Movies
[BD Review] ‘Aftershock’ Is Fun… Until It Isn’t
Aftershock is a weird movie in the sense that I honestly don’t know how I feel about it. There’s a lot to like in the film, but I can’t recommend it as a complete work. It has a lot of great components, but it seems oddly intent on sabotaging itself with elements that just don’t belong within its tonal landscape (though I may be taking a bit of a leap by stating that I even know what the intended tone is).
The film, directed by Nicolas Lopez from a script he wrote with Eli Roth and Guillermo Amoedo, begins firmly in Hostel territory, introducing us to the main characters in an extended first act. I can sort of see what they’re going for in these first 40 or so minutes – they obviously want us to invest in these guys. Gringo (Roth) is reeling from a divorce and misses his daughter, rich horndog (Pollo) is out to get laid, and ineffectual Ariel (Ariel Levy) is always on the verge of texting a recent ex who is no good for him.
While the film certainly does a thorough job establishing these characters and the conflicts/dynamics that fuel their relationship, it’s to the detriment of the overall experience. We’re given reasons to root for their survival that should work on paper, but spending so much time with them almost negates it. I’m not sure if the decision was to take a This Is 40 approach to the Hostel formula, but this section of the film plays more like Sideways sans actual human insight. By the time they meet up with their female counterparts Kylie (Lorenza Izzo), Irina (Natasha Yarovenko) and Monica (Andrea Osvárt) we’re ready for some sh*t to start shaking.
And so it does. A massive earthquake strikes Chile and the underground nightclub in which they’e partying is decimated. Soon enough, the gang (more or less) is out on the streets where it becomes evident that humanity itself is the real threat. It’s here that Aftershock really takes off, and boy does it swing for the fences. Lots of blood, lots of tension, lots of batsh*t decisions that pay off admirably, a cable car sequence that had me on the edge of my seat… it’s all good deal of fun. Until it isn’t.
Even during the roller-coaster ride that is the film’s second half, there are some insurmountable tonal miscalculations. The most severe of these is the repeated rape of a young mother at the hands of a local gang. The first time she’s raped goes by fairly quickly; it’s upsetting and unwelcome but you can almost block it out. Then comes the second rape – which is fairly protracted. In fact, the camera lingers on this event for so long I’m not sure what the aim is. Is it suspense? Maybe? One of our heroes is stalking up on the offender after all, and we’re hoping he’ll put an end to it. But, then again, he stalks up so slowly you begin to suspect that the film is actually disregarding his character’s natural motivations in order to showcase the assault at hand.
It comes down to one thing – this moment (along with several others) just isn’t fun. I’m not making any moral judgements on it. I don’t feel any differently about the filmmakers as people. I just don’t want to watch this scene – not in this movie. You can have your gory/fun Irwin Allen inspired romp. You can have a movie that addresses the horrors of sexual assault. I’m just not sure that they can be the same movie. And it’s not just this scene, there are other moments peppered throughout the film that attach themselves like parasites and leech a good deal of the joy out of it.
That’s not to say that there still aren’t things to enjoy in Aftershock, there are. The last shot in particular made me so giddy I almost forgot why I wanted to stop watching the movie entirely just 20 minutes earlier. Aftershock really is that uneven. If they could bottle the feeling I got from the last 30 seconds of this movie I’d be shouting about it from the rooftops. But they didn’t, and something I wanted to love became something I found myself trying to like.
It was almost one year ago that Warner Bros. brought the entire original A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to 4K in one massive 7-movie collection, with the limited edition SteelBook version of the set quickly selling out and becoming highly sought after. But we’re happy to report tonight that the SteelBook set is currently back in stock over on Amazon!
While supplies last, grab the Elm Street SteelBook collection for $154.99 right now!!
Orders placed for this re-release are scheduled to begin shipping out September 15, 2026.
[Related] Freddy’s Back: New ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie in the Works at Paramount
From New Line Cinema, the collection includes the original seven films – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – along with the uncut versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Dream Child.
Two BRAND NEW SPECIAL FEATURES for this set include:
- Boiler Room Confessional: The king of slashers, Robert Englund, takes us on a journey through the dream world, sharing what inspired Freddy Krueger, his rise as a cultural icon, and the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus his favorite kills, scenes, and more.
- Freddy’s Footnotes: Robert Englund and original A Nightmare on Elm Street filmmakers revisit iconic scenes, revealing the movie magic and chaos behind our favorite nightmares. Pull back the curtain and relive epic moments through the eyes of those who made them.
Here’s the full breakdown of included Special Features for each movie…
A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Ready Freddy Focus Points
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Jacques Haitkin
· Alternate Endings – Scary Ending, Happy Ending, Freddy Ending
· The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
· Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
· Freddy on 8th Street
· Heroes and Villains
· The Male Witch
· Psychosexual Circus
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
· Behind the Story: Burnout
· Behind the Story: Fan Mail
· Behind the Story: The House that Freddy Built
· Behind the Story: Onward Christian Soldiers
· Behind the Story: Snakes and Ladders
· Behind the Story: That’s Showbiz
· Behind the Story: Trading 8’s
· Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
· The Finnish Line
· Krueger, Freddy Krueger
· Hopeless Chest
· Let’s Makeup
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
· Behind the Story: Womb Raiders
· Behind the Story: The Sticky Floor
· Behind the Story: Take the Stairs
· Behind the Story: Hopkins Directs
· Behind the Story: A Slight Miscalculation
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
· 86’D
· Hellraiser
· Rachel’s Dream
· 3D Demise
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
· Commentary with Wes Craven
· NEW – Boiler Room Confessional
· NEW – Freddy’s Footnotes
· Becoming a Filmmaker
· Filmmaker
· An Insane Troupe
· The Problem with Sequels
· Two Worlds
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Really Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: A Childhood Memory
· Welcome to Prime Time: Sometime in the Early 80s
· Welcome to Prime Time: So It Began
· Welcome to Prime Time: Beauty and the Beast
· Welcome to Prime Time: Making the Glove
· Welcome to Prime Time: Shapeshifter
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Shoot
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Revolving Room
· Welcome to Prime Time: All’s Well that Ends Well
· Welcome to Prime Time: Talalay’s Tally
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Couldn’t Have Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: Alternate Ending Version
· Conclusion: Where Gothic Plots Come From
· Conclusion: Why We Like Gothic
· Conclusion: Sadomasochism
· Conclusion: Freddy vs. Pinhead
· Conclusion: Freddy’s Manic Energy
· Conclusion: Creating Lasting Characters in Horror
· Conclusion: No More Magic Tricks
· Conclusion: Monster with Personality
· Conclusion: Freddy as Sex Machine
· Conclusion: Campfire Stories
The Elm Street collection is available in this collectible SteelBook packaging (exclusive to Amazon) and as a standard 4K collection that’s also available now over on Amazon.
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