Review of Nameless, The

Introduction

You may remember director Jaume Balagueró from 2002`s `Darkness`, a Spanish-set horror dud starring X-Gal Anna Paquin and the lovely Lena Olin. Weaker than a maiden`s dishwater, it was eventually pulled off the shelf by Miramax`s genre division Dimension several years after aquiring the rights, and released here in spring last year.

Or you may not. Remember him that is.

If you don`t, then it may mean nothing to you that what we have here is Senior Balagueró`s first attempt at a full-length feature, `Los Sin Nombre`, or `The Nameless`.

Five years after the grizzly discovery of her horribly mutilated daughter - far beyond normal means of identification - mother Claudia is contacted by a mysterious young girl claiming to be her deceased child. Held against her will, she needs he mother`s help to escape her captors. Unsure of what to do, of the veracity of the claims, and not to mention the sheer mind-melt of it all, Claudia turns to the lead cop on the original missing person`s case, a washed up ex-detective.

Piecing together clues as best they can, things take a turn for the ever more sinister when a videotape shows up in the hands of a journalist, with Claudia`s phone number written on it...

Based on a novel from Brit author Ramsey Campbell, The Nameless cleaned up at many of the small European festivals in 2000, despite keeping it`s head firmly below the parapet.

Video

Looking good.

1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, with a crisp, clean transfer to disc. Lots of hues, particularly blue, to emphasise the warmth, or rather lack of, in a particular scene.

Audio

The native language track is presented as 5.1 Dobly Digital Spanish. Should you choose to forgo it, you can run with the English 5.1 DD which is also on the disc.

The Spanish 5.1 is great track. Dialogue is clear throught the centre, and it`s a loud, booming assualt when it needs to be. It might be cliché, but there`s nothing like screetching audio flying across the rears to unnerve the viewer - certainly used to good effect here.

English subtitles are a clean and easy read - and optional

Features

Making Of - very standard 20 minute feature.

Trailer

Music Video - The track used to close the film is presented here in promo form, performed with gusto by a pasty-faced, gothed up Enya-type.

Conclusion

With The Nameless, Balagueró climbs aboard the chiller-go-round, and all but namechecks the genre`s finest. Although content to primarily riff away in tone and mood on David Fincher`s `Se7en` and later George Sluizer`s `The Vanishing`, there are nods to `The Silence of The Lambs`, `Rosemary`s Baby`, `Don`t Look Now` and even Clive Barker`s gore-tastic `Hellraiser`. If you`ve seen it, you`ll recognise the nod.

Attempting to pull a horror gem out of the hat, sadly The Nameless loses it`s bearings around way half way through and relies heavily on end-of-third-act-exposition, an info dump that isn`t particularly generous considering all the questions, threads and the vivid and brutal imagery clues it teases us with during the first two acts - a B-plot involving Claudia`s stalker-ish ex never materialises to anything substantial, and several religious and mythological avenues are peered down, but never truly ventured.

Where The Nameless does excel is in building suspense, but like waiting to watch a volcano to erupt and in the end getting nothing more than a mountain fart and a puff of smoke; you can`t help but think, "so that`s it, eh?". You can forgive small skips in the beat of the narrative, and some of the poor logic displayed by both the script and the character`s actions. However, the abundance of frittered away tension unjustly drags the film and it`s inevitable conclusion down; opting for a different ending in tone and event to the novel, The Nameless chooses slapdash shock value as opposed to threading together some of the more convoluted story strands introduced throughout.

You can`t knock the thorough performances, though. The cast handle their roles with a quiet verve. The director`s casts his loving eye over the proceedings with some great, atmospheric visuals, and the music is suitably creepy and mildly uplifting when the situation calls for it. It`s pretty gruesome in places, with a few explicit scenes of depravity, but nothing particularly stomach-churning.

For all its flaws, it`s gripping to the final reel despite the midway wobble, and is best hailed as a darned fine attempt - proving to be stirring in most of the right places, but lacking the necessary oomph to make it stellar. It`s hard not to recommend it on it`s strengths - as a piece of filmmaking, it`s too admirable to slink slowly into the night with ne`er a word of virtue.

Balagueró does display here he`s a man with the chops to helm a truly grand horror film.

He`s just yet to make it.