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.
Venicephrenia | |
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Spanish | Veneciafrenia |
Directed by | Álex de la Iglesia |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Pablo Rosso |
Edited by | Domingo González |
Music by | Roque Baños |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia |
Release dates |
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Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | Spain |
Languages |
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Box office | €441.000 |
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]
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]
The film made its world premiere at the 54th Sitges Film Festival (FICFC) on 9 October 2021.[3][8] Tentatively slated for a domestic theatrical release on 26 November 2021,[8] the domestic release date was re-scheduled to 22 April 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][10][6]
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.
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Television |
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