This past weekend we here at Film Combat Syndicate had the privilege of viewing several films that participated in the virtual film festival called Nightstream. The line-up was almost overwhelming; it was so hard to choose what I wanted to watch, but a handful of films made it to the top of my list. 32 MALASAÑA STREET, directed by Alberto Pintó was one of them.
Set in 1976 the film follows a family that has been forced to leave the village and move to Madrid. They do not have a lot of money, so of course they don’t bother doing any research when they find an apartment with a low mortgage. What could go wrong?
Mucho. That’s Spanish for a lot. Did I mention this movie is in Spanish? Don’t worry, though, while I loved practicing my listening, there are English subtitles.
So what happens in the home? Something angry is lurking in the home which the family at first does not realize until their youngest son goes missing. What follows is your usual haunted house film: strange noises, seeing things, but the tension that the family feels, and the fear are so intense, so I did not mind seeing the usual haunting tricks or the jump scares.
The family’s history is vague, but explained throughout the film and the backstory of the spirit in the home is original enough that while it may follow the usual formula, this is not just another haunted home horror film.
It is important, though, to remember the time period that the film is set in. You cannot watch this film in the lens of today. Described as “Stylish and intense, Albert Pinto’s haunted house exercise plays like Spain’s answer to James Wan’s THE CONJURING films,” you will definitely want to give this Shudder original film a try. Just don’t overfill your bowl of popcorn so you won’t spill too much of it while watching.
32 Malasaña Street comes to Shudder beginning October 22!
