Casa de sudor y lágrimas

From the opening moments of House of Sweat and Tears, as the camera focuses in on a religious cult leader known simply as "She", you know there's not going to be a lot of light or moments of happiness in a tale (based on a supposed true story) that is about as dour as they come.

Certainly not a horror film that was made to be consumed with jump scares or frights in mind, Spanish director Sonia Escolano's tale is one more concerned with exploring the horrors of religious brain washing and the power charismatic leaders can have over their followers, as we are placed in a nameless country with an unnamed cult as their faith is tested by a new addition to the group that confronts their previous learnings.

Everything in Escolano's film takes its time, it's a slow burn experience with a scattering of in your face violence that will shock and unease in equal measure and credit to the up and coming filmmaker for establishing a mood and atmosphere that many such similar films fail to establish.

This slow burn goes hand in hand with a mysterious bunch of main characters, a collection of lost souls, some of whom share an unshakable devotion to their leader, while others share a more questioning faith that is being tested by She's seemingly more outlandish requests and behaviors that in turn drives a wedge in the group.

It's a solid component of Tears, with mystery seeping out of the pours of most scenes but it also helps contribute to the fact that Tears is a rather cold and sometimes lifeless affair, emotions being kept under wraps by the very style and conception that it aims for.

At just over 90 minutes in length, Escolano's film does feel long and with not one main character to truly latch onto emotionally it can feel like a draining exercise at times, that also feels dark and gloomy throughout thanks to Pepe de la Rosa's dingy cinematography and Carlos Ruiz and Javier Angel Morillo's simplistic yet glum score.

These elements are at times perfectly suited to the tale that Tears tells but as a cinematic experience it also holds back Escolano's occasionally captivating tale back and one can't help but feel this mostly unpolished affair could've done with some more cinematic flair and invention, especially when the entirety of the film takes place almost solely in a dim compound of lifeless origins.

Final Say -

Asking some interesting questions about blind faith and religious brainwashing, House of Sweat and Tears is a solid attempt by Escolano at creating a moody and realistic horror, let down by some lifeless production designs and a lack character development.

2 ½ cut feet out of 5

Living with her commune members, a young woman who is continually plagued by strange and disturbing dreams about a prophetic visitor that disrupts the community finds those dreams coming true and tries to prevent the other cult-members from devolving into madness.

This was a fine if somewhat problematic effort. Most of the enjoyable aspects here is the film's approach to the day-to-day lives of the members involved with the cult. Their traditions and general way of life, living in a seemingly underground bunker with elaborate Gothic-lined candles, dressed all in white and featuring plenty of overt religious iconography from the idea of the one figure controlling them in a position of power and influence all gives off a rather intriguing affair. Even the idea of wearing expressionless masks and being driven around in marked cars when leaving the compound offer up that kind of interesting dynamic with the cult and its regulations. Alongside the nice gore shots included here for the few kills, there's not much else for this one as it does have a few major problems. The biggest issue with the film is the fact that it's just deathly dull and boring. It's nearly impossible to care at all about the exploits of the cult and its members when it's so dragged out and completely unwilling to go for any kind of faster pacing to simply speed this along further, resulting in over-long sequences that are so bland and uninteresting that the film feels far longer than it's already rather long running time. Seeing how long it takes to get through their routines, traditions and preparations doesn't really offer up much of anything interesting, and by doing this ends up pushing the horror out of this one to the point that the fact it's about a cult is really the only piece of genre involvement throughout here. The film never maintains even the slightest hint of genre hallmarks due to this and is really weak as a whole in the first place by going for the religious banter as much as it does without actually showcasing any purpose or point instead, which really manages to undermine this one and holds it back the most.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity and a clothed sex scene.

Positives: Great direction. Great acting. Great writing. Great cinematography. Negatives: A little boring at times. A little too long. In the middles: Very quiet film. Not horror in the sense that you may think. The ending feels a little like it just kind of happens. Would I recommend? Yes. It is very interesting and compitently made. Great job. 8/10