Review: Horrorscope (2019)
NIFFF
International Shorts
“In a world of terror. One girl finds herself facing a fate worse than death. Now with her mother by her side. She must face the terror of HMT. Coming soon.”
Say the above in a very deep voice, add in footage with lots of cuts and some judicious spoilers and some portentous music. Congratulations. You’ve got yourself a movie trailer. Now just hope and pray that it’s not better than the movie itself. Let’s face it: they often are.
At the centre of Horrorscope is a girl who discovers that she’s suffering from ‘Horror Movie Traileritis’. Now all doors and cupboards she opens will squeak ominously. Her cereal will form obscene messages (in a scene that will delight all grammar Nazis out there). A violinist will follow her around. The usual thing. But luckily there’s a Doctor on hand who – even if I say so myself – has an extremely important second job and might be able to help her.
Pol Diggler’s Horrorscope is a bright and breezy spoof of horror movie trailers that lays bare their clichés with plenty of fast cuts, scary music and jump cuts. Like all good spoofs, the success of the film lies in the fact that cast (who are all game) all play everything relatively straight and Diggler proves himself adept at hitting all the right beats of a proper horror movie trailer. It results in a genuinely funny affair that pokes fun at the po-faced nature of genre while also provide a few jokes that are just wonderfully silly.
The film has already proved very popular on the genre circuit, including winning a Paul Naschy Brigadoon Award at Stiges. While it will continue to prove popular amongst genre fans, it’s short running time will find continue to find it a home in festivals looking for something light and silly with a slight edge of satire.
And before you ask. Yes, the film does have a trailer:
Original title: Horrorscope
Year: 2019
Runtime: 4
Country: Spain
Language: English
Directed by: Pol Diggler
Cast: Claudia Trujillo, Míriam Marcet, Morgan Symes
Screenwriter: Pol Diggler
Cinematography: Kimio Ogawa
Editing: Ferran Pujol, Pol Diggler
