La pasajera

Needless to say that I hadn't heard about the 2021 Spanish horror movie "La Pasajera" (aka "The Passenger") prior to sitting down here in 2022 to watch it. But being a lifelong horror fan, of course I had to watch the movie, regardless of having heard about it or not.

Writers Luis Sánchez-Polack, Asier Guerricaechebarría, Javier Echániz and Raúl Cerezo managed to put together a fair enough script and storyline here, though I have to say that as the movie came to an end I was left with a feeling of 'was that really it?'. So yeah, while the movie is watchable, you're not in for anything outstanding here. It is a pretty generic horror movie actually.

The acting performances in "La Pasajera" were good. I wasn't familiar with the actors or actresses here, but then again I am not overly familiar with Spanish cinema. But I will say that the cast did put on fair enough performances throughout the course of the movie.

Visually then "La Pasajera" was good. But it was a shame that they didn't go for adding more special effects into the storyline. You have to sit through about more than half of the movie before things start to escalate and happen. And by then, I think a handful or two in the audience might have gotten up and left their seats. The special effects were actually quite good for a movie such as this.

And while I did manage to sit through the entire movie, then I was only mildly entertained. It was an okay enough foray into the horror genre, although a somewhat generic one. I will not, however, return to watch "La Pasajera" a second time, simply because there wasn't enough entertainment to support a second viewing here.

My rating of "La Pasajera" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

The Passenger came as a rather pleasant surprise.

This little Spanish horror comedy makes a lot with very little.

The story is predictable but it works primarily because of the great chemistry between the two lead actors. The proxy, father daughter relationship works well in the context of an end of the world style apocalypse. Both characters spark off one another in a positive, hopeful way, as this comedic horror romp, plays out.

In summary, the Passenger just goes to show that a decent story and quality acting, more than make up for a big bucks production. Well worth a look.

This movie was a bit of a breath of fresh air. It was different and quirky and possess a nice light hearted air to it.

Aesthetically this movie was a real pleasure. It looked amazing and it it was chock-full of interesting and dynamic shots that I really appreciated. While the quality of the picture was lovely, unfortunately the special effects didn't quite compete. What little CGI there was looked silly and the prosthetics didn't really read super well for me either. The acting seemed great as well coming from an English speaker, I quite enjoyed the main guy.

As far as the story went I felt like it was just barely enough, if not maybe not quite there. The pacing was a little bit slow which didn't help it out all too much. It just didn't really feel like there was much of a point or purpose behind the story other than just being a vehicle for a creature feature.

That being said this really was a pleasurable experience that felt fresh and unique. 6.5 rounding down to a 6, would recommend.

I truly think Mr. Blas's talents were wasted on this movie. I have seen a few of his other films and this was the first horror I have seen him in. I was not sure if the monsters were aliens, zombies, or body snatchers. This was the cheesiest of horror films that I have seen yet. The thing that killed this movie were the monsters and the two adult women. This movie might have been enjoyable with just the girl and Blas. They could both act but their talents in this movie did not shine bright enough to make you like it. I did want to see what happened in the end so at least half (5) ok, then I added a star because I like Blas. Any higher and I would be lying. I would not recommend, even if you are a Blas fan. I myself will not be watching it again either. But as always be your own judge.

Didn't really love this one. Probably my fault as I was expecting a full horror film and didn't know it is a comedy-horror, a subgenre that I usually need to be prepared in advance for it.

Probably because of the previously mentioned, the comedy bits mostly didn't work for me. Neither the scary parts. I liked however all the technical elements, including the great practical effects (fantastic creature design), the cinematography and the use of sound, integrating so well elements of the local culture. The story is very simple, even if the build-up is a bit too long, but I liked the final act.