Aftershock – Film Review
Director: Nicolàs Lòpez
Starring: Eli Roth, Andrea Osvàrt, Nicolàs Martinez and Ariel Levy
Release Date: Out Now
Why is it that, in the famous mirror sketch from Duck Soup, we see two identical Groucho Marx’s, in the middle of the night, and it is regarded as comedy? And why is it that, in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, we see two identical twin girls in the middle of the day and it is one of the most haunting moments in film history? Supplementary shots of massacre aside, so much of this is down to A) tone and B) expectation. If we know we’re supposed to be laughing at someone being hit with a frying pan, the cranial damage of the victim never enters our minds, because we’ve already seen that person fall down a flight of stairs and come out of it relatively unharmed. That’s just the comedy genre. Aftershock, however, messes about with these rules in order to really take you out of your comfort zone.
In a key moment of Aftershock, Gringo, played by Eli Roth, is trapped under a piece of rubble when he is approached by a gang of criminals. They question him as to the whereabouts of his friends and, when he refuses to answer, a comically overweight bandit walks about and plonks his fat rump on the rubble, causing Gringo to scream in agony. This moment encapsulates the tone that Aftershock is going for, a delicate balancing act between horror and comedy designed to make you feel uncomfortable. Let’s face it, Shaun of the Dead, as excellent as it is, is a comedy with zombies. Similarly, a horror film with jokes in it doesn’t really make it a horror-comedy.
Aftershock sets itself up with a Hangover-esque tone and story, only to pull the rug out from under you, leading you into a disturbing place where you have to constantly question whether or not you should be laughing at what you’re watching. The plot begins safely enough, with the focus on three men on holiday in Chile, enjoying nightclubs and taking in the sights. While the cataclysmic events to come are hinted at with the odd jibe of black humour, it has a tone not unlike a Judd Apatow production.
In fact, these moments are what really help the film function as, unlike the flat cardboard cutout characters seen in most horrors, the unusually well-written banter between these characters makes them irrepressibly likable, in an odious sort of way. There is also a cameo from a rising star at this point, whose limited fame among older generations is acknowledged and utilized with stellar hilarity. When the guys team up with a group of three girls, among them the quintessential Final Girl in every possible respect, things eventually begin to take a turn for the worse.
What follows is an amalgamation of several forms of disaster. Earthquakes, violent rapings, tsunami’s, and escaped convicts are all part of the parcel as the group encounters one gory event after another. There is a momentary dip in quality at the point when the Horror rears it’s ugly head, where the film is in danger of devolving into mediocre disaster movie territory, but this lasts for all of a minute. It’s all down to pacing, and Aftershock shows great self-control as it slowly shows it’s true colours. Gore is comical at first, very similar to Shaun of the Dead in terms of how characters deal with it, but soon becomes very, very real and graphic, more so than most standard horror films.
While characters like Gringo and Pollo (Martinez) remain comical figures, tossing out the odd quip in an attempt to lighten the mood (though less and less as the plot progresses) their human sides are eventually fully exposed, forcing audiences to reassess them as fictional characters within genre. It is only very late in the film, or possibly even long after, that we are reminded that the Chilean earthquake actually occurred, and so this is loosely based on true events. When someone who has been making penis jokes for the first half hour is forced to kill, and visibly shows the traumatic effects this has on him, are we supposed to be shocked or confused, or both?
It isn’t completely devoid of problems however, as this is clearly a budgeted feature. CGI effects, though very few, do not particularly impress. Also, while there is a solid final act in terms of pure horror, with a genuinely unsettling moment in a dark tunnel, the film tends to end a little too rapidly. This is a rare film that would actually benefit from a longer running time, in order to give more distance between the jaunty opening and the horrific ending. But on that note, the film achieves its genre-warping goal with perfection in its closing scene. Without spoiling anything, it is deliberately set up as predictable in order for the comics-at-heart to root for such a finale, but is ambiguous when you consider that this is loosely based on a true story and so grisly beyond imagination…
Who is to say that the concept behind Mrs. Doubtfire isn’t terrifying in theory?
How is The Shining not, for the most part, a heartwarming family drama?
Aftershock asks these questions by seamlessly, and I mean seamlessly, blending two distinct genres in such a way that forces us to question how we define what is funny, when is it OK to laugh, and just how demented we all really are. It would be easy to dismiss this as a schlocky horror comedy, but it is smarter than that. A glorious experiment in genre manipulation.
Score: 4/5
Written by Stephen Hill
