Themes: Serial Killers, Mad Scientists, Mothers and Sons
Main Cast: Zelda Rubinstein, Michael Lerner, Talia Paul, Angel Jové, Clara Pastor
Release Year: 1988
Country: ES
Run Time: 85 minutes
Plot
Poltergeist-purger Zelda Rubinstein toplines this interesting, twisty psycho-thriller from Spain, which makes clever (though repetitive) use of its movie-within-a-movie premise. As the star of the horror film "The Mommy," Rubinstein plays a mother who hypnotizes her son (Michael Lerner) into seeking more victims to supply her growing collection of human eyeballs. "The Mommy" seems also to exert a weird hypnotic effect on the audience watching it, particularly one impressionable fellow who mirrors Lerner's actions by stalking fellow movie patrons... just as the onscreen murderer is entering a movie theater to do the same thing. If this sounds confusing, that's probably because it is. The interesting premise wears thin about halfway through, with the relentless attempts at viewer disorientation becoming more tiresome than frightening. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Review
Anguish is the kind of film that manages to be exciting and frustrating all at once: exciting because it is packed to the brim with style and interesting ideas but frustrating because it never takes these elements far enough. The script's film-within-a-film conceit is an intriguing one but it takes too long for the plot within the theater to get going once this framing device is revealed and its elements are too hastily-drawn to be truly effective (no explanation is ever given for the origin or motivations of the copycat psycho in the theater). Quality of the characterizations varies wildly: the main characters in the theater's film are much more colorful and interesting than either of the teenage heroines or the copycat killer in the "real" story: Michael Lerner and Zelda Rubinstein both make larger-than-life impressions as the wild son-mother murderous duo but the other characters blend into the background. As a result, the second half of the film is much less interesting than the first half. Director Bigas Luna keeps the film's events rolling at a steady pace and shows great visual flair throughout (especially in the clever finale, where the events in the theater mimic those on the movie screen) but no amount of style or wit can make up for the story's inability to emotionally involve the viewer - which is the key to creating a truly scary horror film. Because of this, Anguish comes off as a little more than a visually ambitious slasher movie. The end result is clever and stylish enough to amuse veteran horror buffs but is likely to leave casual viewers cold. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
Isabel Lorca - Caroline; Rick Azulay - Police Captain; Nat Baker - Teaching Doctor; Jose M. Chucarro - Boyfriend; John A. Garcia - Policeman; Merche Gascon - Nurse At Clinic; Vince Gil - Taxi Driver; Craig Hill - Doctor At Hospital; Edward Ledden - Doctor; Patricia Manget - Nurse At clinic; Antonella Murgia - Ticket Girl; Janet Porter - Laboratory Nurse; Marc Auba - Jack; Joy Blackburn - Concession Girl; Josephine Borchaca - Concession Girl; Elisa Crehvet - Ann; Javier Ducan - Moe, Cast of New Movie; Mario Fernandez - Black Boy; Gustavo Guarino - Hysterical Husband; Victor Guillen - Sleepy; Eva Heald - Granny; Michael Heat - Inspector; Kit Kincannon - Salesman; Marc Maloney - Elderly Man; Maribel Martinez - Hysterical Woman; Fabia Matas - Swat Team; Emi Matias - Hairy Woman; Fiacre O'Rafferty - Projectionist; Jasmine Parker - Elderly Woman; Mark Parker - Swat Team; Diane Pinkley - Popcorn Woman; Georgie Pinkley - Laura; Benito Pocino - Popcorn Husband; Francesco Rabella - Don; Mingo Rafols - Chicano; Maria Ricard - Patty's Mother; Evelyn Rosenka - Bathroom Woman; John Shelly - Patty's Father; Anita Shemanski - Nurse at Hospital; Rose Sherpac - Granny's Friend; Jean Paul Soto - Manny; Randall Stewart - First Murder; Tatiana Thaliven - Ticket Girl; May Vives - Blonde Girl; Joe Wolberg - Swat Commander; Pedro Vidal; Steven Brown - Swat Team; Robert Long; Michael Chandler - Projectionist; Frank Craven - Sleepy
Credit
Consol Tura - Casting, Consol Tura - Costume Designer, J.J. Bigas Luna - Director, Tom Sabin - Editor, Pepón Coromina - Executive Producer, Andres Coromina - Executive Producer, George Ayoub - Executive Producer, Jose Manuel Pagan - Composer (Music Score), Matilde Fabregat - Makeup, Andreu Coromina - Production Designer, Agfa-Gevaert Color - Cinematographer, Jose Maria Civit - Cinematographer, Pepón Coromina - Producer, Felipe de Paco - Set Designer, Paco Teres - Special Effects, Michael Berlin - Dialogue Writer, J.J. Bigas Luna - Screenwriter
In Anguish's complex and intertwined plot, viewers watch an audience watching a movie nested inside Anguish called "The Mommy," in which much of the story takes place in yet another theater auditorium, where that audience watches yet another movie (the silent classic, The Lost World).
Anguish's main story concerns Alice Pressman (Zelda Rubinstein), a grasping, overprotective and psychotic woman, and her crazed son, Michael (Michael Lerner) who Alice controls through hypnosis and some never quite explicated paranormal domination. Her son is extremely myopic and progressing toward blindness. Alice believes that collecting eyes will mend her son's vision, and believes her own fantasy that he is a well respected ophthalmologist (he is actually an orderly employed at an ophthalmologist's office). She sends him to collect eyes from living victims, which he does at a local theater showing The Lost World.
When the camera pulls back, a second story is revealed. Alice and Michael are the stars of The Mommy being watched by two teenage girls in a movie theater. In that theater, there is a man watching The Mommy with crazed intent.
Although the main focus of Anguish is the story of The Mommy, all the stories eventually intersect to gruesome effect.
On videos of the film, there appeared a warning that watching it could be hypnotic, or cause headaches.
.jpg)
