AFTERSHOCK

2012 / Director. Nicolás López.

AFTERSHOCK was inspired by the 2010 Chilean earthquake and much of the film was shot amongst the ruins of the actual event. Eli Roth and Co. have taken the tragedy and made a horror film out of it. I'm not too sure how I feel about them turning heartbreak into entertainment and I did feel slightly uneasy watching it... however I did my best to detach myself from the facts and tried to watch it objectively. It's an interesting concept. A group of friends travelling through South America are inside a popular nightclub when the quake hits. People are crushed and limbs are severed and when panic breaks out the surviving friends frantically look for a way out. On the streets they are faced with the pandemonium, which follows the quake as well as a series of aftershocks. Its a curious film and had the filmmakers stuck to their original intention of letting the natural aftermath of an earthquake tell the horror they would have had something special... but instead they've played up the horror-conventions with gratuitous violence and a stupid subplot of prisoners escaping from a local jail and terrorizing the streets. It becomes absurd and the realism gives way to a gore-laden genre piece reminiscent of Final Destination. Having said that I was not anticipating much from AFTERSHOCK and I always give Eli Roth credit for doing what he wants without having his hands tied (if only all filmmakers had such liberty) and he has tried to offer us something different here... the use of location is good and it's shot nicely. I also have to give them kudos for not taking the shaky-cam, lost-footage angle. This is a nice attempt, could have been great but just misses the mark. 

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