6 Films To Keep You Awake

6 Films to Keep You Awake is an admirable attempt to bring six of Spain's "best horror directors" to an American mainstream audience, but the over exaggerated title of this DVD collection sets the viewer up for disappointment, namely for the fact that only two of the six films are actually scary. The other films are flavored with a horror twist, but it's as if the horror is an afterthought.

Of the six films-Blame, Spectre, A Real Friend, A Christmas Tale, The Baby's Room, and To Let- Spectre is the furthest from being a horror film. In fact, it is more like a dysfunctional love story. It is the tale of an elderly man who travels back to his hometown after receiving a tarot card that could have only come from a past love who died many years prior. Director Mateo Gil does a good job in telling the story, but it does not threaten to keep me awake at night, and could just be interpreted as one man's struggle to deal with the ghosts of his past.

"The Baby's Room," at 78 minutes long, and "To Let," at 66 minutes long, are the scariest films on the DVD. "The Baby's Room" is clever, scary, and supported by great acting. It is a story about a couple and their newborn that begin to have a hard time dealing their new home. It seems that there is something living in the baby's room, whose presence the couple can feel each night beside their child. It is watching and waiting.

"To Let" is the bloody story of a young expectant couple who seems to have exhausted their search for a new apartment. That is until their realtor assures them that a newly refurbished apartment will be a perfect fit. When they go to check it out, the building looks abandoned without any residents in site. They go up to the 3rd floor and enter the apartment, which is something they never should have done.

"A Christmas Tale" is another great film, but it is funnier than scary. The movie revolves around a group of kids that remind me a Spanish version of "The Goonies," who find a woman dressed like Santa Claus that has fallen into a hole in the woods. When they discover she is a dangerous bank robber, they make her a deal-her freedom for the money. Once the children get the money, self-preservation makes them reconsider their agreement and they decide to keep the woman captive. Then, one day they unexpectedly find the well empty, and the tables are soon turned.

"A Real Friend" is an interesting movie because Leatherface makes several appearances as one of a little girl's imaginary monster friends, but things get confusing when she makes friends with a vampire who seems to be more real than the others.
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Blame" is a story about the psychological effects that abortion may have upon the mind. It comes across like pro-life propaganda.

For a price of $27.98, you are paying about $5.00 per movie, which sounds like a good deal. But when only half of the movies are worth watching, it starts to sound like less of a bargain. I would definitely recommend "To Let," "The Baby's Room," and "A Christmas Tale," but I do not know if these films are available outside of this collection. It's a tough call, and I put it to you to make.