The eight years boy Jesús (Omar Muñoz) has been living in a crumbling underground facility since he was born with eight survivors of an apocalyptical war: the leader Maria (Silke) and her lover Pablo (Julio Perillán); the gays Lucas (Pablo Scola) and Mateo (Sergio Villanueva); the astronomer Magdalena (Carola Manzanares) and the teenager Ana (Nadia de Santiago); the soldier Pedro (Jorge Casalduero) and the lonely Judas (Pepo Oliva). They are permanently is state of surveillance, threatened by the contaminated mutants The Strangers and once a day they have to lock themselves in their rooms without heating to protect against the dangerous ghosts The Invisibles that attack in the Cold Hour. They cannot go to the surface, destroyed by a nuclear war. When they need supplies, medications and ammunitions, they organize expeditions to a store. When the menace of The Invisibles affects the safety of the group of survivors, they need to reach the surface.

"La Hora Fría" is a great low-budget movie showing a pessimist view of the fate of mankind after a nuclear war. The atmosphere is melancholic and claustrophobic and the story discloses the characters through the innocent eyes of an eight years old boy. I expected to find an explanation to their biblical names, but the film never clarifies. The story recalls "The Omega Man", "Day of the Dead" and "28 Days Later...", but is original and supported by a great cast that transmits fear, panic and lack of hope to the viewer, and by an excellent cinematography, using gloomy colors. I was a little disappointed with the ambiguous conclusion, and I understand that Pedro was right and the group was part of an experiment, but I am not sure if this was the intention of the writer. I believe the director Elio Quiroga failed since he was not able to express his real intention in the last scene. Probably due to commercial reasons, the Brazilian title does not correspond to the original Spanish title, as usual. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Hora Negra" ("The Dark Hour")

This is a great little Sci-fi film. The production isn't that lavish but every Euro was well spent. The acting is top notch; the lighting is excellent with none of that "shot in the car park around back" feel. Clever tools like interjected scenes shot from the camcorder (there aren't that many) and the constant propaganda on the TV help Immerse you in to the world very quickly. The characterisations are strong and develop rapidly.

There are bits of the plot that are unexplained and may or not make sense if you really thought about it, but if you like Sci-fi (real sci-fi not Star Trek) you can't go wrong. The film is dark in essence, but I didn't find it overly depressing or gory, think Screamers or Cube.

You will find absolutely no plot-info in this short comment/praise of director/writer Elio Quiroga's debut feature film. Because one of the cool things about LA HORA FRÍA is when you enter it, you have no idea what kind of movie this is. You think it might be some sort of post-apocalyptic drama, set in an underground facility. Pretty down-to-earth and believable. But as it progresses, you still don't have a clue what it's actually going to turn into. There's a re-occurring, strange supernatural phenomenon. A bit later it feels like you've just entered Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD vs. Cameron's ALIENS, so to speak (more in vibe than actual subject matter). And the real nature of this films pretty much continues to be a question mark right up until the final, fascinating revelation at the end. And don't worry, it's not some twist along the lines of "Oh, it's all not real after all...". A solid film that went beyond my expectations. Try to not read anything else about it, and just watch it. One thing I'll add: It's not straight-up horror but a great mixture of things, that's for sure. Great things, including haunting cinematography and a script soaked with a bleak sense of hopelessness, all accomplished on a modest budget.