, this one here wasn't terrible either with a lot going for it as well, giving this one some merit. Give it a go if in the mood for something really unique and fun, have a strong love for Japanese ghost films or find it interesting, while those tired of such films should heed caution.

Rated R: Violence, Language and children in danger

A Nothing Movie

[Bullets1 · 3/10 · 22 July 2013]

Whenever a horror movie proclaims itself to be based on a true story, alarm bells start ringing. This movie proves to be no exception.

Quick rundown of the plot: a woman gets hit by a truck on KM31, goes in to a coma. Her twin sister (they mention the fact they're identical twin sisters at least once every ten minutes) gets psychic powers from somewhere; a little kid ghost turns up, there's some nonsense in the forest and everyone dies.

It's something like that. The plot is incomprehensible and constantly contradicts itself. Not helping is the fact the main actors Iliana Fox (playing both twins, both of whom appear to be a coma), Adria Collado (who looks like he SHOULD be able to act) and Raul Mendez (who also appears to be in a coma) have trouble expressing to the audience exactly what the f*ck is going on at any stage or, more importantly, why we should care. We are given literally no information on the four characters other than their first names and the fact that they're all dating one another - who is dating whom is an afterthought.

An unnecessarily and unrealistically confrontational cop is thrown in to the mix for no other reason than to try and tidy up the plot, but he fails miserably adding yet another unwanted and contradictory subplot. The whole thing ends up in an unintentionally unresolved mess with the audience at a complete loss as to what we have been watching for the past two hours, or indeed, why.

The MAIN failing in this movie, however, are the ghosts themselves. The audience is given no reason to fear them other than the fact they ARE ghosts. Of the five ghosts that appear in the movie, one is an idiot, two are passive to the point of uselessness and two simply could not be more helpful if they tried. It is a lazy tool of screenwriters to just stick a monster in their movie and expect the audience to be scared of them. There has to be a reason for us to be scared. Patrick Swayze was a ghost in that movie (can't remember it's name) as was Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense. Ghosts aren't necessarily scary - the writer must give us a reason to be scared of them.

There are a few decent shots in this movie which do nothing other than highlight how bad the rest of it is. It's boring, confusing, badly acted and badly directed. The ending is ultimately unsatisfying and the fact that it appears to have spawned a sequel - out in 2014 (maybe) - is beyond baffling. Give this one a miss.