The Reel Review
The arrival of haunting voices from the beyond does not bode well for a family renovating a dilapidated estate in southern Spain, in this horror/thriller on Netflix. Can visiting paranormal investigators save them?
This darker, Spanish language riff of The Conjuring and Sinister is surprisingly scary. Not only does it lean into all the classic horror tropes – jump scares, ghostly apparitions, spooky hidden rooms, etc – but this old fashioned horror flick goes all in on them to maximize the terror and heighten the suspense. Director Ángel Gómez Hernández ticks off all the boxes, including an effective use of score and some clever, lingering camerawork, to keep the terrifying moments churning.
The biggest drawback to Don’t Listen (entitled Voces when it first premiered in Spain) is some pretty minimal character development and a fairly light story, but hey, with that twisty, doozy of an ending, we can overlook that and enjoy the ride.
REEL FACTS
• EVP – Electronic Voice Phenomena – is the detection of supposedly ghostly voices on electronic recording equipment used by ghost hunters. Skeptics say EVP is just everyday white noise picked up by sensitive equipment that gets mistaken for spirits.
• Don’t Listen (Voces) was filmed in Spain.
• Stick around for the credits – towards the end is a scene of the paranormal investigators watching footage of an exorcism.
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