Review of Aftershock (2012) by Steve H — 11 Aug 2013
Director Nicolás López brings this sizzling shock-horror to the screen; starring Eli Roth as an American partying with his two pals in Chile, where the group meet a trio of women who are doing much the same thing. Their holiday frivolity is spoilt though, when the small coastal town they are staying on suffers a violent earthquake, leaving chaos, violence and death in its aftershock.
Think Eurotrip meets The Day After Tomorrow, but without any originality or style. López sets this film up as a superficial smorgasbord of skin, sun, and slaying, offering six empty-vessel characters, whose fates no viewer will give a Chilean peso for. The opening third of the movie shows gratuitous club scenes, where our six-some drink/smoke themselves into a stupor, except the dour Monica (Andrea Osvárt) who attempts to look after her reckless sister Kylie (Lorenza Izzo).
It feels like an age before the quake actually hits, but when it does, I guarantee most audiences will feel a sense of relief - finally, this unadulterated binging is at an end, and someone is going to die!
The latter sections of the movie are an increasingly violent and dangerous journey for the group, as they attempt to find shelter, and avoid looters/escaped convicts - with little success.
López delivers an action-packed hour of chaos and killing, which feels rushed, and some incongruous deaths for his cannon fodder leave a sour taste. The multi-lingual aspect of the film, whilst admirable, is distracting and unnecessary.
On the plus side, there is a lot of OMG moments and superfluous skin shots!
On the Richter Scale - this film would be a 1 - Insignificant.
This review of Aftershock (2012) was written by Steve H on 11 Aug 2013.
Aftershock has generally received mixed reviews.
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