Arrebato (Spain, 1979)

As I mentioned in my review of A Page of Madness, I decided to check various critics’ lists of the best horror films of all times, looking for classics I hadn’t seen yet to flesh out my month’s viewing. Arrebato appeared on a few such lists, and it stood out as a film I’d not even heard of. When I spotted it in the Shudder catalogue, I decided to give it a shot. Plus, a Spanish art house horror film from the 1970s sounded like just my kind of thing.

Arrebato is currently streaming on Shudder in the UK.

Synopsis

José is a horror film director, living in Madrid, who has a tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend, Anna, and an even worse one with heroin. He receives a package that contains an audio cassette and a reel of film. These turn out to be from an old acquaintance named Pedro, a man who has an unusual fascination with filmmaking.

In their earlier meetings, Pedro had demonstrated some unusual abilities, causing José to lose time, as well as apparently being able to connect people with their past by producing lost treasures from their childhoods. After having learnt how to make time-lapse films from José, Pedro set off to travel the world with his camera.

José and Anna get high and watch the film. Along with the tape, it documents Pedro’s travels and what seems to be his loosening grasp on reality. He has started making time-lapse films of himself as he sleeps, becoming obsessed with the frames of pure red that are slowly taking these films over. Pedro is convinced that he is somehow photographing moments of transcendental rapture, and that his world will change forever when the film strips are nothing but red frames.

When José tries to contact Pedro, there is no trace of him. The only clues are the films he has left behind, and his time-lapse camera. Will José find out what happened to Pedro or will be succumb to the same fate?

General Thoughts

If Arrebato were made today, it might be classified as analogue horror. It uses a lot of the staples of the genre, with mad ramblings on audio cassettes and sinister things captured on film. Of course, there was nothing retro about this technology in 1979, and watching this film back then would have been a very different experience. We romanticise analogue media now, captivated by its imperfections and the space they allow our imagination. While Arrebato does the same, there is no nostalgia in its approach.

Arrebato is a very druggy film. The director, Iván Zulueta, was a heroin addict himself, and his addiction runs all the way through this film. It’s easy to see echoes in the dysfunctional relationship that Pedro and José have with film, their obsession leading to self-destruction. Still, the weirdness they encounter seems to be far more than a simple metaphor.

There is a glitch in the English subtitles on the version streaming on Shudder. The phrase “We have never found out why nor who he ever was” appears frequently, at random intervals, but doesn’t match the dialogue at all. I’m assuming this is a copy/paste error of some kind, but it does add to the overall weirdness. It is oddly appropriate that a film about inexplicable intrusions into film has its own inexplicable intrusions.

It’s pure immaturity on my part, but I was delighted when the film opened with a title card crediting Anus Films.

Verdict

My feelings about Arrebato kept changing as I watched it and they haven’t settled down yet. I was intrigued for the first hour or so, wondering about Pedro’s seemingly magical ability to tap into people’s pasts and change their relationship with time. Then I began to disconnect and grow frustrated when this didn’t really go anywhere. The ending, however, turned me around again, making me really quite anxious as it ticked inexorably towards some weird metaphysical doom. Even so, I was initially a bit let down by the whole experience, but then I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it for the past couple of days. This is a deceptively complex film and it deserves a complex reaction.

I suspect the slow pace and ambiguity of Arrebato will frustrate many viewers. While I can understand why it’s categorised as horror, it does not use any recognisable techniques or tropes of the genre to create unease. It relies entirely on a creeping sense of wrongness and the self-destructiveness of its characters. I’m not really sure I understand why it affected me as much as it did, but the fact that it’s still haunting my brain is enough to convince me that this is something special.

This is probably not the kind of film you’ll want to include in your Halloween line-up if you’re after something spooky or fun. It may be worth your time afterwards, however, if you’re in a reflective mood, or simply want to be challenged.

The October Horror Movie Challenge

Please do join in and share your own thoughts with us about this or any other films as the month goes on. You can usually find us on BlueSky, Reddit, Discord, or lurking in the dark corners of your home.

If you would like to play along at home, my provisional selections are:

Heretic (USA, 2024)
The Sadness (Taiwan, 2021)
The Uninvited (USA, 1944)
The Lodge (UK/USA, 2019)
WolfCop (Canada, 2014)
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czechoslovakia, 1970)
The Monkey (USA, 2025)
Sister Midnight (India/UK, 2024)
Roadgames (Australia, 1981)
Nightmare City (Italy, 1985)
Dangerous Animals (Australia, 2025)
Dead Talents Society (Taiwan, 2024)
Winterbeast (USA, 1992)
Byzantium (UK/Ireland, 2013)
The Ugly Stepsister (Norway, 2025)
A Page of Madness (Japan, 1926)
Heart Eyes (USA, 2025)
Grafted (New Zealand, 2024)
Arrebato (Spain, 1979)
Hatching (Finland, 2022)
Abigail (USA, 2024)
Ganja & Hess (USA, 1973)
The Devil’s Bath (Austria, 2025)
Pieces (Spain, 1982)
Infested (France, 2023)
Best Wishes to All (Japan, 2022)
A Cat in the Brain (Italy, 1990)
Enys Men (UK, 2022)
Creature From the Black Lagoon (USA, 1954)
Perewangan (Indonesia, 2024)
Bring Her Back (Australia, 2025)

A Final Note

If you have been enticed here by these posts, please do look around at some of our other film reviews. We also have a podcast, called The Good Friends of Jackson Elias, which occasionally covers horror films. If this appeals, you might want to check out some of the following episodes.