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| Images courtesy of MVD Visual |
Argentinian action-oriented horror with a penchant for
explicit transgressive violence and gore thanks to such recent sucker punchers
as Terrified, Monos and most recently When Evil Lurks. The most explosive form of new extreme horror
since the emergence of South Korean and then Taiwanese horror, the Argentinian film
scene is proving to be fertile ground for a new kind of shock thriller. Enter action-comedy writer-director Nic
Loreti best known for fighter crime comedy Diablo and his meta
reinterpretation of Justice League with Kryptonite whose 2021
film Punto Rojo (not to be confused with the Netflix drama of the same
name) is making its disc debut thanks to MVD Entertainment Group. Somewhere between the hyperviolent comedy
antics of his previous films and a plot twisting neo-noir with some startling
developments ahead, Punto Rojo proves to be an edgy, at times absurdly
over the top action thriller with more than a little nihilistic regard for the
scenario in general.
Told in a Tarantino-esque structure of jumping from present
to past and so forth, we meet brutal hooligan Diego (Demian Salomon the hero of
When Evil Lurks) who bets on a racing club for Argentina’s greatest
soccer teams. Sitting in his car whiling
away the time phoning in on the quiz show, a man in military uniform falls from
the sky unto his windshield Collateral style followed by the arrival of a
mysterious, tough and chiseled female secret agent named Paula (Mariana
Anghileri from On the Third Day).
After confronting and handcuffing Diego while asking about a ruthless
con man named Edgardo (Edgardo Castro) housing a secret that could change the
whole of the American political landscape who just so happens to be bound and
gagged in the trunk of Diego’s car, the battle is on between to the death
between this unlikely trio.
A taut little nihilistic thriller boiled down essentially to
three characters that more than serves up the hard near-unwatchable extreme
violence fans of Argentinian horror are pining for, Punto Rojo is a
rough and ragged ride that, again, feels a bit like an Argentinian Reservoir
Dogs or Go with a fraction of both film’s budgets put together. Largely a one-man show with writer-director-producer-editor
doing most of the heavy lifting while Pablo Sala’s Junkie XL inspired score is
suitably abrasive against the rugged yet picturesque widescreen digital
cinematography by When Evil Lurks cameraman Mariano Suarez, the film looks
and sounds appropriately gritty. While
ostensibly boiled down to only three main characters in the open desert with
vast implications beyond the confines of the film, all three actors give strong
performances with Demian Salomon as a stock-trade crook who gradually has to
put up with prosthetic makeup effects and Mariana Anghileri channeling Jenette
Goldstein in her tough female assassin.
A slick, bumpy and bloody ride that sneaks up on you with
its brutal surprises and ornate camerawork, Punto Rojo continues in the
direction set forth by When Evil Lurks in terms of pushing violence and
gore in a standard genre thriller harder and farther than anyone previously
thought possible. While a neo-noir, the
level of gruesomeness in this thing is such that it takes on the patina of a
rough road movie ala Wild at Heart or more recently U-Turn. Not everyone will take to its level of stark
brutality or its plentiful nihilism, but fans of this burgeoning new world
cinema movement will find more than enough fresh meat to sink their salivating
fangs into. The MVD release also
includes an early short film from the director entitled Pinball which for
some forecasts the thick, ropey streams of chum being thrown at the camera.
--Andrew Kotwicki
