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KM31



cast :

Iliana Fox, Adrià Collado, Raúl Méndez and Carlos Aragon

crew :

Directed by: Rigoberto Castañeda
Written by: Rigoberto Castañeda
Produced by: Julio Fernández, Fernando Rozvar and Bill Rozvar
DOP: Alejandro Martínez
Editor: Alberto del Toro
Music Score by: Carlos Cases

release date :

2006

'KM 31's' popularity in its native Mexico (it is one of the most seen movies in Mexican screen history) seems based upon the assumption that the story is 'based upon real events'. Whoever would believe such a claim, by the time the film has ended, is not really an interesting question. Presumably, the marketing team must have been keen to recreate the 'Blair Witch Project' (1999) phenomenon amongst its demographic and judging by the film’s success in Mexico - it worked.


Every country has a version of 'KM 31's' initial plot starter: a person is driving late at night only for them to see a ghostly vision in the road that leads them to have an accident of some kind. Furthermore, the urban legend of picking up a hitchhiker and having them turn out to be a ghostly apparition is used in the film too. The film wastes no time at all in plunging the audience into a cinematic world that traverses life and death. The opening sequence is a moody, spooky affair that is greatly helped by Carlos Cases' fantastic musical score. Agata (Iliana Fox) is driving on a remote mountain road one dark night when she runs over a child who darts out unexpectedly in front of her car. Aghast at what has taken place, she immediately investigates, calls the police, and is hit by an on-coming truck. At the moment of impact, Agata's twin sister Catalina (Iliana Fox) experiences a psychic tear in their emotional connection and seems instantly aware of her sister’s plight. At the hospital, Agata is left in a coma due to the accident. Catalina herself becomes the focus of the haunting leading to her and two friends, Nuno (Adrià Collado) and Omar (Raúl Méndez) to investigate the strange goings-on at the mountain road thus leading themselves into the ghostly mystery of 'KM 31'.


Mexican cinema over the past ten years has experienced a revival of sorts. Directors such as Alfonso Cuarón, Carlos Reygadas, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Gulliermo del Toro are all international directors of some renown. Indeed, del Toro is a director of fantastical movies that skirt the horror genre - his two movies 'The Devil's Backbone' (2001) and to a lesser extent 'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006) certainly informs 'KM 31's' aesthetical approach. 'KM 31' mixes Latin American and more directly, Catholic visions of redemption torment and other metaphysical elements with a narrative seemingly plundered from Hideo Nakata's 'Ring' series. The initial set-up is pure urban legend. However, the back-story of 'KM 31' attempts at its own contextual mythology. The back-story, also the mystery of the entire movie seemingly fits in with the history of Spanish conquistadors and their exploitation of the land. It also seems to echo sentiment and plot points from the Greek tragedy Medea - the vengeful queen who killed the offspring she bore to Jason after he spurned her love.


Although hardly an original 'stab' at a horror film - what appeals about 'KM 31' is the attempt at localising the ghost story - and perhaps even attempting a movie that could provide its own series - although, as most horror fans know, sequels offer mostly diminishing returns. The supernatural sub-genre of horror offers the audience a metaphysical exploration that is heavily steeped in religious faith, and outside of what is known in our collective reality. The idea of ghosts appeals because as humans the overwhelming evidence that we are finite beings is often hard to comprehend. When we die, where do we go? What happens? It is really the end? Ghost stories and inexplicable events often confound our sense of reality and cinema is a creative tool that expresses this very well. The idea of diurnal spaces operating across, within or close to one another is the basis for the supernatural sub-genre. In 'KM 31', a mixture of past events, history and tragedy replays over a modern environment that lures unwilling victims into its nightmare world.


Agata’s role in the drama turns out to be less significant as imagined when a police detective reveals to Omar that Agata’s accident was, indeed, no accident and she is one of many to have succumbed to the ghost’s deadly tricks. As people, we often feel that we are in control of our lives yet unseen forces collude to shatter this illusion. This frightening loss of control and the questioning of reality is what propels the horror genre in general. The idea of avenging spirits is nothing new to cinema. 'KM 31' does correspond quite heavily to Japanese horror movies such as 'The Grudge' (2003) and 'Ring' (1998) - two phenomenally successful films, and both movies spawned sequels not only in their original Japanese incarnations but as Hollywood vehicles too.


