(1981)
Dir - Bigas Luna
Overall: MEH
A largely impenetrable, Spanish religious thriller that is set in America with a US cast, Reborn, (Born Again), doubles as the forth feature from filmmaker Bigas Luna. An interesting staring vehicle for Dennis Hopper who plays a sleazy preacher, Larry Cohen's frequent lead Michael Moriarty also carries a significant amount of screen time and is his usual schlubby, mixed-bag-of-emotions-self. Moriarty's unfocused character here has more to do with Luna's strange presentation than the script from Robert Dunn, since the movie never gains its footing during its hundred-plus minute running time. Instead, it plays out in a strange, serious fever state where no one on screen seems to behave in a consistent manner and few moments of humor are thrown in to lighten the mood, save for some "Good for all eternity" televangelist credit card jabs from Hopper. Many things are left aggravatingly dangling from a narrative perspective, such as the true nature of Antonela Murgia's foreign, faith-healing character, how Moriarty of all people became attached to her, what exactly her willing or unwilling participation with Hopper's religious organization is, and the especially confused, "ride off into the sunset" ending.
(1986)
Dir - Sebastián D'Arbó
Overall: MEH
What happens when you make a movie with all pseudoscience gobbledygook and no action? You fall asleep while watching it. Paranormal TV personality-turned filmmaker Sebastián D'Arbó's Beyond Death, (Más allá de la muerte), introduces the proceedings himself in an on screen cameo, treating his own field of study seriously; too seriously in fact as he forgets the entire concept of making something that has any kind of agreeable pacing or macabre set pieces to remember. On paper, a mad scientist/Naziploitation bit of Euro-trash seems like it would offer up some ghastly, low-brow fun, yet "fun" is lacking in the final result. Even with a convoluted plot that involves spies, double identities, raising people from the dead, and two people falling in love because movies, the presentation is a sluggish bore with endless babbling that regurgitates the same type of balderdash that countless other films of its kind have utilized. That said, the grainy, newsreel-styled concentration camp flashbacks are surprisingly convincing and the ending introduces some visually ambitious, 2001: A Space Odyssey stargate sequences when two different characters transcend into the afterlife. Narciso Ibáñez Menta does his best and prolific, lazy-eyed character actor Víctor Israel shows up for seven seconds because of course he does, but otherwise this is passable stuff.
(1989)
Dir - Agustí Villaronga
Overall: GOOD
As his follow-up to the brutally unforgiving In a Glass Cage, filmmaker Agustí Villaronga went a mystical route with Moon Child, (El niño de la luna). Told in part as a coming-of-age fairy tale where a twelve year old boy grows up believing himself to be the Son of the Moon, (a god that was long ago prophesied by an African tribe), it also features a well-staffed, occult scientific community who adopts/kidnaps both children and adults with extrasensory abilities in order to breed their own lunar deity. While the arcane details are never spoon-fed to the audience, they serve more of a metaphorical purpose about destiny and finding one's place in the world than anything else. The performances are strong all around, with young Enrique Saldana, (in his only acting appearance ever), standing toe-to-toe with scream queen veteran Maribel Martín, (in her last acting appearance ever), as his ultimately benevolent pursuer. The music was composed by the Australian duo Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard of whom appears prominently as an impregnated woman on the run with the title character. Perhaps too emotionally driven and low on satisfyingly coherent storytelling for some tastes, it is an evocative work for anyone else who can meet it under its own ethereal terms.
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