Page 68 - Alternative Europe Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945

movies. His previous film, La comunidad {Common Wealth), inaugurated the 2000 San Sebastián
Film Festival, likewise to considerable acclaim. De la Iglesias background in comics manifests itself
strongly in the animated credit sequence to his 1999 black comedy Muertos de risa. The style of the
animated line drawings recalls the work of Edward Gorey, who like de la Iglesia is known for his dark
humour. The coloration sets a retro scene, evocative of the fetishised openings of Pedro Almodóvar's
Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, 1988) or Carlos
Sauras Peppermint frappé (1967). The sequence introduces motifs not only as a prelude to the films
story and character typology, such as in the images of the comedy team and the silhouetted go-go girls,
but also as humorous icons of the creative process, as in the magic act or the black goat jumping over
the typewriter keyboard. The sequence thus foreshadows the self-reflective approach of the movie.
The soundtrack is circus-like, evoking a Fellini-esque fantasy mood.

TRANSNATIONAL CULT STATUS AS A SPANISH TECHIE

Besides animation, de la Iglesia has shown interest in other new media, namely video games. He
has invited web browsers to collaborate with him online to make a video game. Underscoring de la
Iglesias investment in the digital age, the alternative media 'press', the e-zine Dossiernegro, discusses
his films in a special issue devoted to the 'directores de culto' (cult directors), John Waters, David
Lynch and Alex de la Iglesia. Significantly, Muertos de risa was screened, and well received according to
the responses on its web site, at the 2000 Montreal Fantasia Film Festival, a forum generally associated
with action/kung-fu and animé pictures.
What we see in all of de la Iglesias films are scenes that call attention to technology in ways that
insert Spanish cinema onto a global scene and often critique that very media process. De la Iglesia is
also unique in Spanish film history in copying special effects techniques that have themselves been
breakthroughs in international cinema history, as generally defined by Hollywood industry standards.
He received the Goya, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscar, for the special effects of Día de la bestia
(Day of the Beast, 1995), besides winning that year for best picture. In his article on Día de la bestia
Malcolm Compitello lauds de la Iglesias Modem Times remake scene:

In one of the best special effects ever staged in Spanish film, de la Iglesia literally hangs his
protagonists on the huge neon Schweppes sign that adorns the front of the Capitol Building.'

In the same film, de la Iglesia uses blue screen at the moment when the Devil appears on a skyscraper
and throws one of the main characters to his death. De la Iglesias use of special effects is an important
element to assess how recent Spanish cinema negotiates the national/global interface. I would argue that
his films consistently are most successful, contestatory and intellectually challenging when they allude
to nationally inflected images. It bears noting that the special effects in both Acción mutante (1992) and
Día de la bestia might not innovate beyond Hollywood standards, but allude to well-known images of
Goya's 'black paintings', respectively Asomodea and 'EI Gran Cabrón'. In this chapter I will analyse
another example of de la Iglesias special effects - the placing of a character into historical footage, in
Muertos de risa - and explore how the political continues to be reread through media history.

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