aeon65 While watching this movie I was trying to determine when it was made. From the appearance of it (and props like the phones) I guessed maybe in the early 1990's. - but if I was going by the blatant anti-lesbian, anti- abortion propaganda of the movie I would guess that it was from the 1970's or older. Imagine my surprise when I found out from IMDb that this offensive piece of crap (which really doesn't even qualify as a horror film) was actually made in 2006. I can't remember the last time I saw something so disturbing (in an incredibly offensive sort of way) that was made within the past 10 years. There were numerous moments while watching the movie that I wanted to shut it off, but I kept hoping for the payoff, some kind of legitimate scare, but it never came.

Scarecrow-88 The body underneath a sheet, blood seeping through, as it is being pulled away by some mysterious woman with a little girl looking on from her window--quite an indelible image to open this particular episode of the 6 films to keep you awake. Gloria goes to live in the home of Dr. Ana Torres, a daughter along with her, and she appears weary, baggage of the past visible on the face and in demeanor. A nurse Gloria will also assist Torres who keeps a lab in her home to perform abortions.A funny knock on the door to a room which Dr. Torres doesn't acknowledge yet Gloria hears. A phone call Dr. Torres strangely evades much to Gloria's dismay. It's very clear early on that Torres is interested sexually in Gloria, the way she caresses her hand or clutches the arm lovingly(it's insinuated and subtle, but obvious; Gloria seems puzzled and unsure how to respond to Torres' advances). Torres even mentions that she would like to help Gloria "pretty herself up", to bring out her beauty which seems to hide underneath a drab exterior.That phone call I mentioned--Christina, a woman sought after on the phone; her name appears on a necklace along with Ana's for which Gloria's daughter finds. Ana is a liberal, free-thinker who sees(perhaps blindly)Gloria as someone who has moved away from the old-fashioned principles of past society and asks her to help give abortions in the clinic. There's kind of an indication that Ana performs a steady influx of abortions regularly..Dr. Torres even seems to talk one young woman(who doesn't know which the father is between two men)into getting an abortion. Dr. Torres, though, informs her clients that she will perform these abortions when they are the most safe, before three months pregnant due to the danger.Ana represents change in mores, a lesbian who performs abortions without guilt, as if any other procedure and attempts to kiss Gloria. Gloria, on the other hand, is a bit put off by assisting in the aborting of a small fetus and resists an attempt by Ana to kiss her. Torres keeps trying, and Gloria keeps turning away. It's clear that Torres longs for companionship and love.Gloria learns from a busybody religious wallflower who lives next door that three women(obviously lovers)have came and went, Ana having coddled them until they no longer needed her. Then comes Javier which further complicates things. Then pregnancy. Torres is dejected in that her love is constantly spurned and instead Gloria is impregnated by a man who could never give that same kind of affection. But with an economy uncertain and possible lay offs looming at the hospital Gloria often works, the idea of having a second child absent a father seems too risky and troublesome a task to endure. Repercussions of an abortion become the turning point in the friendship of Gloria and Ana which results in tragedy. BLAME delves primarily into the topic of abortion and how it concerns the mental breakdown of one fragile woman who decides to have it done despite truly wanting to keep it. Gloria's daughter contributes to the breakdown by mentioning in various ways how she was disappointed in not getting a new brother. We see how other women make the choice and Dr. Torres gladly performs them without fail while Gloria reluctantly assists, later herself in the same position. This felt curiously anti-abortion, the way the procedure and those who have it(and the doctor performing them)is portrayed as almost a crime. Ana's little room in her home, the way women secretly enter therein wanting to be rid of what would be a burden on their lives, the hideous means with how the murdered fetuses are discarded through being flushed down a toilet like excrement. And the final frame of guilt-stricken Gloria balled into the fetal position speaking in the personality of her unborn, discarded child, before the director overlays the image of the fetus over her. BLAME never quite launches into a horror film as you would be led to believe, despite signs of an eerie presence as the principles hear noises, walk into ominous rooms, and through the strange behavior of Gloria's daughter who always seems to be hiding something. Nieve de Medina is Ana, Montse Mostaza is Gloria, and Alejandra Lorenzo is Gloria's daughter, Vicky. Well acted, competently directed, but for some reason this mini-movie never quite took off and the horror elements are lacking. Quite simply, this is more of a drama and I was expecting a horror film..I imagine this will elicit the same reaction from others.

