Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi (2013)

n

n
nLas Brujasnde Zugarramurdi (2013)

n

nDirector:nAlex de la Iglesia

n

nCast: HugonSilva, Mario Casas, Carolina Bang, Macarena Gomez, Javier Botet, EnriquenVillen, Santiago Segura, Terele Pavez, Gabriel Angel Delgado, Pepon Nieto

n

nLas Brujas de Zugarramurdi is a film made by Spanishndirector Alex de la Iglesia, a director well known in his country for makingncrazy, kinetic, politically incorrect comedies that feel like a nonstopnrollercoaster ride of madness, but in the best way. If you haven’t had thenpleasure of seeing an Alex de la Iglesia film, I recommend checking out The Daynof the Beast (1995), Perdita Durango (1997) or The Last Circus (2010). As anfilm connoisseur, I regularly enjoy films from all over the world and comediesnfrom Spain always have a special kind of ‘je ne sais quoi’ about them, theynalways make me crack up. I think it’s the way they use the Spanish language,nthe curse words sound funnier somehow, stronger. That’s one thing about Alex denla Iglesia movies; they are the furthest thing from politically correct. Nothingnis sacred in them and profanity is used amply; which is kind of refreshing and onenof the reasons it shocks me all the more. American films concern themselvesnwith being so politically correct all the time that films with intensity filledndialogue like Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi can feel like a bucket of ice thrown downnyour spine, like the first time you saw a Tarantino film and went “goddamn!”nSome jokes will undoubtedly lose their spice in the translation, so be awarenthat if you know Spanish, you will enjoy this film that much more. But fornthose of you who don’t know Spanish, and are still adventurous enough to looknoutside of American cinema, well, you’ll find that Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi isna real treat for both horror and comedy fans.
n
n

n

n
nThe premise is a simple one, four thieves have just robbed a pawn shop and stolen all their gold jewelry.  While on the run from the law, they make anpit stop at the titular town of Zugarramurdi, somewhere in northern Spain. Thentown is sleepy, eerie and mist filled, like something straight out of an H.P.nLovecraft story or a Hammer film. Some of the thieves in the gang are afraid ofnthe town because of its reputation. It is said that this is one of thenbirthplaces of witchcraft, and the thieves are all spooked about having to staynat a hotel in this spooky old town. One thing leads to another and soon theyndiscover that leaving the town of Zugarramurdi isn’t as easy as they thought!nAll the women in the town are witches and tonight, unbeknownst to them is anspecial night for the coven!

n
n

n

nI went into this film expecting an okay film that would makenme laugh, but I left the theater all pumped and happy that I dragged my ass outnto see it, it totally blew me away with how funny, entertaining and fun it was.nLas Brujas de Zugarramurdi is a treat for horror fans because it’s a mash up ofnsome of the best horror films ever made. It’s like The Texas Chainsaw Massacren(1974) because the witch’s that run the local hotel are part of a crazy ass family,ncomplete with weird looking handicapped family members that will freak you thenhell out, all of which show up at this memorable insanity infused dinner  scene. It’s also like Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981), paying its respects to said film by way of a couple of visual homage’snto it, if you’re a horror buff, you’ll know the scenes I’m talking about whennyou see them. And speaking of visual homages, de la Iglesia does one shot for shot homage to The Goonies (1985), any true film connoisseur’s should recognize it. Finally, it’s like The Wicker Man (1973) because it’s all about antown who is in on the whole joke. They know someone is going to get sacrificed,nthey know what’s really going down while the protagonists of the film arencompletely unaware of what is in store for them. It’s also about a crazynreligious cult, and has to do with everything you’d expect from a film aboutnwitches: human sacrifices, a burning hatred for men, rituals and prophecies.
n
n

n

nIn terms of themes, the film is all about men vs. women andnabout how much marriage sucks! In fact, the whole movie revolves around thenimportance of the negative energies held within a bunch of gold wedding ringsnthat these four guys stole! So behind all the craziness and the heists and thencurse words, what we have is a movie that criticizes the institution ofnmarriage. It’s also about men complaining about women and about women whondespise men for all the oppression they’ve gotten throughout the ages. Thenwitches are all extreme feminists! They are all about how God is a woman, andnabout how women want to take revenge upon men, basically intense hatred fornanything with a penis. In contrast to all that, one of the witches falls fornone of the guys, which hints at a love conquers all sort of message squeezed innthere, unfortunately, said love comes from Eva, a witch who is a recollection of that psycho girlfriend all guys havenhad at some point in their lives. The kind that says things like “you prefer tongo out with your friends than to be with me?!” Eva is the psycho girlfriend from hell! Not only is  she a complete psycho; she’snalso a witch with magical seductive powers and she smoking hot as hell! ActressnCarolina Bang, I salute you! You get an award for being one of the hottestnactresses to grace the silver screen this year! And there, I’ve said my sexistncomment of the day, which somehow seems inappropriate in a review about anmostly feminist film. But then again, the feminists are the villains of thenfilm, so maybe the film is depicting extreme feminists as being evil? I’llnleave the interpretations up to you my dear readers; point is, this is one of thosenmovies were both sexes are always bitching and moaning about each other when innthe end, they both need and want each other; at least from a sexualnperspective.
n
n

n

nFinally, I didn’t expect the film to be so epic. The finalnsequence seems to come straight out of your worst cult religion nightmare! TakenSilent Hill (2006), The Wickerman (1973), Children of the Corn (1984) andnespecially Dagon (2001), mash ‘em up and you’ll get an idea of what to expect,nonly funny! This movie also brought to mind Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977)nbecause of the whole witch coven thing, so as you can see, this film is a realnlove letter to horror cinema. The Weinsteins are distributing this one innAmerica under the god awful title Witching and Bitching (2013). Okay, I knownthe word ‘Zugarramurdi’ isn’t exactly well known, but come on, Witching andnBitching? What’s wrong with calling it The Witches of Zugarramurdi? Witchingnand Bitching is the worst sounding English title you could have chosen! Itnmakes the film sound like a low budget, straight to video piece of shit, whennin fact it’s a very well made horror/comedy. Final word on ‘Las Brujas thenZugarramurdi’ is that it’s an entertaining as hell horror film from Alex de lanIglesia. Now I’m a fan of de la Iglesias films (The Day of the Beast is stillnmy favorite) but this one ranks somewhere amongst his best. It’s not a horrornspoof because it doesn’t make fun of the horror genre, actually it reveres itnand has fun with it without forgetting that it’s a horror film. Thankfully, ‘LasnBrujas de Zugarramurdi’ isn’t afraid to sink its metal fangs on your skin tonremind you it isn’t some shitty ass PG-13 ‘horror’ movie! Man, what a relief!

n

nRating: 5 out of 5   
n
n
n

n