Cult Film ARREBATO Finally To Be Released in USA with New 4K Restoration

Every few years a friend either asks me about, or I introduce a friend to, the strangeness and quiet insanity that is Arrebato [Rapture]. A masterpiece by poster designer Iván Zulueta, a cult film that is a mind-altering combination of horror, social realism, surrealism, thriller, erotica, and all-around weirdness, it remains both an underground oddity. (The first time I watched it was without subtitles, when my knowledge of Spanish was scant, and the constant whispered dialogue made me feel like I was on drugs). I've watched it enough times now with subtitles to finally know and yet have no idea what's happening; and yet everytime it draws me into its understated nightmare.


And now, we can all give thanks to Altered Innocence, who will present the film in a new 4K restoration, and give it its first theatrical release in the USA. As the press release states, this film is "a dimension-shattering blend of heroin, sex, and Super-8 is the final word on cinemania." Pedro Almodóvar calls it “An absolute modern classic” and TimeOut praises as “deeply eccentric, brooding and mysterious” and “a hallucinatory, claustrophobic examination of the secret potency of film itself”.

Starring Eusebio Poncela (Law of Desire), Cecila Roth (All About My Mother), and Will More (The Hit), Arrebato tells the story of horror movie director José , who is adrift in a sea of doubt and drugs. As his belated second feature nears completion, his reclusive bubble is popped by two events: a sudden reappearance from an ex-girlfriend and a package from past acquaintance Pedro: a reel of Super-8 film, an audiotape, and a door key. From there, the boundaries of time, space, and sexuality are erased as José is once more sucked into Pedro’s vampiric orbit. Together, they attempt the ultimate hallucinogenic catharsis through a moebius strip of filming and being filmed.

The film will screen in New York at the Anthology Film Archives, October 1st - 7th, and in Los Angeles at Nuart, October 8th - 14th, with hopefully more dates to come. Check out some images from the restoration below.