disgusting, overrated, pointless

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Spanish action/thriller story about desperate as well as enigmatic people intertwined by destiny are subject to the laws of luck and fate . But destiny is hard to care with the rules changing at any moment . The film contains suspenseful and hair rising images and a sinister, mysterious atmosphere . This mystery movie trips at the first hurdle with a staggeringly banal angle on fate . A weird tale of four people whose lives are mingled and they then discover that luck is something they cannot afford to be without as they gamble with the highest stakes possible in a deadly game from which only one of them will emerge intact , but not that incoherence is the main problem . It deals with four players , each the sole survivor a catastrophe , vie for supremacy in some dangerous deeds . There is Tomas (Leonardo Sbaraglia) , a stealer who survives a plane crash , Sam (Max Von Sidow) , a Holocaust survivor who lives in a casino in the desert ; Federico (Eusebio Poncela) who survived an earthquake and Sara (Monica Lopez) , a policewoman who walked away from a car crash that murdered her family and becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind a clandestine gambling ring where death and luck intermingle . As good fortune , we're asked to believe , not only exist , but can be transferred and robbed through physical contact , even with photographs . In the flick happens rare happenings , such as an insect lands on a treacle-smothered head , a sprint blindfold through the forest knocking themselves and many other things . The picture displays thriller , mystery , suspense , shocks , grisly scenes and intriguing events when a motley group crosses ways until an amazing finale . Intriguing film contains thrills , chills , suspense , twists and turns , and results to be quite entertaining . The atmosphere and perverse intrigue enhance as well as the relationship among protagonist develops . From start to finish the intrigue and suspenseful scenes are continuous till a striking ending . The film plays with various concepts as Russian roulette , hooded faces , blessed survivors , casualty , luck , random and destiny . It has a couple of twists piled on top of one central twist concerning about a startling meeting and a strange quality which bears the misfit group who seems to be a supernatural deed . Attractive set pieces pass the time along with magnificent production design . Screenplay does something strange by the end : it actually removes the stakes of everything that came before with its trio of revelations that at first test and then demolish any credulity the movie had built up by that point . Nice performances from Leonardo Sbaraglia , a young thief and the sole survivor of a horrific plane crash ; Eusebio Poncela , who survived a massive earthquake and discovered he has the power to rob those around him of their good fortune with a touch and Max Von Sidow , a casino owner who is the ultimate survivor after losing everything but his own life in the terrible conflagration that enveloped Europe during the Second World War . Support cast is frankly well such as Paz Gomez , Guillermo Toledo and special mention to Antonuio Dechent . Xavi Gimenez cinematography is excellent creating a frightening and scary atmosphere , he's expert on sombre photography (Fragile , Agora , Red lights , Nameless) . Being filmed on location in Las Cañadas del Teide, La Orotava, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain . The film crew could not get permission for filming from a helicopter in the National Park of "Las Cañadas del Teide", so they used a remote controlled mini-helicopter . Sensitive as well as thrilling musical score by Lucio Godoy (Blackthorn , Fin , All about my mother , Mataharis , Triage) . Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto , 28 Weeks Later) isn't exactly a visionary director like the film bills him as, but he is good at approaching films with style and consistent moods . The director made an editing the film was a big challenge , it was a long, complex process because of the story's complex structure. The film will appeal to suspense buffs , as it gets some decent set pieces , though sometimes chaotic thriller , however , resulting to be a good flick .

After a small break, we are continuing our exploration of Spanish cinema, this time with a thriller that we might label as supernatural, although it seems that it isn't. Is there such a thing as luck, and are some people luckier then others? I think that most of us asked these questions at some point in our lives, but for Intacto the thing is quite clear. There is such a thing called luck and some people are luckier than others, but only because they steal that luck by touching others. A quite interesting concept that led to this movie, and I am sure will lead to its remake sometime in the future. Directed and written by a talented Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and starring Max von Sydow and Mónica López, Intacto questions the basic human beliefs, although this depends on how you perceive the world around you.Tomás is the only survivor of a horrible plane crash, suffering only minor injuries. As it turns out, Tomás isn't just a lucky survivor, he's also a bank robber, wanted for an armed robbery. Before law enforcement got to question him, he is approached by a man claiming to be working for an insurance company. He offers him a way out of his current predicament and into something much larger, a game with huge stakes, explaining that he can actually can control his luck and use it to his benefit. Actually, there is a whole underworld of people who consider themselves lucky and gamble with it. The rewards are enormous, thrills unparalleled and eventually, consequences can be lethal. In this hierarchy, there is a king, and his name is Samuel, an undefeated ruler of luck, reigning for over thirty years. Love, fear, death and gambling, a perfect combination… The movie itself might seem a bit stretched, but this is only because we are used to fast paced thrillers that leave no time for thinking and further pontification of story. Although, I must admit that the story could be a bit more coherent, because it seems that the glue that binds the scenes was relatively scarce… As a final note, my opinion concerning luck and the whole concept of it in this movie: I don't believe that there is such a thing as luck, its all just a statistical coincidence. At this time we must make a distinction between different perspectives, lets say that we take 100.000 people and throw them from a plane without a parachute. Then we take people who survive this and make them run through a minefield. If we don't have a winner at first we repeat the experiment. The guy that survives all this to us as neutral observers is a statistical probability and reality, but from his perspective he is lucky. The thing that instantly classified this movie to fantasy is the fact that you can rob someone of their luck by touching them. But thats just me, feel free to form your own opinion and enjoy…Movie recommendations Rabbit-Reviews.com - Only movies worth watching

tale about luck. prey. survive. a kind of parable and, in same measure, map of a world. page from description of people out of masks. axis - Max Von Sydow as Sam, powerful god of a small hided universe, with ash of Shoah in his soul, cold, profound, enigmatic, master of strange power. so, the movie is more than a fantastic puzzle. it is a way to explore fears and games, escapes and fragile victory, need of answers - Sara -, search of real sense of things - Tomas - hope to control reality - Federico.for each - the same labyrinth. and wings of same darkness. in essence, a lot of questions, beautiful music and dark feeling at end.

An stylish original and intriguing Spanish film that will keep you entertained with your mouth open in a shaped O and your forehead frowned.It is a story of some gifted and sickening lucky people who gamble for luck (not for money) to get even luckier and win a competition to meet and have a duel against the luckiest of them all, the only survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, who owns a casino in a deserted place in the Canaries.Some of the ideas of the film are really original and brilliantly filmed, and that's a lot to say nowadays, when the same stories are repeated to the infinite. The scene of the race in the forest by blindfolded runners is just fantastic, so thrilling, crazy and engaging. However, every single gamble game is original in its conception and filmic realization. The movie has the mood that some experimental Spanish and European movies of the 1970s, but it is, above all, a film noir with an original plot.Leonardo Sbaraglia (as a forced and naive "believer" Tomas), Eusebio Poncela (as the unscrupulous and vengeful Federico), Antonio Dechent (as the playful and down to earth retired bullfighter), and a superb Max Von Sidow as the sad and cold "mother of all lucks" are terrific in their respective and devious roles. However, I found Monica Lopez unconvincing in her role, and this somewhat weighed down the film.Although I liked the very last scene, I thought that it wasn't appropriate, as it was too generic and inconclusive, while, minutes before, the movie had had a clear closure.