The Spanish Cinema has transpired a great place in world cinema. Especially, in horror. The out of box ideas and detailed execution has gained great attention. Within the last few years, with the emergence of OTT platforms, the world audience has been able to witness this cinema.
Below are some of the most thrilling Spanish films to watch.
1. The Invisible Guest (2016)
Director- Oriol Paulo
Adrián Doria, a young, self-assured worldwide entrepreneur, appears to have it all. From fortune, celebrity, and, most importantly, a wonderful family and a caring wife. Doria’s idyllic existence, however, will come crashing down around him when he finds himself locked up in a hotel room next to a dead body, accused of first-degree murder. In those dire circumstances, Adrián enlists the services of Virginia Goodman, a renowned witness-preparation expert, as a last-minute eyewitness threatens to turn the case around, and with less than three hours to come up with an impregnable defense. Now that time is running out, several interpretations of the same incident emerge as the night progresses. However, even though there are multiple sides to a tale, only one can be true.
2. The Skin I Live In
Director- Pedro Almodovar
Dr. Robert Ledgard is working to create the perfect skin that can endure burns, wounds, and other types of damage in memory of his late wife, who perished in a fiery vehicle accident. As he gets closer to completing this skin on his faultless patient, the scientific community begins to doubt him, and his background is uncovered, revealing how his patient is tied to sad events he wishes to forget.
3. The Secret In Their Eyes
Director- Juan Jose Campanella
Benjamin Espósito, a veteran Buenos Aires criminal investigator, has been haunted by the horrifying unsolved rape and murder case of the young Liliana Coloto for nearly twenty-five years. Benjamin sets out to create a book with the help of a former colleague, the gorgeous prosecutor. The secret object of his passion, Irene Menéndez Hastings, in the hopes of piecing together the puzzle. As the crew swings back and forth between 1970s Argentina and now, a frantic search for the truth will eventually unravel a nightmare that spans more than two decades of secrets.
4. Thesis (1996)
Director- Alejandro Amenabar
Angela, a young graduate student in communication sciences who is both fascinated and repulsed by violence. She is working on her thesis on a contentious topic: the exploitation of cruelty in visual media. Soon after, Angela unearths a dust-covered videotape of what appears to be the epitome of a repulsive underground film genre: an appallingly genuine snuff film. Meanwhile, she begins her research project in the university’s audiovisual archives, searching for hideous images or videos depicting human suffering. Now, as blood smears the faculty, only Angela’s reluctant friend—the gore-obsessed horror aficionado, Chema, can help her shed light on the terrible death of the film’s protagonist. On the other hand, she grows increasingly afraid of becoming the next victim.
5. The Night Of The Sunflowers
Director- Jorge Sanchez- Cabezudo
The horrific news will soon spread like wildfire as the body of a sexually raped young woman lies hidden in a sunflower field outside the small village of Cerrado in northern Spain. This has been a tranquil and serene place up until now. Nevertheless, the unexpected discovery of an entrance to an unknown cave. It attracts the attention of a small group of geologists keen to examine the uncharted subterranean system. It is against the backdrop of a community-wide act of violence. Because both stories are closely interwoven with the lives of people beyond suspicion, this intolerable circumstance will invariably signal the start of a violent cycle of violence, dishonesty, and greed.
6. The Bar
Director- Alex de la Iglesia
On an ordinary day in crowded downtown Madrid, life goes on as normal, with a motley array of common urbanites passing time indolently inside a shabby and noisy central bar, until a loud gunshot sends chills down the spine. Suddenly, a man lies dead in a pool of blood in front of the pub, and then, shockingly, another death occurs in broad daylight. What was the source of that enigmatic deadly bullet? Is this a terrorist attack, or is just a lone sniper perched on a rooftop? The bewildered and horrified bar’s regulars are going to turn on each other, anxious and wary of the prospective assassin who might be hiding within the place, as pandemonium reigns and the dead suddenly vanish into thin air.
