an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The first must-see film of the year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

After watching "The Real Friend", I may never view Leatherface quite the same. "The Real Friend" is one of those kinds of tales where the power of the imagination can be fostered, nourished, and given life through the desolation and loneliness of a little girl creating friends who are very real to her, mostly grotesque characters familiar to us through horror films(The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nosferatu) or classic novels(..Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde). Since this film is part of the Spanish television's "6 Films to Keep You Awake", the violence is at a tolerable level for a broader viewing public although the thematic material is quite adult. A bright, but rather lonely young girl, whose father isn't present in her life, spends time alone, as her mother works as a nurse for long hours. She watches horror films and certain characters are alive to her, such as Leatherface who even sits in classrooms with her. We follow a strange man searching for a psychotic killer who had escaped from a third-world prison in some poor village, and both find themselves in the city where the mother and daughter live. As these characters converge, we learn a startling truth and a young girl will need her friends' aid.The little girl is Estrella(Nerea Inchausti), and her mother is Angela(Goya Toledo). Estrella meets a bald biker who she thinks is Nosferatu. This man may not be who Estrella believes and he very well could harbor a secret that involves Angela. The fourth character, a bible-toting, always-praying detective, obsessively on the pursuit of an escaped killer, seems to be after the biker, eventually warning Angela of "his return" and that she could be in danger. The finale has the many imaginary characters Estrella has developed perhaps coming to her and Angela's rescue. The twist regarding what we have been watching all the time is a doozy. Seeing Leatherface turn up, with his chainsaw and tie, is simply bizarre, especially when he cuddles with a rather solemn Estrella. How the filmmakers were able to pull this off without infringing some copyright sure as heck surprised me. Director Enrique Urbizu carefully avoids grisly violence, using blood as a device to explain the fates of some at the hands of a killer. Eduardo Farelo is quite effective as a possible threat to our mother and daughter, and is especially memorable during an intense dinner scene where the horror of what he might say to Estrella is etched on Angela's face(Toledo is quite impressive here, showing a mother attempting to disguise fear and holding on by a slender thread as he shows signs of spilling the beans). Ambitious little film, with a lot to say about the influences of television/pop culture and the disappointments of reality when compared to fantasy.

Estrella (Nerea Inchausti) is a good student, but she is a loner. She reads horror novels, and watches horror movies, like the Spanish version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and keeps a statue of Nosferatu in her room. The chainsaw killer is a friend that only she can see, unlike her "vampire" friend that can walk around in the daylight.Her mother, Angela (Goya Toledo), is a nurse, which leaves the child alone much of the time while she works on rotating shifts. She also engages in kinky sex at the hospital and in the apartment garage. Her daughter catches her and is very upset. She brings the "vampire" home and mom has to face some hard realities.There is no real horror in the film. What we see is surreal - a figment of the girl's imagination. This is made clear in the final scene, and I am not sure what the whole point of the movie was. Unsupervised children may be reading and watching inappropriate material, but a parent has to work, so what are you to do? If that was the point, then it was lost on me.I certainly won't be staying awake because of this film. It was hard enough to stay awake through it.

Películas Para no Dormir: Adivina Quién Soy is set in Spain where a nurse named Angela (Goya Toledo) lives in an apartment with her young daughter Estrella (Nerea Inchausti). Together they manage but Estrella sometimes gets lonely & has no friends, except for the imaginary friends from all the horror films she watches including the chainsaw wielding Leatherface & a Vampire (Eduardo Farelo). However it seems that her new Vampire friend may not be as imaginary after all...Known to English speaking audiences as A Real Friend this was one of the six Spanish made-for-telly Films to Keep You Awake & so far out of the four I have seen I have only liked one, as far as Películas Para no Dormir: Adivina Quién Soy goes I thought it was simply terrible in every regard. The script by Jorge Arenillas & director Enrique Urbizu is a total mess from start to finish & feels like a cheap unimaginative Pan's Labyrinth (2006) rip-off. It's almost impossible to convey just how much I disliked Películas Para no Dormir: Adivina Quién Soy without giving away the so clichéd it's untrue twist ending which is one of those horrible 'get out of jail' type endings for filmmakers so every stupid, nonsense & downright tedious thing that comes before it is left pointless & irrelevant. I was going into this comment about to list all the plot holes, contradiction's, aspects that don't work & general sloppiness but that awful, awful twist ending really does render the whole film pointless & in a frustrating beyond conventional criticism sort of way. At only just over seventy minutes Películas Para no Dormir: Adivina Quién Soy is as boring as hell, there's so many scenes of people watching other people or acting suspiciously to raise the mystery & intrigue levels but when the ending is such a cop out as it is what's the point? There isn't one, that's what.Director Urbizu turns in a decent looking flick, there's not really much else to say about it. Like most of the other Films to Keep You Awake Películas Para no Dormir: Adivina Quielíen Soy isn't scary in the slightest, it doesn't even try to be really & the horror element is more of an afterthought. Any resemblance Películas Para no Dormir: Adivina Quién Soy has to an actual horror film is purely coincidental. If there's anyone out there who dislikes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) remake check out the few scenes in this which are supposed to be from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) & realise just how bad it could have been! There are also some bizarre images which I imagine were meant to be subliminal, from a single large '!' on a huge bus shelter poster to a weird balloon carrying guy who turns up on a couple of occasions I really have no idea what the intention of the filmmakers was.Filmed in Barcelone in Spain the production values are reasonable if unspectacular. There are no special effects to speak of & a very limited cast. The acting seems alright, shot in Spanish the subtitles are clear enough but that guy at the end speaks quite fast so the subtitles disappear very quickly & you will have to be quick to read them. Personally I am not a fan of subtitled films simply because they are a huge distraction.Películas Para no Dormir: Adivina Quién Soy is another useless Film to Keep You Awake that as far as I am concerned is more likely to send you to sleep. The twist ending is just awful & really does render the rest of the film utterly pointless & redundant.

The lonely Estrella (Nerea Inchausti) is an intelligent teenager and good student but is outcast in school. She spends most of her time alone in school or at home, reading horror books or watching horror movies, while her widow mother Angela (Goya Toledo) works as a nurse in a hospital. Her favorite author is Stephen King and her only friends are Leatherface and Vampire (Eduardo Farelo). Angela has an unresolved trauma and has kink sex with strangers in the hospital or with the gatekeeper of her building. When a detective meets Angela and tells her that a man that raped her had not died as she thought, the frightening Angela gets Estrella at the bus stop and once at home she prepares a pizza for them. However, Estrella invites her friend Vampire to join them, and when Angela sees her daughter's friend, she feels scary, haunted by her past."Películas Para No Dormir: Adivina Quién Soy" is a surreal, intriguing and original horror movie. The story of a smart teenager that is alone most of the time and has a fertile imagination uses drama, thriller and horror, and only unravels the mystery in the very last scene. The idea of inviting a serial-killer to come home was magnificently explored in "Satan's Little Helper", but the plots of these films are totally different. The surprising and ambiguous conclusion with a medium-class family watching television discloses the reality of each character. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Amigo Imaginário" ("Imaginary Friend")