Limbo (2014) Reviews

• Really mixed bag -- horror fans only

  Pufferfyshe2015-10-23

  This one averages out as pretty mediocre, which is to say that it has really good points, really bad points, and some meh. Probably the only way to review it fairly is to break down three categories: the idea, the technical aspects, and the acting. IDEA. I thought this aspect was pretty good, even very good. On top of the 'kiddie vampires' premise, the movie deals with hemophilia (in women), paedophilia of different kinds -- and not how you always expect -- and domestic violence, in ways that seemed to me to be nuanced and interesting. Vampires are a common vehicle for portraying sexuality, and the sexuality of children is fraught. The relationships were also quirky, in the beginning. Things went south a bit when a subplot involving Bram Stoker and Dracula came in -- yeah, yeah, big surprise there -- but still the ideas overall were good. PRODUCTION / TECHNICAL. Mixed but OK, given the very low budget. They made an effort. The setting in the country, the beautiful big house, provincial locations all were good. Camera work was decent, as were most of the fight scenes and gore effects. Cheaper digital cam gives a flat, too-sharp image sometimes and this was an issue for me, especially in the opening. Some of the shot compositions were really nice: I liked when the children were floating messages folded as little paper boats down the stream. ACTING. Ya know, we really don't have to put up with school-play-bad child acting. I can name a number of smaller movies -- From Time to Time (dir. Julian Fellowes), Comédie de l'innocence (dir. Raoul Ruiz), Barbe bleue (dir. Catherine Breillat) , Ricky (dir. François Ozon) -- that have super child performances. This one was painfully variable and talent did not correspond to screen time. I know it's not nice to say this, but it's also not nice to have to sit through a film where one of the main characters is outperformed by his cat. Sabrina Ramos, who plays the reporter, is good; Ana María Giunta is OK. The rest of the adults are amateur-to-OK. Overall, 4/10. Potentially interesting if you like the genre but not up to mass market.

• Interesting ideas ...

  parry_na2016-05-02

  'Limbo' is a Spanish film renamed 'Children of the Night' for its American release. Alicia (Sabrina Ramos) is a journalist who is requested by Erda (Ana Maria Giunta), to travel to the Argentinian orphanage called Limbo (where she is Matron), where a large group of children with a rare disease are housed. As Alicia becomes acquainted with the youngsters, some who seem strangely older than their years, we learn she is a haemophiliac, and that is a possible reason why she was rejected by her mother when she was a child herself. This gives her an immediate kinship with the plight of the young folk, which becomes a curiosity: she is sure she has seen many of them before. Considering she was investigating the local disappearance of juveniles as part of her job, it's surprising it takes her so long to realise these are the missing children. 'Limbo' is a home for vampires, who still look the same age they were when they were bitten, some many years ago. 'Why are there so many children?' Asks Alicia. 'Because', the subtitles tell me, 'the young looks and tastes more nicer'. Erda weeps for the children because they suffer so much, comparing their affliction to a drug addiction. Amusement is had when Alicia compliments the youngsters in a maternal way, and is responded to as would an adult who is being flirted with. In another scene, tiny children pass round and subsequently critique a bottle of blood as would seasoned wine tasting professionals. Alicia's boyfriend, who makes the mistake of visiting (only to leave shortly after), is strung up by his hands, and a tap fitted to his stomach, so the children can cipher off his blood. Dark humour indeed. Young Seigfreid (Toto Muñoz) was Alicia's childhood sweetheart, but at 33, still looks like a twelve year-old, (shades of 'Let the Right One In'). His relationship with her is sweet and tragic and more than a little creepy. The 'men in black', ostensibly the 'good guys', (interestingly, the blood-suckers are dressed all in white) who pursue and destroy the children, are definitely the villains here, in their manner and in their deeds. No Van Helsings these. Apart from the revulsion of them attacking (what appear to be) children, we have grown to know these young vampires and when their revenge comes, it is a deliberately orchestrated joyful – and very satisfying - finale. Innards are pulled out and used as skipping ropes, and it is clear whose side Alicia (and the audience) is on. The ending would seem to indicate that Alicia elects to stay in 'Limbo', and uses a web-cam recording of her being bitten as a way of blaming and framing the men in black, by having the images feature on the news, and indicating the men in black were responsible, and therefore should be hunted down. Some of the playing from the juveniles is, as one might expect, a little awkward, but the scenes of them attacking as a group sustains the dangerous quality they nevertheless possess. A strange and enjoyable film.

• Question your definition of evil

  p.newhouse@talk21.com2016-05-02

  This is a rather tense, thought-provoking drama or thriller, rather than a horror-chiller. It is certainly a new take on vampires, as well as on the missing child genre. It is well-acted, as well as well written and directed, but you expect that of Ivan Noel. As with his earlier work, Brecha (Gap), Noel treats the subject matter-of-factly, and paces the story out, which leaches out the emotion and leaves you with an almost analytical commentary on the characters, and on society. In so doing, Noel forces us to question our own definitions of evil. I can't help thinking that this film is a metaphor for the way in which society treats its most vulnerable, and then deals with their reactions.

• Flawed but a beautiful idea that may deserve a 'remake' by Del Toro or J.A. Bayona

  sanjidparvez2017-10-10

  This low-budget horror film from Argentina got a beautiful heart & quite an interesting idea at the core of it which was, in my opinion, so promising that it even could be a decent follow up for the modern classic Let the Right One In (2008)! But unfortunately it suffers for its inconsistent pacing, tone and amateurish production values. It lacks on cinematic approach, at times even felt like a weekly TV movie. Though personally I'm very much fond of low budget miracles but sadly to say this is one of those cases where I think the story really could have been benefited from a better budget, director and a cleverly written tighter script. I'm not saying that it deserves a big budget American or European remake but its conceptual intention to breaking down the conventional vampire mythology & does something else as well as at the same time dealing with so many great ideas like what it means to be young forever, child abuse, coming of age issues (and of course the overall set up) were intriguing enough to made me think that how much awesome it would be if the whole thing or at least the concept was to get treated by Guillermo Del Toro (The Devil's Backbone) or J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage). Despite its negative aspects I still loved it & like to recommend it here. It's a flawed but beautiful film.

• Not for the faint-hearted or squeamish.

  Pairic2018-05-12

  Children Of The Night: An Argentinian Vampire film. A journalist who is researching a story about missing children is lured to a sanatorium in a remote area. There she finds a refuge for Vampire children, one of twelve in Argentina alone. These children were turned by Vampires and then left to fend for themselves This is very much an adult Horror film. The children can levitate and swoop down on victims, tending to hunt in packs. When faced with Vampire hunters no mercy is shown by either side Stakes driven into the fledglings who retaliate by playing ball with the heads of slain hunters and skipping with their entrails. On the lighter side there is a cat who turns into a bat and one of the children sleep levitates. Not for the faint-hearted or squeamish. 7/10