Three out of
Five stars
Running time:
103 mins
Impressively directed, superbly written horror flick with a strong sense of atmosphere, several scary moments and some genuinely suspenseful scenes.
What's it all about?
On her way to visit her twin sister, Agata (Iliana Fox) is terrified when she hits a ghostly-looking child on an isolated stretch of motorway, near the KM 31 sign. Leaving the car to investigate, Agata is promptly run over and ends up in a coma with both legs amputated.
Agata's sister Catalina (also Iliana Fox) believes she can hear Agata psychically screaming for help, so she begins to investigate the accident, along with Agata's boyfriend Omar (Raul Mendez) and her friend Nuno (Adria Collado), who has a secret crush on her. They soon discover that Agata's isn't the first accident to have occurred at KM 31 and that they appear to have something to do with the legend of a weeping woman said to be grieving for her child.
The Good
Mexican newcomer Rigoberto Castaneda directs with a strong sense of style throughout, creating an extremely creepy atmosphere that works well. This is enhanced by some fantastic location work, with scenes set in underground sewer systems, dark forests and gloomy hospitals.
Castaneda also employs some impressive make-up effects, particularly towards the end of the film, which has a genuinely chilling and surprisingly nasty climax. Thematically and visually, the film frequently resembles Japanese horror movies, but thankfully dials down all that screechy soundtrack business.
The Bad
Adria Collado and Raul Mendez are both good and there's strong support from Carlos Aragon as a helpful police detective, but the film is slightly weakened by Iliana Fox's performance and the script doesn't make nearly enough of the fact that Agata and Catalina are twins. Similarly, the romantic sub-plot (with Omar also harbouring a crush on Catalina, despite being Agata's boyfriend) is frustratingly under-developed.
Worth seeing?
In short, despite its flaws, KM 31 is a creepily effective horror flick that marks Castaneda out as a definite talent to watch. Worth seeing.