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Imagine that you’re just an average (maybe even sub-average) American shmoe on vacation in Chile, partying hard and enjoying the sights, tequila, and inner thighs of the local population. Any hint of strife seems a universe away.
And then an earthquake hits. A big one. One so big that it essentially unleashes Armageddon. You vacation is destroyed and, more importantly, your survival is at stake. And then, as if the Universe weren’t cruel enough, a gang of inmates from a local prison have broken free and are now hellbent on killing you.
Aftershock, the witty and gruesome new film from Nicholas Lopez, is much more than torture porn (though is essentially descends into torture porn in the final act): it’s a comedy that sees the lighter side of life as insufficient until the hellacious scenario I’ve described above (or something like it) comes to be. What is joy without pain? What is mirth without murder?
It’s a troubling movie, but one that knows what it wants, what it’s audience wants, and how to give it to them. Eli Rot makes a decent American on vacation, but the real star here is the suspense. A better-than-average horror flick.
Imagine that you’re just an average (maybe even sub-average) American shmoe on vacation in Chile, partying hard and enjoying the sights, tequila, and inner thighs of the local population. Any hint of strife seems a universe away.