Paul Andrews Películas Para no Dormir: La Culpa is set in Spain where nurse Gloria (Montse Mostaza) & her young daughter Vicky (Alejandra Lorenzo) decide to move into the large house Doctor Ana Torres (Nieve de Medina) has converted into her surgery, in return for a couple of rooms Gloria will help Ana run her practice. Gloria quickly discovers that Ana specialises in abortions which makes her feel somewhat uncomfortable but she gets on with it. Then just to add to Gloria's unease there seems to be something sinister happening in the attic upstairs...Known amongst English speaking audiences as Blame, one of the six Films to Keep You Awake made for Spanish telly Blame was written & directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador & one has to say that I thought it was total crap. Any resemblance between Blame & an actual horror film is purely coincidental, apart from two murders there is nothing to indicate that Blame is a horror film, in fact even with the two murders there's still nothing to indicate Blame was a horror film. The first forty odd minutes is as dull as dishwater, all that happens is Gloria & her daughter move in with Ana who turns out to be a lonely lesbian abortionist! The plot is awful with various subplots that go nowhere, for instance we never find out who Cristina was or what happened to her, Ana's lesbian advances towards Gloria come to absolutely zero while the spooky door which leads directly into the next house & two weird old women is totally forgotten about & comes to nothing. The basic story revolves around abortion but the script is just too weak, it never leans towards either pro abortion or anti abortion & as such you never really get the feeling the makers knew what they wanted to say, if anything. In fact it doesn't really make any moral judgement on abortion at all, at just over seventy odd minutes at least it's short but that still doesn't stop it from being crap. The twist ending is weak, deeply unsatisfying & only confirms that Películas Para no Dormir: La Culpa isn't a horror film & one wonders if it even started out as one.Películas Para no Dormir: La Culpa was shot in Spanish & there's a fair bit of dialogue so the subtitles come & go very quickly, I found it very frustrating that the subtitles disappeared so quickly. I mean I am trying to watch the film, read the subtitles & take it in & I am given less than a second to do so! Also the subtitles appear as pure white letters which often make then impossible to read as they blend into the largely white picture, since everyone is wearing white Doctor's coats & the thing is set in a very sterile, clean & bright location I found the subtitles are sometimes impossible to read. There's no gore in Películas Para no Dormir: La Culpa, no scares, no tension, suspense, no atmosphere & for the vast majority of it's duration Películas Para no Dormir: La Culpa feels like some dull, life draining drama.Tecnically Películas Para no Dormir: La Culpa is alright, it's reasonably well made with decent production values but there's nothing here other than a bland looking house & a few locations in Madrid in Spain where it was shot. The acting is alright but as an English speaker I obviously couldn't tell what they were saying so it's hard to judge.Películas Para no Dormir: La Culpa is absolutely awful, I have seen five of the six so-called Films to Keep You Awake & so far all but one have been terrible. Films to Keep You Awake? Films to send you to sleep more like. If you want to see a great abortion themed horror film then watch the John Carpenter directed Pro-Life (2006) episode from the Masters of Horror telly series, it's much better than this piece of crap.

Claudio Carvalho When the single mother nurse Gloria (Montse Mostaza) has financial difficulties, her colleague and friend Dr. Ana Torres (Nieve de Medina) invites her to move with her six year-old daughter Vicky (Alejandra Lorenzo) to her old big house where she runs a gynecologic clinic. In return, Gloria would assist Ana in her clinic in the afternoons. Sooner Gloria finds that Ana dedicates to abortion in her clinic, and also that she is lesbian and has a crush on her. When Ana gets pregnant of her lover Javier, Ana proposes an abortion, and after more than three months, the reluctant Gloria accepts her offer with tragic consequences.The underrated "Películas Para No Dormir: La Culpa" is a macabre and very well constructed tale of guilty and madness with an intriguing screenplay with an unpleasant but realistic theme and a surprising plot point. The director Chicho explores the great cast (unknown in Brazil) and the characters are perfectly developed, with magnificent performances of Montse Mostaza, Nieve de Medina and the promising Alejandra Lorenzo. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Quarto da Culpa" ("The Room of the Guilty")