As previously mentioned, 'KM 31' was a massive success in Mexico. Yet like Hollywood’s Asian horror film re-imaginings - movies such as 'The Eye' (2002), 'Dark Water' (2002) and 'Pulse' (2001), 'KM 31' is just as blatantly derivative. However, to call 'KM 31' un-original is missing the point somewhat, as most horror movies are ground in cultural tales and legends that inform one another. Originality is perhaps not the driving force but interpretation. And there is the adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - something genre cinema does in spades. Like 'Ring' and 'The Grudge', 'KM 31’s' central conceit is that past deeds echo into the present and that some sort of sacrifice is called for, or a mystery must be solved in order to restore an equilibrium of sorts. 'Ring' had the ingenious concept of a videotape that kills. 'KM 31’s' concept is of a negative outdoor space that people are lured to - it is certainly interesting enough to propel the film and features a wonderfully spooky scene involving the character Omar as he walks through a wooded area that at first seems innocuous only for a rolling fog to suddenly sweep along and encase the scene with a malevolent air. The ending of 'Ring' was so utterly freakish and, indeed, the stuff of nightmares because there had literally been nothing like it before. The terrifying denouement was so effective because the film spends its 90-minute running time as a subtle, atmospheric tension-builder as opposed to its American remake which favoured CGI surrealism that killed any tension. 'KM 31' unfortunately follows suit with its northern neighbour and uses CGI monster effects for the climax of the film.


'KM 31' is at times an eerie, atmospheric ghost story punctuated with gimmicky special effects that ultimately unsettle the film’s interesting premise. What makes the film a success, purely on its own merits, is the emphasis on creating a localised myth - based on urban legends and spooky camp-fire tales. Using certain aspects of the colonial history of Mexico as the basis for the movie’s backbone is interesting - as if the avenging ghost in 'KM 31' represented the indigenous peoples’ lost voice. However, such pretensions would hardly be taken as seriously, especially with a movie so commercially orientated as 'KM 31'. That does not negate the film to being ‘just another horror movie’ as cinema is wonderful at reflecting cultural thoughts and histories.


Horror is often pithily dismissed as a genre by critics who see it as a nihilistic and pre-dominantly misogynistic exercise. Edgar Allan Poe’s 'The Philosophy of Composition' in which he states that the most poetic subject of all is the death of a beautiful young woman, is a major influence on the horror genre - especially post-war horror. Yet, the genre can be more, as William Friedkin’s 'The Exorcist' (1973) or Stanley Kubrick’s 'The Shining' (1980) have shown.


'KM 31' obviously struck a chord with Mexico’s cinema-going public due to its great success - a mixture of popcorn shocks, localised ghost story and stylish direction. I doubt it would have the same impact in other countries which have seen these types of movies saturate the market - both as foreign language originals and the American remakes. Films that provide the impetus and direction for 'KM 31': 'Ring', 'The Eye', 'Pulse', 'The Grudge' and 'Dark Water' have been widely seen and with received with varying levels of success. The ‘supernatural’ film proves so appealing and popular, time and time again, because fear of the unknown and questions of mortality are compelling subject matters that audiences can relate to - on any level. Whether one believes in ghosts and other things that go bump in the night is hardly the point. There is one rather salient note, and it is one that the great horror film directors understand well: people like to be scared.


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Country: Mexico
Budget:
Length: 100mins


Filmography:
'The Shining', 1980, Stanley Kubrick, Hawk Films
The Exorcist', 1973, William Friedkin, Hoya Productions
'Pulse', 2001, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Daiei Eiga
'Dark Water', 2002, Hideo Nakata, Honogurai mizu no Soko kara Seisaku Iinkai
'The Eye', 2002, Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang, Applause Pictures
'Ring', 1998, Hideo Nakata, Omega Project
'The Grudge', 2003, Takashi Shimizu, Senator International
'Pan's Labyrinth', 2006, Guillermo del Toro, Tequila Gang
'The Devil's Backbone', 2001, Guillermo del Toro, El Deseo S.A.
'Blair Witch Project', 1999, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, Haxan Films


Pub/2008


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'The Good Night', 2007, directed by Jake Paltrow