Spanish horror is a booming industry, however only a few films and their director's breakthrough into the mainstream viewership. For others, their films are underseen, only available on genre streaming services for those looking for something new or buried by a Netflix algorithm. Foreign horror is gradually reaching wider audiences, but there is still much that has flown under the radar.
With subjects ranging from Twilight Zone-style plots, robbers versus witches, and the endless pursuit of immortality there is so much to found in Spanish horror films that narrowing it down can be difficult.
32 Malasana Street
Claiming to be loosely based on some events that occurred in a neighborhood in Madrid, 32 Malasana Street is a creepy haunted apartment tale that, while not the most original premise, does have the excellent Javier Botet playing the main entity terrorizing the family. Leaving the quiet country life for a more vibrant life in the city, the Olmeda family move into an apartment with a rotten history that they are unaware of. Once they move in, things ramp up quickly with son Rafi being taken by whatever horror has made the house home.
Struggling to cope with the experiences the family looks to the past of the home to discover what could have happened there to leave such a lingering evil. While a generic story, the characters are well-developed and the scares are well done. The movie also posits the question: Can past traumas create present hauntings?
Errementari
In a similar vein to Pan's Labyrinth, Errementari is a dark fairytale where a little girl ends up in a world amongst demons. Patxi, a man who survived the First Carlist War by making a deal with a demon, now resides in a small village as a blacksmith. The villagers are deathly afraid of him and believe him to be a stealer of children. Young Usue encounters him when she goes looking for her missing doll and accidentally frees a demon that Paxti has imprisoned.
From this point on, Patxi teaches Usue how to torture demons, they must count spilled chickpeas and the sound of gold bells is agony to them. Usue longs for her mother to be released from Hell after committing suicide and looks to make a deal with the devil. Errementari is a beautiful, sad tale about redemption and retribution that begs to be seen.
The Similars
Set in 1968 as a hurricane rages outside, stranded passengers in a bus station find themselves living in a Twilight Zone nightmare. Protagonist Ulises is stuck as his wife gives birth in another city while others mill around getting increasingly frustrated with their situation. As the night goes on snippets of radio broadcasts reveal the storm may be a global event, and it might be covering some other horror descending upon the world. People are changing, and they are all changing to resemble Ulises.
The atmosphere is masterfully crafted, showcasing the mounting delirium of the trapped passengers vividly. The arguing and mounting terror as people begin to have fits, fall unwell, and begin to change are paced fantastically and the reveal of what appears to be happening to the commuters is done in a way that is completely unexpected. It leaves audiences needing the answer to the question "Who is Ulises and why are people changing into him?"
Terrified
Set on a normal-looking street in Buenos Aires, Terrified sees a small community plagued by increasingly violent and, yes, terrifying events. In one home, Clara hears disembodied voices discussing plans for her death, and she and her husband Juan are plagued by loud thumps they believe to be coming from next door. One night Juan awakens to find Clara being slammed against a wall by an invisible force and as he is blamed for her murder, his neighbors also begin to experience things.
One neighbor sees a slender figure standing over him as he sleeps, in another house the corpse of a woman's dead son has returned from the cemetery and paranormal investigators are moving in to find out just what is plaguing this nondescript street. Filled with excellent and frightening sound design and imagery, Terrified drips dread, nails jump scares, and builds fear with every thump and bump.
Witching and Bitching
Spanish comedy-horror Witching and Bitching sees robbers José and Antonio attempting to flee to France after the robbery they are perpetuating at a pawn shop goes awry. Joined by Josés' son Sergio the men hijack a taxi and the driver and passenger become unwilling participants in a getaway. Unfortunately for the men, they end up running foul of a group of cannibalistic witches who are intent on using Sergio for an arcane ritual to resurrect their Goddess and take over the world.
Energetic, juvenile but still hilarious, Witching and Bitching takes a familiar trope of punishing misogynists with the scary supernatural women and injects some freshness into the idea. The movie looks great with excellent, colorful imagery and the coven of witches is excellent and over the top in their roles. The dialogue is a little clunky in places, but there's enough here to elevate the movie above the standard horror-comedy film.