'Penumbra' Movie Review

Adrián García Bogliano may be the best horror movie director you've never heard of. The prolific Argentinian filmmaker has quietly made a name for himself on the genre circuit for a series of inventive, energetic low-budget chillers -- including 36 Pasos (one of my Best of 2009), Cold Sweat (which hit DVD earlier this year) and now Penumbra -- so much so that he's earned a spot in the upcoming anthology of horror's new breed, The ABCs of Death. If you don't know any of Bogliano's work, Penumbra is as good a place as any to start.

In Buenos Aires for several months for business, no-nonsense, elitist Spanish lawyer Margarita -- Marga (Cristina Brondo) -- takes time out from her busy day to meet with a real estate agent about renting out a local apartment she and her sister inherited eight years ago. When she finds a man named Jorge (Berta Muñiz) on her doorstep, she assumes he's the agent and begins discussing business. He plays along, stating that he has a client named Mr. Salva who's willing to pay four times the going rate for the apartment, even though it's in a less-than-desirable area of the city. All he asks is that she stick around for a while until the client arrives.

Blinded by the money, Marga agrees to wait, but as several other colleagues of Jorge's arrive with increasingly shifty stories and with no sign of Mr. Salva, Marga begins to suspect that something's amiss. And she should, because Jorge isn't who she thinks he is, and he and his cohorts have something dark and twisted planned that requires both her apartment and the impending solar eclipse that's only minutes away. As time ticks down, Mr. Salva shows up to reveal the horrifying truth.

Penumbra is a well-made, involving little thriller whose appeal lies in its upredictability and an impending sense of doom that builds as the audience perceives that something sinister is afoot. What exactly that "something" is fuels our curiosity, as does the fact that the perceived "bad guys" don't appear to be the typical monstrous horror villains; rather, they seem like average office workers just performing their duty.

Writer-director Adrián García Bogliano (who works here with his brother Ramiro) excels in building thrills on a low budget with minimal plot, utilizing the intensity of limited space and the urgency of time constraints to generate pulse-pounding moments (while also finding time for some biting social commentary). He's also able to tweak somewhat familiar setups just enough to create a real uncertainty that, like his kinetic camerawork, is invigorating.

Penumbra immediately sucks you in with its concept and with the rising tension, but the ultimate payoff is underwhelming and provides little explanation of the villains' plan and no background on who they are the reasons for their actions. These lingering frustrations don't ruin the movie, however; it stands as another solid entry in Bogliano's increasingly impressive portfolio.

• Acting: B- (Brondo excels in embodying her character's harshness without sacrificing its humanity.)
• Direction: B- (Stylistically more of a mature, slow burner that some of Bogliano's kinetic previous efforts.)
• Script: C (A great setup is undermined by a modest climax and a lack of explanation.)
• Gore/Effects: C+ (A couple of moderately gory scenes.)
• Overall: C+ (Entertainingly unpredictable until a lackluster ending.)

Penumbra is directed by Adrián García Bogliano and Ramiro García Bogliano and is not rated by the MPAA. Release date: April 20, 2012.

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