"The pups were out in force this year, sprawling on cafe terraces or getting their poop scooped by conscientious owners, but all of them (happily) were less threatening than the killer mutts on screen at the 58th edition of the International Fantastic film festival of Catalonia, just 25 miles down the coast from Barcelona. Canine carnage provides the shocking climax to The Virgin of the Quarry Lake, a slow-burn Carrie-esque coming-of-age yarn set amid the economic turmoil of 2001 Argentina."
"In Shelby Oaks, a woman investigating the disappearance of her sister makes the rookie error of exploring an abandoned prison at night, and finds vicious dogs! And in the most obviously metaphorical of all, Ion De Sosa's beguilingly Bunuelian fable Balearic, working-class teenagers are trapped in a swimming pool by a trio of malevolent Belgian malinois dogs while, further up the hill, champagne-swigging poshos fail to notice a forest fire creeping ever nearer."
Sitges showcased numerous films that used dogs as central horror elements, ranging from literal killer mutts to metaphorical threats. The Virgin of the Quarry Lake culminates in canine carnage amid 2001 Argentina's economic turmoil. Todos los Males and Shelby Oaks feature flesh-ripping hounds and prison-set attacks, respectively. Balearic traps working-class teenagers by malevolent Belgian malinois while privileged onlookers ignore a spreading forest fire. Good Boy offers a sympathetic perspective through a retriever sensing supernatural danger. L'Homme Qui Retrecit substitutes a menacing tuxedo cat for canine horror, with practical effects favored over CGI and modern gross-out cliches such as on-screen vomiting.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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