THE UNBURIED (2020) Reviews of Spanish horror

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The Unburied is a 2020 Spanish horror film about a psychiatrist who returns to his childhood village and discovers a dark family secret. Also known as The Unburied Corpse

Written and directed by Alejandro Cohen Arazi making his film debut (he previously directed a documentary, Cáncer de máquina).

The movie stars Demián Salomón, Héctor Alba, Mirta Busnelli, Juan Pablo Cestaro.

Plot:
When the patriarch of an all-male orphanage – and slaughterhouse – suddenly dies, cash-strapped psychiatrist Doctor Maximiliano Espósito (Demián Salomón) is drawn back from Buenos Aires to the rural home where he was unhappily raised, all on the promise of a much-needed inheritance.

Yet this legacy will turn out to be not merely economic, but a meaty mix of nature and nurture. The conflicted, urbanised ‘Maxi’ finds himself competing with his ‘brothers’ in a bizarre boys’ game – involving their adoptive father’s unburied corpse – that will determine who becomes the new head of the house and pillar of the community…

Reviews:
The Unburied shows a lot of promise for a new director. Arazi tackles some intriguing concepts here, and his feature contains some generally unnerving moments, especially the ones that rely less on shock value. While the film is a bit uneven, it does signal that Arazi is a director to watch.” 6/10, Horror Buzz

“Arazi cleverly pulls the wool over the audience’s eyes, as we’re led into a sense of false security of ‘everybody is strange in this little town, nobody is to be trusted and we don’t like your sort around here’, vibes […] The Unburied is an unassuming gem, that’ll will haunt you from start to finish as the story unravels the terror of ego, family customs and the downright weird.” 4 out of 5, Horror DNA

The Unburied Corpse is an ambitious debut from an incredibly ambitious director who isn’t afraid to look at the dark aspect of humanity and the many callous acts that humans commit. It’s a film about family while also being a film about self-reflection and how we become who we are via our upbringings. This will be a film that divides audiences,” Horror Obsessive

“The evocation of a small town dominated by a brutal business (it’s all about the slaughter) and a cabal of mostly weak-willed beta guys unsuited for their jobs – the soccer team always loses and the priest has an empty church – is actually more powerful and interesting than the fairly standard drawn-into-a-cult plotting.” The Kim Newman Web Site

The Unburied is well produced and looks great but unfortunately it also lack bite. Saddled with a cast full of unlikeable characters, it’s also hard to engage with the film fully and ultimately becomes pointless. This is a shame as the core story showed promise, it’s the delivery that weakens it, rendering it both staid and static, regardless of how good the performances and imagery are.” 4/10, My Bloody Reviews

The Unburied is an unnerving, paranoid study of legacy’s nature and nurture – and if these boys have turned out to be as appetitive and abusive as their father, then they, no less than he, are products of an environment which they can never truly escape or repress. Meanwhile, this family’s strange ways serve to parody the broader workings of a society ruled by labour, the media, the law, religion – and the father. ” Projected Figures

” …a rather fascinating piece of folk horror, one that’s heavy on atmosphere, which goes hand in hand with never giving away more than absolutely necessary on a narrative level, augmenting the feeling of unease, both for the protagonist and the audience.” Search My Trash

“Traditions can be a good thing, but we often see how damaging they can be, and the family rites that Maxi must face are the most destructive of all. Despite looking fantastic and well played, it’s difficult to like The Unburied as there are no real characters that we want to root for.” 2 out of 5, Starburst

“Cinematographically, The Unburied Corpse is very successful and transmits a certain unease to the viewer, but it opens many fronts that would need a prequel set in that same place years before; Perhaps with those explanations we will cement these swerves of the script that blur a story with great interest.” Terror Weekend

Release:
October 4, 2022.

Original title:
El cadáver insepulto

Trailer:

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