6 Films to Keep You Awake DVD review Pt 2.

In part two of the three part review series (sounds prestigious doesn't it) for 6 Films To Keep You Awake horror series I will be talking about Narciso Ibáñez Serrador´s "La Culpa" (The Guilt) and Mateo Gil's "Regreso a Moira" (Return to Moira).
Narciso Ibáñez is a name some of you fans of more obscure latin horror, having written and directed Who Can Kill a Child? and The House That Screamed. He was also part of the TV series "Historias para no dormir" (Stories to Keep You Awake) that this new series is a continuation of. So he´s the oldest cat of the bunch.
Mateo Gil is an accomplished writer in his home country and has written a good chunk of the better known genre productions from there. He has written almost all of Alejandro Amenábar´s films, Tesis, Abre los ojos, The Sea Inside and his latest Agora and he's been trying his hands at directing since the last decade, but mostly shorts.
The two films I will be writing about are very different in both story, setting and quality so read on.

La Culpa (The Guilt)
Gloria is a single mother of one in financial troubles. She gets invited by her friend and co-worker Ana to live with her at Ana's gynaecologist clinic/home. At first things seem to go well, Gloria works for Ana during the day, when she's not at her regular job at the hospital and her daughter seems to be doing well in her new environment. But soon Ana lets her on a little secret regarding her operation. You see Ana moonlights as an abortionist at night but keeps it on the down low because of nosey over zealous neighbours and that abortion is still a big taboo in their community. Gloria doesn't like it but goes along with it cause she needs the money. We also see that Ana has feelings for Gloria, feelings that Gloria can't give back to her. This puts a damper on their relationship and the plot thickens when Gloria finds herself pregnant after some unknown lover.
Even though money is tight and all things points towards a massive layoff session at the hospital Gloria still wants to keep the baby but when the mysterious father to be hightails it she begrudgingly decides to have an abortion. The operation is a success but when Ana is finishing up she notices that the fetus is missing and then strange things start happening. Gloria's little girl is starting to behave strangely, always carrying around an old tin box which she hides when somebody is around her. Strange noises are heard in the attic and when one of Ana's clients turns up dead on her operation table they start thinking about getting the hell out of Dodge. What are they dealing with? A neighbour that doesn't agree with Ana's point of view? A killer fetus? Gloria's little girl? Dah dah daaaaaah!
Now Narciso Ibáñez is an old pro, old being the operative word here. This means that he is obviously hasn't gotten with the times when horror evolved around him. Now if the film had actually been any good then that wouldn't be a problem but this thing just drags on and on, throwing in a few semi tense moments here and there but mostly focusing on Gloria and Ana's relationship. The worst offender is however the ending. Maybe this "twist" was all the rage in the 70's when Narciso was doing his thing but not only is it stale as my grandma's underpants but it's taken care of in such a rushed manner that you are left wondering: "Is that it? Did they really use this idea?".
The actors do their thing pretty well, nothing spectacular because they aren't given the material do do anything spectacular. This was very light on the bloodletting compared to "To Let" and basically used old school methods to conjure up scares, too bad they fell flat because I'm all about old school horror like The Changeling, which shows almost nothing and uses atmosphere and tension to it's fullest. A shame really. Fortunately the next story was better.

Regreso a Moira (Return to Moira)
Tomas returns to Spain after his wife's death, having left when he was a young man. His return was also prompted by a single tarot card that was sent to him but the only person who could have known about it has been dead for 40 years. Tomas returns to his home town, a small village that he grew up in and ultimately left because of an incident that has haunted him ever since. When Tomas was 16 a beautiful woman called Moira moved to his village, much to the dismay of other women in town who promptly started spreading rumors about her being a witch and that she seduces men and sells their souls to the devil. Not one to buy in to such nonsense Tomas goes to take a look at this fabled woman and finds out that she is far from being a witch, even though she has a cat. Tomas is so smitten by her beauty and her free spirit that they end up as secret lovers.
Back in present times Tomas is haunted by a horrible visions, shrouded figures pop up here and there and Moira's house still stands on the same spot after all those years, even though new housing is being built all around it. Apparently people say it's haunted and nobody wants to buy it. Damn those pesky ghosts, always bringing down property value.
Back in the past stories about how Moira is a prostitute who allows anybody to have a ride are getting to Tomas, alienating his friends and making his over protective religious mother very pissed off. This is starting to affect Moira's and Tomas' relationship and one night Tomas can't stands it no more and during the night he sees something through her window that makes him make a decision that he will regret for the rest of his life.
This episode, while not very scary has some great visuals, both beautiful and haunting. The story moves effortlessly between the past and the present and Gil writes believable characters and handles the period parts very well. Tomas´paranoia is the source of the horror in the story, imagining all sorts of vile things that his lover might be doing and that the towns people are out to get her. The acting is very good all around and even though Tomas sometimes behaves like a complete dick we still root for him because of the people around him who are poisoned by superstition and old world views.
All in all a pretty good episode.