Rating: B-
Dir: David R. Losada
Star: Unai García, Miriam Cabeza, Mikel Martinez, Francisco Álvarez
a.k.a. La noche del ratón
I did not realize when I started watching this – the synopsis on Tubi was entirely in Spanish, though the film had subtitles – that it was subsequently remade as the genuinely terrible Night of the Hunted. Had I realized that before, I would likely have given this a wide berth. It would have been my loss since, while this has problems of its own, it is considerably better than the remake. The main area of improvement isn’t what the original does, it’s what it doesn’t. Specifically, it doesn’t use its existence as an excuse for political soap-boxing. The goal here is simply being a lean, mean thriller, and does a decent job of it.
Work colleagues Jorge (Garcia) and Sandra (Cabeza) are driving to a ridiculously early meeting ordered by their boss. Complicating the journey is that they’re having an affair, Sandra cheating on her other half, Álvaro (Martinez). But any such emotional issues become small beer when they stop at a deserted petrol station to refuel. Jorge goes in to pay for the fuel, only to find nobody manning the register. Worse, when he tries to leave, a shot from a high-powered rifle hits him in the arm. He scurries for cover, and quickly realizes there is a sniper (Álvarez) pinning him down, and who has no intention of letting him or Sandra leave alive. Why? Who knows. Simply surviving is a more important issue.
And that’s where this parts company from Hunted. The new version shoe-horned in a phone, so that the sniper and the victim could rant at each other. I can understand why the makers there did this, because otherwise, you’re largely stuck behind the shelves with Jorge, except for brief periods of yelling for help at people who wander in and out of the location. That is this version’s biggest issue, and it never quite comes to grasp with how to handle the situation. But not providing any reason for the siege gives events a nightmarish quality all its own. The lack of motivation leaves it feeling like this could happen to you, if Jorge was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Certainly, realizing it was not going to turn into a political lecture was a huge relief, after I realized I’d seen the basic scenario before. As I said in my review of the remake, “It’s exactly the kind of scenario where the killer doesn’t need a reason,” and here, you don’t get one. There are points where I genuinely did not understand Jorge’s actions, though sometimes they became clearer down the line. For example, he started throwing product across the store at the wall. My mental light went on, only when this turned the store lights off. There were other points which remained obscure. But in general, it kept my attention far better. Well, until an ending which arrived as abruptly as the one to this review.