Anguish
Mother's role was first offered to Bette Davis, but due to scheduling conflicts, she could not do it.,When the little girl gets out of her seat, the floor of the theater is littered with the shells of sunflower seeds. This is common in theaters in Spain, the film's country of origin, but not in the US, where the film is set.,Alice Pressman, the Mother: [about a patient mistreating her son] She doesn't know how hard you struggle
John Pressman: [Simpering] John is your best boy, isn't he mother?
Alice Pressman, the Mother: [as John consumes a concotion of liquids mixed with sliced bananas] Yes John... you're my best boy and the best surgeon in town.,When the film ends, we suddenly see the credits scrolling up on a completely different movie screen, together with another completely different cinema audience of onlookers observing it before getting up and leaving one by one until the final onlookers stand up and walk to the left with the screen going black as he/she does so (implying that the real storyline was also yet another film within film).,Featured in Tia, no te saltes el eje 2 (2007),Rescue
(uncredited)
Performed by Cecil Milner
Published by KPM Music Library,After seeing Anguish, I know it will stay in the memory a while as it's not quite like anything else I've seen. However, outside of the central gimmick; there is unfortunately not a great deal to recommend it for. Bigas Luna's film is a horror movie within a horror movie, and as you can probably imagine from that description; it's a completely bizarre and surreal film. The title 'Anguish' seems to be a clue to the order of the day as both segments focus on putting the subjects in a state of anguish with a series of gripping occurrences. The film focuses on John Pressman; an optician with an eye problem and a strange mother. After losing his job, he goes out on a killing spree under the direction of his mother who apparently is using some sort of hypnosis. The spree goes on for a short while and then the film takes a turn for the bizarre as the focus pans out and we find ourselves in a movie theatre with a group of people watching the film we've been watching! However, it turns out all is not well there either, as one of the crowd is a maniacal killer.

The main problem I have with this film is simply that while the central idea is very good, the two segments of the story are actually quite mundane. They're both just your average 'serial killer' stories, albeit one featuring a great deal of eyeball violence. The director clearly wanted to excite his audience and get them on the edge of their seats, and while parts of the film are exciting - I didn't find myself in a state of anguish for the duration. I don't often find myself needing a particular point when it comes to serial killer flicks, but this film just feels a bit too intelligent not to have one. I can only assume that the director wanted to portray something along the lines of the idea that a potential killer could be influenced by what they are seeing on screen; although it's never really brought across. Distinctive performers Michael Lerner and Zelda Rubinstein are the pick of the cast and provide memorable leads. The film does deserve a lot of respect for going out and trying to do something a bit different and even though it doesn't come off as well as it might have; Anguish is still well worth seeing.,