Mystery , terror , intrigue about a teen with a serious physical reaction to sunlight and seeking clues about strange killings . Spanish horror film full of thrills , suspense , chills and eerie twists and turns . A young high-school student called Santi (Valverde) has a disease which makes him sensitive to the light , he suffers from a photosensitivity disease , running through the city as the dawn chases him . He is forced by his health to move with his single mother (Mar Sodupe) to a shadowy , isolated village in the mountains of Spain . As Santi moves to a far-off village lost in the mountains with his mother where the inhabitants begin to reveal themselves as strangely xenophobic . Then Santi befriends a beautiful young student called Angela (a gorgeous newcomer Blanca Suarez) , though he also makes enemies . But horrible , violent deeds begin to occur . There then appears a killer committing a criminal spree , as the murderer is hunting them all down . When , the lonely adolescent becomes first a pariah at school and then strongly suspected by the police (Roberto Enriquez) of hideous murders . A series of odd events will shock the place and he will become the main suspect .The only way to prove his innocence will be disclosing the terrible secret the wood hides .
This exciting , bizarre film contains tension , thriller drama , mystery , plot twists and shocks , including decent scares with tense terror sequences especially in its final part , in a creepy denouement . ¨Eskalofrio¨ or ¨Shiver¨ suffers from some sputtering about a quarter of the way in , the sputtering came from a complete change in story direction, away from the spectacular beginning and toward a much simpler story line , one which suffers from a severe lack of ingenuity . Interesting screenplay by Hernán Migoya and the same director revolving the mental disintegration of an adolescent and the various amazing surprises he finds . The motion picture is pretty well , although sometimes slow moving and packs turns ; however is entertaining for continuous suspense and unsettling atmosphere . The picture is thrilling and some moment brilliant, and the players are quite reliable . Ghastly movie builds taut by showing virtually well staged killings , evocative settings , appropriate soundtrack and adequate cinematography . Few disagree that the film is professionally mounted, the performances solid, and that it respectfully carries on the tradition of Spanish "horror" films like The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth and The Orphanage , borrowing—in fact—teenage actor Junio Valverde from Backbone, Labyrinth's Oscar-winning set designer Pilar Revuelta, and The Orphanage's composer Fernando Velázquez to firm up its genre pedigree . Colorful cinematography by Josep M. Civit showing splendidly mountains , woods and villages from Picos De Europa , Ponga, Asturias , Elizonda , Erratzux, Navarra, Spain . Josep M Civit is one of the best Spanish cameramen as he has demonstrated in "The Hidden Face" , ¨Shiver¨, ¨Warriors¨ , ¨The Absent" , ¨Asphalt¨ , ¨Anguish¨ and many others . Exciting as well as frightening musical score by Fernando Velazquez who has composed for successful terror films as ¨The orphanage¨ , ¨For the God of others¨ , ¨Devil¨ , ¨Julia's eyes¨ and ¨Mama¨ .
This motion picture displaying genuine chills , suspense, mystery and dark atmosphere and a twisted finale , being skillfully proceeded by Isidro Ortiz and turned out to one of the most unusual Spanish thrilling movies of the 2.000s and certainly one of the most unsettling . Ortiz is a good director and writer, known for Fausto 5.0 (2001) , Jugar a Matar (2003) , Somne (2005) , Asesino de Parking (2006) and especially this Eskalofrío (2008) , his most successful film . Shiver or Eskalofrio premiered in the Panorama section of 2008 year's Berlinale to tepid critical response.
