Venicephrenia

Venicephrenia (Spanish: Veneciafrenia)[1] is a 2021 Spanish slasher thriller film directed by Álex de la Iglesia. It is the first film belonging to the 'Fear Collection' label created by Sony Pictures International Productions and Pokeepsie Films in association with Amazon Prime Video. It stars Ingrid García Jonsson, Silvia Alonso, Goize Blanco, Nicolás Iloro and Alberto Bang as a group of Spanish friends who travel to Venice as part of a vacation plan, but as soon as they arrive to their destination, they encounter with furious inhabitants who refuse to welcome them, and a deadly killer who hunts each of them down.

Venicephrenia
SpanishVeneciafrenia
Directed byÁlex de la Iglesia
Written by
Produced by
  • Carolina Bang
  • Álex de la Iglesia
  • Ignacio Salazar-Simpson
  • Ricardo Marco Budé
Starring
CinematographyPablo Rosso
Edited byDomingo González
Music byRoque Baños
Production
companies
  • Pokeepsie Films
  • The Fear Collection I AIE
Distributed bySony Pictures Entertainment Iberia
Release dates
  • 9 October 2021 (2021-10-09) (FICFC)
  • 22 April 2022 (2022-04-22) (Spain)
Running time
100 minutes
CountrySpain
Languages
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • English
Box office€441.000

Venicephrenia had its world premiere at Sitges Film Festival on 9 October 2021, with several more festival screenings following until it was released theatrically on Spain on 22 April 2022.

Plot

A group of young Spanish tourists travel to Venice in order to have a good time, even though their inhabitants are not in a welcoming mood for tourists. Once there, they face the prospect of struggling to stay alive.[2][3]

Cast

Production

Veneciafrenia was written by Álex de la Iglesia alongside Jorge Guerricaechevarría.[5] Produced by Pokeepsie Films and The Fear Collection AIE, in association with Sony Pictures International Productions and Prime Video and with the participation from Mogambo Films,[6][5] the film was shot in between Madrid and Venice.[4] Shooting began on 5 October 2020 and lasted for seven weeks.[7][4]

Release

The film made its world premiere at the 54th Sitges Film Festival (FICFC) on October 9, 2021.[3][8] Tentatively slated for a wide theatrical release on November 26, 2021, in Spain,[8] the domestic release date was finally rescheduled to April 22, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][10][6]

Reception

Jesús Palacios of Fotogramas rated the film with 4 out of 5 stars, writing that it presents a "schizophrenic exercise in the love of evil, of villains torn between reason and irrational murderous madness, of scapegoats and moral and social dilemmas", praising its boldness while negatively pointing out at its "rather soft" ending.[11]

Marta Medina of El Confidencial also gave it 4 out of 5 stars, considering that the film brings together almost all the obsessions hallmark to De la Iglesia's films.[12]

Reviewing for Cinemanía, Miguel Ángel Romero gave it 4 out of 5 stars, underscoring Venicephrenia to be a story of "tourism-phobia and murder in a rundown Venice".[13]

Oti Rodríguez Marchante of ABC scored 2 out of 5 stars, assessing that De la Iglesia and Guerricaechevarría managed that their story do not say much, which is what it is all about, and that its characters are tiresome and stupid enough that any violence inflicted on them becomes normal and bearable to the viewer.[14]

Raquel Hernández Luján of HobbyConsolas scored 60 out of 100 points ("acceptable"), deeming the film to be an "imperfect slasher" displaying a message denouncing mass tourism that fails at making viewers empathise with the protagonists.[15] She praised the opening credits and the transgressive elements blended with the carnival's imagery while considering the production issues not solved at the editing stage to be the worst about the film.[15]

It has an 86% approval on Rotten Tomatoes based on 7 reviews.

See also

References
  1. "Just Spainted. Winter/Spring 2022. New Spanish Films" (PDF). ICAA. p. 93. Retrieved 21 April 2022 – via Audiovisual451.
  2. "Así es 'Veneciafrenia', de Alex de la Iglesia". El País. 28 September 2021.
  3. Mayor Ortega, Leonor (9 October 2021). "Álex de la Iglesia: "Durante el rodaje en Venecia le robábamos la iluminación a Tom Cruise"". La Vanguardia.
  4. Ponga, Paula; Pando, Juan (13 January 2021). "'Veneciafrenia': Primeras fotos de lo nuevo de Álex de la Iglesia". Fotogramas.
  5. "Veneciafrenia". Academia de Cine. 22 October 2020.
  6. "'Veneciafrenia' – estreno en cines 22 de abril". Audiovisual451. 18 April 2022.
  7. "Álex de la Iglesia rueda en Venecia un filme de terror, 'Veneciafrenia'". Diario Vasco. 25 October 2020.
  8. Romero, Miguel Ángel (10 October 2021). "[Sitges 2021] 'Veneciafrenia': turismo masivo y sangre a borbotones en lo nuevo de Álex de la Iglesia". Cinemanía (in Spanish). 20minutos.es. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  9. Aller, María (14 November 2021). "Estas son las películas más esperadas que se estrenarán en 2022". Fotogramas.
  10. González, Sergio C. (28 October 2021). "Veneciafrenia, la nueva película de Álex de la Iglesia, revela su fecha de estreno". Meristation. As.
  11. Palacios, Jesús (21 April 2022). "Crítica de 'Veneciafrenia', terror en los canales por Álex de la Iglesia". Fotogramas.
  12. Medina, Marta (22 April 2022). "'Veneciafrenia': Álex de la Iglesia lleva la turismofobia a su extremo más gore". El Confidencial.
  13. Romero, Miguel Ángel (18 April 2022). "Crítica de 'Veneciafrenia'". Cinemanía – via 20minutos.es.
  14. Rodríguez Marchante, Oti (21 April 2022). "Crítica de 'Veneciafrenia': Muertecitos en Venecia". abcplay – via ABC.
  15. Hernández Luján, Raquel (20 April 2022). "Crítica de Veneciafrenia, la película de Álex de la Iglesia que inaugura la antología The Fear Collection". HobbyConsolas.
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