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Director:
Jonathan Jakubowicz
Cast:
Mia Maestro, Ruben Blades, Carlos Julio Molina, George Madera,
Pedro Perez |
MPAA Rating:
R for strong violence, drug use, sexuality and language. |
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Review:
 Secuestro
is Spanish for kidnapping. This is about the second biggest sport
in Caracas, Venusuela. Thugs kidnap middleclass and rich people
and demand relatively small ransoms, thereby getting the thing
finished within hours.
Carla (Mia Maestro) and Martin (Jean Paul Leroux), are a couple of
coked-up yuppies on a night out, when the evil gang of the moment
grabs them and puts them through a relentless night in hell.
Trece (Carlos Molina), Budu (Pedro Perez) and Niga (Carlos Madera)
are the lead bad guys. They are lewd, crude and have no redeeming
qualities whatsoever, even though auteur Jakubowicz tries on
occasion to make it seem otherwise. It's a job, Venezuela's a
sucky country, the rich have too much and the poor not enough.
Yadda, yadda yadda. Still, there is no excuse, and this is a
horror flick. The monsters are still the monsters, and while Ruben
Blades (who plays Carla's dad) tries to come up with the money,
we're treated to attempted murder, homosexual rape, bribery,
humiliation and betrayal.
Just what we want to see in a horror film.
As was said before, this film is relentless, from the moment the
opening credits begin to roll, we're treated to one violent
episode after the other, one humiliation after the other, and
since the victims aren't too likeable to begin with, it's just
like seeing a car wreck. You can't take your eyes off of it. This
is an alien world we're being taken to. Yeah, it's a city, but it
would be on the dark side of the Moon. This isn't the Latin
America we generally hear about. It's the ugly Latin America the
far left likes to blame Us evil
Gringos for.
The acting is, in a word, terrific. The bad guys are some of the
most evil characters I've seen outside of a Nazi uniform and they
all have a great time doing it. There's a particularly shocking
scene with a gay drug dealer. Totally brilliant.
It'll open your eyes to a new and different experience, a kind
you'll never want to see anywhere else.
Eric Lurio
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