This Mind-Bending, Genre-Busting Hit Is the Top-Grossing Horror Movie in Its Home Country — and You’ve Probably Never Heard of It

Venezuelan cinema has never been particularly known for horror movies. Still, its first serious foray into the genre ended up being a great box office success and the most widely distributed film to come out of the country. Alejandro Hidalgo's The House at the End of Time was released in 2013 after it made a significant splash at major film festivals, from Cannes to Fantasia. It then went on to inspire a South Korean remake. The film is daringly ambitious and sophisticated for a feature debut: the story unfolds in two timelines, with masterful use of flashbacks guiding the audience toward the third act where the complete picture is finally revealed. While the plot involving apparent ghosts, murder, mysterious disappearances, and children whose destinies are tainted by their parents' misgivings, is similar to those of The Devil's Backbone orThe Orphanage, Hidalgo's Gothic film is truly unique.