It has been over ten years since Jaume Balagueró‘s Rec reinvigorated the found footage genre. Balagueró’s film – in addition to a number of Spanish filmmakers – helped launch Spain to the top of the international marketplace. Horror fans who had already grown to love Japanese horror films or the French New Extremity were thrilled to have a new national cinema to explore.
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But no national cinema is launched overnight, and Balagueró’s success did not begin with Rec. In 1999, the filmmaker launched his directing career with The Nameless, a film inspired in equal parts by the work of David Fincher and Clive Barker. The enduring appeal of the film is so strong for Spanish moviegoers that The Nameless was recently announced as the inspiration for an ongoing television series as well.
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In this new episode of Certified Forgotten, the Matts are joined by Canadian horror scholar Joe Lipsett to discuss the cultural importance of Balagueró’s debut feature. With a long conversation about national cinema, religion, and the challenges of international distribution, this episode brings the smart – even when the Matts get sidetracked by a pesky little thing like matricide.
You can purchase a DVD copy of The Nameless by visiting Amazon or your independent retailer of choice. Check out the rest of our podcast episodes on our Podcasts page.